Summary Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

A standard and structured education in 18th century Colonial America was mostly limited to colonists arriving from Europe or those living in the New England region. Like most educated colonists, the benefit of an education was readily accessible for those that were from a white, well-to-do families and rarely to an African or former slave. These schools provided a regular curriculum where students learned to read, write, and study religion. Furthermore, Africans were commonly viewed as an inferior race suited to a life in the fields or used as slave labor and incompatible in scholarly teachings. In “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,” a reader can easily witness the limitless possibilities of African-Americans, most notably
His recollection of an early upbringing provides a rare glimpse of a way of life that is foreign or possibly unknown to English and American societies at the time. While growing up in the African village of Ibo, Equiano explains that he led a happy life among his siblings and other children of his age. However, he had to learn skills and adapt to struggles not faced in modern civilization. The author learned at an early age life skills such as javelin throwing as well as keeping a lookout for intruders that sought to kidnap children for the slave trade. The element of kidnapping is an unheard of circumstance that is far-fetched to fathom for any eleven year old in Europe or America; however, the experiences that the author learned at that age permitted him to develop a “street smart” sense of intelligence that would later pave the way for a formal education and his eventual
Most importantly, Equiano learns of religion in greater detail from a captain’s clerk that he saw as a father figure. Equiano’s exposure to these subjects further fuels his desire to achieve freedom with boundless confidence. Now armed with the virtue of an education in scholarly, religious, financial, and societal manners, Equiano’s freedom from slavery is attainable and an inevitable