Summary Of The Astonishing Life Of Octavian Nothing By Mt Anderson

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T. Anderson is a profound and often gut-wrenching account of the Revolutionary-era mindset. The novel follows Octavian, the son of an African princess named Cassiopeia and his adventures in the Novanglian College of Lucidity. Publicly thought as a slave, but actually a test subject, Octavian is trained in Greek, Latin, French, poetry, music etc. His studies are abruptly halted due to a change of sponsorship of the College and his skills in the arts and sciences begin to dip. After the tragic loss of his mother to smallpox, his escape and eventual recapturing, Octavian is finally told his purpose as a test subject. He was used to prove the inferiority of the African race. It is later revealed that the halting of his studies was used to skew the results of this experiment after
the College realized that Octavian was actually a bright pupil.
This experiment was to be used justify the vile institution of slavery and, “To maintain the stability of the nation….” (Anderson 338). Through the story of Octavian, we see America’s desperate dependency on the institution of slavery and the country’s willingness to justify it by any means necessary. Whether it be the skewing of data or the murdering of men.

Despite the fact that Octavian was give lavish treatment and luxurious clothes, he was meant to fail. He had to fail. In a Revolutionary-era America, slavery was at the basis of everything. Cotton was picked by slaves and sold by owners. This cotton brought in a substantial amount of revenue and during the war, and was used to clothe troops. With such a large revenue, farmers expanded their land. They themselves couldn’t pick all the cotton and hiring a farm-hand was just too expensive. The answer? Slaves. Without slavery
as Mr. Sharpe puts it, “......America would be thrown into the most abject monetary crisis, commerce would be impossible, and, in the midst of that chaos, we would have roaming about the streets thousands, hundreds of thousands, of Negroes without home or employment, themselves starving” (Anderson 337). From a business standpoint, it was a win-win. The employer got money, the employee got food, clothing and shelter. From a humane standpoint, it was an abomination of everything that set man apart from beast. As students and citizens, we are accustomed to seeing slavery as something that just sort of came up. We see slavery as an inhumane method of farming and business. However, such was not the case. Slavery was almost a necessity. Mr. Gitney and Mr. Sharpe, in a way, represent the two sides of slavery. Mr. Gitney was the side that didn’t like slavery, but needed it. This is evident when he says, “ I would free you and the others [slaves] tomorrow if I could……. To manumit you, I would have to pay a bond…...grievously expensive…….” (Anderson 336). Mr. Sharpe on the other hand just didn’t care. This is evident when he says, “......God has determined- that some creatures are less, and some more……” (Anderson 337). Slavery was one tragic necessity.

On a personal level, I felt that this book was appalling. Not because of the quality of the book, but because of the truth that I was afforded. Although slavery is now history, it was very real thing. As a rule, all races are equal because it’s just the color of your skin and nothing more. We’re all human here. To me,this book serves as a sharp call towards the ongoing struggle for racial equality. In this age, we meet people of various races and opinions. However, we are all equal and not even the Novanglian College of Lucidity can disprove that.