The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano - Book Report/Review Example

In this regard, Equaino was already familiar with slavery and had already served in slavery himself before. Therefore, he was not very indifferent about slavery as this was a culture that had come to grow in his own locality. In my opinion, this difference Equaino’s life style and that of other slaves defines the difference in their opinion on slavery (Allison 5-32). In brief, the background of Equiano blocked him from seeing the possible bad effects of slavery before he became a slave of the white people.

What Was the Most Important Similarity between Equiano’s Life and that of Other Slaves? The most significant feature that tied Equiano’s life to that of other slaves was his origin, race and color. As Allison points out, Equaino was an African who owed his origin in Nigeria and that this element of origin tied him close to the other slaves. He was sentimental to the black color that seemed to make him the subject of slavery and this sensitivity came when he and other Africans were sailed abroad to become slaves of the white people.

On other occasions, he tried to “… wash his face…” as one way of escaping from the fate of the black people in this foreign country. However, authors such as Carreta (32) have expressed a controversial argument about Equiano’s origin. Carreta expresses his doubt for the origin of Equaino and supposes that he was a Black American born in South Carolina and not African. The argument of this author is that Equiano claimed to be an African so as to give his book an upper hand in the African Market.

However, most scholars have attributed Equiano’s war against Slavery as part of his loyalty to Africa, the place of his origin. Which was worse for Equaino, Slavery or Racism? Why? Although Equaino seems to have a negative attitude to both Racism and Slavery, he seems to have an inclination to criticism of Racism that was well defined between the boundaries of race and color. He recognizes that victims of slavery were victimized and were generally considered as lesser beings that than their masters and that these acts were inhuman.

However, he is keen to note that slavery was a different issue where it was defined on the boundaries of race (Allison 114). The reason why he seems to criticize racism is because the white race was more hostile to their slaves as compared to the black masters back in the African countries. From his experience, when he was enslaved in Africa, he receives a friendly treatment and slaves were allowed to eat the same food as their master and the only difference was the extra work that they had to do.

On the contrary, White racist treated the black people harshly, underfed them and expected them to do more loads of work each day. From my opinion, Equiano’s feels that the White people treated the Blacks harshly because they were from a different race that they regarded as inferior. Why Was Equiano’s Life Different from Most of the Slave’s Experiences? The experience of Equiano in slavery was uniquely different from the experience of other slaves in this period. Although he was a victim of trade just like other slaves, he was fortunate to land to meet rather friendly masters who provided him with opportunities to grow.

Allison notes that other slaves were subjects of hard work, beating, and mistreatment that even