Essay On The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

Literature oftentimes evokes several emotions in its readers, depending on the kind of events it portrays. It provides alternate perspectives, as well as details with specific narratives to uncover the core happenings of a situation, and narrows the point of view to ensure the accurate representation of how living in that time period really was. Specifically, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the slavery issue during the 1600s elicits a plethora of emotions through the firsthand accounts. In the excerpt, Olaudah details his capturing from his hometown and the several masters he lives with before being brought over to America. He captures the reader’s attention by using vivid imagery and specific details of his life on the ship and elsewhere. The three emotions I felt while reading this selection were dejection, shock, and disgust.
The principal emotion I felt while reading this excerpt was dejection. Certain details of the story made me feel this way, specifically the separation of him and his sister after being kidnapped. This
This narrative also relates to the Syrian refugee crisis, where millions of people are being forced to move from their homes. Refugees must find camps that offer only basic living conditions to have even a chance of finding a permanent settlement. This is similar to the slavery issue of the 1600s because both groups of people left their homeland (either intentionally or unintentionally) and brought into a foreign land without anything to their name. Thus, literature can help people make connections to the real world because oftentimes it parallels what we see in today’s society, and helps us better understand what people such as the Syrians are experiencing by giving us accounts of what the Africans were feeling and therefore stress these emotions in the