On Equianos Travels and the Enlightenment Essay - 776 Words

On Equianos Travels and the Enlightenment During the eighteenth century, an age of enlightenment fell upon the people of Europe. Across the continent, knowledge and discovery spread like wildfire. During this era, an overwhelming majority of middle-class citizens became literate, partaking in various forms of high culture previously reserved exclusively to the aristocracy. At the same time, while the age of Enlightenment produced prominent theorists, thinkers, and intellectual works, it also made the common man more aware of intellectuality. With access to literature rich in revolutionary thought, the middle-class assumed an understanding of natural law that encompassed freedom, social equality, and the value of mankind. However, while†¦show more content†¦Equianos Travels reveals a European mind state far removed from philosophe theory. From the outset of his narrative, Equianos description of his short-lived childhood is filled with cultural detail giving insight into the life of his people. His words also convey his naivety, as Equiano claims to have at one time never even heard of Europeans. When he recounts the day he and his sister were kidnapped from their own yard by greedy countrymen, the reader gets a sense of the inhumanity that exists even in the earliest stages of slavery. Being torn from his sister is a similarly gut-wrenching detail that plagues the reader with a sense of guilt that refuses to leave even after the excerpt has ended. The narration between that takes the reader from the shore of Equianos homeland to the interior of the putrid-smelling slave ship and across a seemingly endless ocean drives the point of slaverys evils home. The conditions of such enslavement stand in direct violation of the philosophes theory of human freedom. While their beliefs deny authority, Equianos account tells the story of a place where these laws are permanently suspended, and man is made beast before his master. At the end of the excerpt from Equianos Travels, the then-freed Negro and outs poken abolitionist summarizes his conclusions from what he has gained as a subject to both the experience of slavery and the Enlightenment in Europe. Equiano does this through a series of questionsShow MoreRelatedThe Age Of Enlightenment : The Interesting Life Of Olaudah Equiano1456 Words   |  6 PagesDuring the 18th century, many things were happening and the Europeans also were known as â€Å"Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers† thought by creating a movement called Age of Enlightenment, it would inflict rational change upon humanity. The Age of Enlightenment is described to be â€Å"set out by means of reason and direct observation to discover the fundamental laws governing nature, humanity, and society. The philosophes believed that such discoveries would free the world from tyranny, violence, andRead MoreMary Rowlandson And Olaudah Equiano Essay1140 Words   |  5 PagesNarratives about captivity have often intrigued readers in Western culture. Mary Rowlandson a nd Olaudah Equiano’s stories helped pave the way for stereotypes within both European and white culture; teaching Europeans to see Native Americans as cruel and allowing whites to see the evil in the American slave market. In both â€Å"A Narrative of the Captivity† and â€Å"The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,† Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano share their individual stories of being kidnappedRead MoreThe Complex Nature Of Equiano s Identity Crisis1411 Words   |  6 PagesDaniel Miret HUM3306 29 September 2014 Option Three The complex nature of Equiano’s identity crisis Equiano presents himself as an African, who is embattled with a myriad of issues enroute to a foreign land. He starts off as a normal African boy that takes pride in the family unit. His life changes as he is exposed to a life of slavery that makes him wonder just how far he would go to regain his freedom. Equaino is celebrated due to his anti-slave trade achievements, but rather criticized for a