Olaudah Equiano Research Paper

Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, not only displays triumph over oppression, an attribute that is hailed as the cornerstone of a model American, but chronicles the beginning point of Americas change in attitude towards ethnic exclusion by discrimination.Interestingly Equiano spent most of his life in America as a slave and it is probable that Equiano wouldn’t consider himself in any fashion as an American. According to the “Norton Anthology of American Literature,”
“[Equiano] saw the ugliest side of American life in both the North and the South. Even in Philadelphia, a city built on the premise of brotherly love, Equiano observed that the freed
black was treated with profound contempt, “plundered” and “universally insulted,” with no possibility of redress ” (Baym et. al. A 687).
Upon the acquisition of his freedom Equiano left America and “never set foot on American soil again” (Baym et. al. A 687). So why is he included in American literary canon? Equiano exists in the American literary canon because he and his Narrative are extremely significant to American history. His story provides an essential perspective on the atrocities committed by America. So though he is not American his story chronicles a key piece of American history. An era of American history which is a turning point for American Identity. Also he himself though not American exemplifies attributes of the American identity.