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The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano

            During slavery, it was illegal for African Americans to learn to read and write because slave owners felt that the more educated they became, the more likely they were able to understand their rights and resist slavery. Equiano puts his life at risk by exposing events he encountered as a slave. Equiano puts his life at risk first by being educated in a time when it was forbidden for slaves to learn to read and write. They were kept in ignorance because slave owners feared they would band together and try to escape, or worse resist slavery altogether. Secondly, he exposes real events he.
             witnessed and encountered as a slave like the horrible conditions in which slaves were transported.
             aboard big ships across the ocean. ".The ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to.
             turn himself, almost suffocated us" (425). .
             The smell he recalls "was so intolerable and loathsome" (424) from the bodies lying so closely together made the air unbearable to breath, which also brought upon sickness. Many slaves were cut for trying to jump overboard and whipped hourly for not eating. Death was the easiest escape from the horrors they endured on the slave ships.
             Equiano expresses that he has never seen such "savage a manner and brutal cruelty among any people" (424). In Virginia, he saw an elderly woman who had to wear an iron muzzle on her face and in Montserrat he knew of a man who tried to escape his master's bondage, but was caught and covered in sealing wax then set on fire. During his time in the West Indies, he recalls how women were raped and pregnant women were treated carelessly. He also saw how most slaves were beaten for sometimes no reason at all at any given moment.
             In a way, Equiano believed that free blacks had it just as bad. He met a free man in the West Indies by the name of Joseph Clipson who was approached by a Bermuda captain claiming he had orders to take him to Jamaica.


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While reading "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," it came to mind exactly how much I take my freedom for granted. ... Throughout this journey of Olaudah Equiano, the readers are capable of viewing that the most important aspect is that Equino earns his freedom. ... Equiano had to endure quite a bit throughout his life. ... Sometimes it offers comfort in times of trouble, often times it offers strengths in times of weakness, and other times it is simply relief in times of stress. ... But for Equiano in particular it allowed a sense of comfort from a life that w...

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2. Olaudha Equiano

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In the Elements of Literature book, the story "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" deals with kidnapping, slavery, emotional difficulties, and loss of comfort. Olaudah Equiano, a young boy, has to handle the world in an unpleasant manner. ... Equiano struggles throughout his life after getting kidnapped. ... Equiano has a "rough" life. ... Equiano took steps to ameliorate slavery, but he was sold too many times and it only plays with his emotions more. ...

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4. Equiano and other Works

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5. Colonial Times

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6. The Slave Ship

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8. African American Literature

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