Document Interpretation 2 Slavery

1) Equiano had 6 siblings and he had only one sister. What are the odds of having many brothers
and one sister? I would have thought the sister would be the favorite
2) He encountered other black men who were chained and they feared the white men
3) Equiano was terrified by the white men and thought they will kill him and eat him. Not
knowing what exactly they were going to do, I would be fearful as well.
4) He did not understand why these mean white men do such cruelty to him and other men like
himself.
5) He noticed these white men were different by the way they looked and spoke. He must have
thought they were strange and just evil beings.
6) A black man gave him some liquor to taste and he felt funny after drinking it. He must be in
terror mode that it was some kind of poison drink. I wonder he felt better or worse after.
7) he was sent to be on the lower decks. They were treated like pigs. So much pain and sorrow
that he could not eat. I wonder not eating made him survive those days because eating food from
the crew may make him even sicker due to unfamiliar things.
8) He was tied up and the crew were watching these people who are enslaves. They must be
paranoid to do anything and only to survive.
9) When Equiano found out they were brought to do work he felt at ease. That seems like
anything else is better than being suffered to death.
10) he was surprised that not only blacks were treated badly but also few of the whites as well.
This sounds like it is a wealth issue. I wonder what was the cause.
11) Equiano was a very curious person. I asked them if these people had no country, but lived
in this hollow place (the ship): they told me they did not, but came from a distant one. He must
had thought what was the reasons why these people were so cruel.
12) Equiano thought these anchors were some kind of magic when the ship had stopped.
13) The climate on the deck had changed because of heat so most died of sickness. How brutal.
14) The crew had fish and they had remanding leftovers. They tossed it in the sea instead of
giving it to the slaves.
15) Some of the slaves escape and did commit suicide by jumping over sea. Equiano pointed out
that most would followed but they could not because of the watch crew.
16) He encountered flying fishes on deck and did not understand what it meant. I wonder he ever
caught one and discover that it was edible.
17) The clouds he saw thought it was the land. Wow, he must have never seen the sky before.

18) When they landed on Barbadoes , he mentioned that the whites shout out of joy and didnt
know what to make of it. He must be thinking is this good or a bad thing.

19) The things that were not familiar too him like it was magical arts. For example, people on
horseback and houses with stories. What perception he had on these things.
20) These people who were enslaved got sold and were separated from their families. This is
heartbreaking and moving touchy subject.
The things that brought my attention was the fact that people were kidnapped to be sold like as
property. This is horrible and inhuman. How could a human being see another kind a being as an
alien or an animal and not the same? These slaves went through many terrifying stages of fear,
confusion, and pain. Another thing that was interesting was Equianos perception. He thought
everything that was unfamiliar to him was a kind of magic (magical arts) like the clouds, the
anchor, and people on horseback. This bring me a thought of that everyone comes from different
places, everyone has a different perception on things. Lastly, I want to say is at the beginning of
this autobiography, it mentioned that after the separation, they meet again. That is wonderful to
hear. I am happy to hear that his story had a happy ending. I wonder how they got to meet again
and were they free?