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In Class Writing 4

“Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”

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25 July, 2022
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In Class Writing 4

“Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”

Olaudah Equiano was given multiple identities in his life. He was born in Essaka, now

known as Nigeria as a free African in 1745. He was kidnapped at age 11, and a British Royal

Navy officer bought him and gave him the new name Gustavus Vassa. He purchased his freedom

for £40 from an English merchant, who was his last master. Equiano spent eight years as an

enslaved African. After 20 years of exploration and trading, Equiano finally settled in England.

Equiano was a remarkable man who became a leading figure in the fight to abolish the slave

trade. He was a founder of the Sons of Africa, a British-based abolitionist group created by

Africans. He wrote his biography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,

which was released in 1789 and revealed the atrocities of slavery by depicting his own

experiences. During his lifetime, it underwent nine editions and assisted in adopting the British

Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended the slave trade. He died on March 31, 1797, in London as a

free British man.

Olaudah Equiano had made an effort to raise awareness of the severe impacts of slavery,

which forced him to maintain many identities in his life. He was unsure of his identity in the

world. Every time he was bound to a place, it was stolen from him, exactly like his identity.

Equiano often found himself longing for the places he got attached to. "had my heart not been

fixed on England, I should have stayed [in the Bahamas], as I liked the place extremely, and
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there were some free black people here who were very happy, and we passed our time pleasantly

together" (Equiano, 1789, p. 157).

Equiano had a significant impact on his audience by openly discussing the traumas and

experiences related to his multiple identities. He demonstrated how his masters had control over

his identity and that he had no choice in the matter. He was forced to give up his past and accept

it. In order to survive, he had to evolve his personality in accordance with his identity. Equiano

embodied the fusion of the cultures of Africa and Europe. He only spent his early years in

Africa, yet he stayed aware of his roots and connected to them. He did, however, also quickly

adopt British culture and traditions. He showed how he transformed into an explicitly relational

subject, living in a sequence of insider and outsider positionalities connected to English, African,

and gendered roles.

Most people have the same identity when they are born and die with the same one.

However, Equiano's situation was not shared by others. We all have a distinct affection for our

ancestry and home countries. Nobody desires to be removed from it. The aspect of Equiano's

story about his various identities has really affected me. It is quite difficult to continually change

oneself to suit the needs of your masters. Not being allowed to live freely and choose your own

identity is against humanity. It is a serious trauma that causes self-worth to be destroyed.

Equiano's desire to emulate his masters in their ownership of their own labor was the source of

his identification with them. The trauma resulted from the exchange of Equiano's body, not his

work when the illusion of equality of worth was shattered.

Equiano has successfully balanced the motivation of his multiple identities. The main

goal of illustrating how each identity affected him was to increase awareness of slavery, its

consequences on enslaved people, and how they attempted to adapt. Regardless of what they go
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through or how well they perform their work, they are viewed as unworthy. On the other hand,

he remembers his cheerful folks and the grandeur of his land while describing his early years as a

free African. In addition, he also describes his life as a free British man who got the opportunity

to speak for the other slaves and fought for their rights. It seems like he lived the life of different

people with different identities. All his identities taught him great lessons and made him a great

man. His works are still recognized today. Many people read his Autobiography and his

Narrative assisted in ending slave trade in 1807.

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References

Editors. (n.d.). Olaudah Equiano Biography. TheFamousPeople.Com.

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/olaudah-equiano-6354.php

Equiano, O. (1789). The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus.

Vassa, the African. Peterborough, Ont. :Broadview Press

Stitt, J. (n.d.). Olaudah Equiano, Englishness, and the Negotiation of Raced Gender. Michigan

Feminist Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.ark5583.0014.005

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, second edition. (n.d.). The British

Library. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-life-of-olaudah-equinao