Olaudah Equiano

Gustavo Quintero
English 48A
October 25,2007
Journal #17 Equiano

Quote:
"I was trained up form ny earliest years in the art of war:my daily exercise was shooting and throwing javelins;and my mother adorned me with emblems"(Equiano 677).


Summary:
Equiano is describing to the reader about his early life. He describes the village that he came from along with the customs that his parents taught him.


Response:
The reason I chose this quote is because it adds an interesting dimension to Equiano's character. He says that he was born in Nigeria to a tribe called Essaka. Equiano constantly goes back to his roots in describing his customs and his people. He seems to be very proud of his heritage. Yet from scholarly research we have learned that he actually may have been born in the Carolinas. This begs the question, why does Equiano claim to be born in Africa when there is evidence that says he was not. The reason he uses this claim is to help him identify with the people that he is speaking for. He is a very outspoken against slavery. Equiano feels that if he uses his roots as a base than his words will have more strength behind them. If this assumption is true than just how valid are Equianos writings of his travels. I am not saying that he is a liar but I do believe that some consideration must be made to the claim that he may not be from Africa.

Equiano's travels are a very fascinating journey. He was sold into slavery as a very young child only to pass through the hands of many slave owners. This constant movement may have helped to fuel Equiano's inquisitive nature. Later in life after earning his freedom he began to travel all over the world. This may have been a rare thing for a African American to do during his time. Although I do have to give Equiano a lot of credit for what he did. He was an early protester to slavery. It takes a very strong person to be able to speak against slavery especially having been a prior slave. You can also say that Equiano was very fortunate because he the slave of owners who treated him well and later gave him huge responsibilities.