Brycchan Carey’s website question’s the birthplace of Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa. Equiano, in his book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, claims that he was born in the village of Essaka in Africa. Equiano gives a very good description of his village; describing the look of the land, the architecture, and intricate customs of his people. This would give some historians peace of mind, thinking that with all of this information he must be telling the truth, but it leads me in a different direction. When I think back to my own childhood, and I speak to others about theirs there are usually giant holes in mine/their memories. Equiano was supposedly kidnapped at the age of eleven which is quite young to be able to still remember, decades later, your homeland in such detail. It makes much more sense for Equiano to have spoken with other Africans and used this information to piece together a story.
In Equiano’s narrative, he discusses the importance of honesty. He was taught by his master that if he lied he would not get into heaven. Equiano wrote in his book, “for I always remembered the old adage; and I trust it has ever been my ruling principle, that honesty is the best policy.”
If, during his slavery, as this quote was taken, honesty was of such importance to Equiano then why would he lie when he was baptized saying that he was born in South Carolina. Also, why would he lie to the Royal Navy again saying he was born in South Carolina? He would not. Equiano would, in my opinion, only lie when it was of the utmost importance and it was when he was trying to abolish slavery.
Equiano’s narrative was a smart use of propaganda in England when parliament was discussing abolishing slavery. When Equiano’s fellow member of the Sons of Africa, Ottobah Cugoano, also know as John Stewart, wrote Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery, he left out his own experience as a slave. The book failed because of this omission. Equiano saw this and must of know that to appeal to both the public and the government he must play to their emotions. Equiano plays to the emotions of the people perfectly and his book became a huge tool for abolition. Lying about his birthplace was worth it for the freedom of his people. He could of even argued at the time that if it was true for one of his fellow blacks, then it could be true for all of them.
1 Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Bedford/St. Martins, 2007), 119.
I don't think that just because Equiano enhanced some parts of his story, he necessarily fabricated everything. I agree that it would be pretty unusual to remember every detail about childhood(I am even a little fuzzy on what I did last week), but, as Dr Barnes pointed out in one of the lectures, the literary standard in the late eighteenth century was to borrow liberally from contemporary writers. I don't think Equiano would have hesitated to strengthen his story with information from other sources.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Carey's table points out that Equiano may not have lied about his origin at his baptism and enlistment, it may have been in the first case a language problem and in the second case a convenience as the faulty information was already on record.
I dont think it matters if he fabricated any of it at all. His writings have been found to be accurate, whether or not it was accurate to his experiences is still to debate. He has already cited others as sources of reference for his childhood in Africa. In hindsight, his book, as you noted, was a tool for the abolition of slavery, and it was a very effective tool to this extent.
ReplyDeleteI think that you made a very nice observation. I went the other way saying that he was born in Africa. I didn't really think about it the way you did. Although I still think that Equiano was born in Africa, your points on him lying to support abolition, and his playing to his audience is quite compelling. Nice post.
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