1. So he, Olaudah Equiana, is a slave.

This stood out to me because this whole thing

will be from the perspective of a slave.

2. He said that there were black people, like him, who brought him onto the ship and
were getting paid for it. How could a slave do that to another slave?

3. He felt like they would kill him, and once seeing everyone else there too, he was
certain of it. This stood out because not only did he know it, but im sure everyone else
that was there chained together knew it too.

4. He was so scared of his fate that he fainted. He is also super scared of all the
white people on board.

5. He said that he wished that he could go back to any form of slavery instead of the
situation he is currently in. Why is he so scared to be on the boat? How is it worse than
before?

6. They held him down and forced fed him. Why were they so set on him eating? I
thought they could care less if he starved.

7. They are on this boat so that they will work for the white men aboard. Now I
know why they care for them to eat. They cant work for them if they are dead.

8. And if they didnt eat they would have beaten for not eating. Like him he
preferred to be beat instead of eat his portion which to me sounds like the worse option
but im sure in t hat time he didnt want anything to do with them.

9. The white men dont even care for each other. This is shocking because I thought
they would work together, not be so carless to just toss the dead white man over.

10. The people on board of the ship were so cruel. The example he gave when they
caught and ate all the fish they could and instead of giving them any, they tossed them
back into the water. I wonder what made them want to be so cruel to the black people.

11. The craziest thing that stood out to me was that the men would actually jump
instead of awaiting whatever faith was about to come to them. It saddens me to think
about because who knows what could have happened to them if they were still alive, they
could have gotten lucky.

12. He is so scared that he is going to be eaten by the white men. IS that what
happened in this time?
 13. They are treated like animals when the owners are there to look and buy the man
they want.

14. It is so sad that the family members had to be split up.

15. Even women were on the boat split up from their family beat on the boat to make
sure they were able to be sold to someone in Barbados.

16. Even going through all of the he still had hope and still believed that there was
magic out in the world.

17. At one point he says that the only friend he has is death and he would be fine with
death taking him. Its so sad that that is their only option and there is nothing they can
even do about it.

18. I am a little confused about the part were the other ship pulled up and those
people got on the boat. Where they there to help them? But then they still ended up being
sold so im not sure about that one.

19. The conditions they kept them in were so bad people died. It reminds me of the
holocaust concentration camps almost.

20. His last few sentences are true. Being with your loved ones in a horrible condition
doesnt seem too bad, but once you are split up, its like what else do you have to lose.

This reading was very insightful into the mind of a slave and everything he felt while being
shipped across the country to then be sold to another man for him to be a slave. I thought he
was very brave like many to be able to make it and go through it instead of deciding on
jumping off the boat and killing himself. This definitely makes you take a step back and be
thankful for the life and society we live in today and that all of this happened back then so
that our generation today can be safe and wont ever have to go through something so terrible.
I think the thing I will remember is that most of them would have preferred death over
slavery. That is so heartbreaking that that is what they had to go through.
o