The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

1789 autobiography of Olaudah Equiano

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), an African from what is now Nigeria who was enslaved in childhood and eventually earned his freedom and became an abolitionist in the United Kingdom. The narrative is argued to represent a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative. The book describes Equiano's time spent in enslavement, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.

Before Chapter 1, Equiano writes: "An invidious falsehood having appeared in the Oracle of the 25th, and the Star of the 27th of April 1792, with a view, to hurt my character, and to discredit and prevent the sale of my Narrative." Like many literary works written by black people during this time, Equiano's work was discredited as a false presentation of his slavery experience. To combat these accusations, Equiano includes a set of letters written by white people who "knew me when I first arrived in England and could speak no language but that of Africa." Henry Louis Gates Jr. discusses the use of prefaces by black authors to humanize their being, which in turn made their work credible. In this section of the book, Equiano includes this preface to avoid further discrediting.

Equiano opens his Narrative with an explanation of his struggle to write a memoir. He is empathetic about hardships that memoir writers experience. He explains that they often have to defend themselves against those who question their work. He apologizes to his readers in advance for not having the most exciting story, but hopes it helps other slaves in his position. He states, "I am neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant." Equiano describes that Eboe (now known as Igboland) had well established rules and laws of governing. Their systems of marriage and law were strictly enforced. His father—an elder in the district—was in charge of punishing criminals and resolving conflicts within their society. Within the district, women were held to higher standards than men. Marriage was seen as extremely important. The bride's family was responsible for providing gifts for the family of the husband, and the wife was "owned by her husband". Dancing was a huge part of the culture within the kingdom. All dancing was separated into four divisions of groups of people, and they all represented key life events. The kingdom was made up of many musicians, singers, poets, dancers, and artists. The people of the kingdom lived a simple life. Nothing was luxurious. Clothes and homes were very plain and clean. The only type of luxuries in their eyes were perfumes and on occasions alcohol. Women were in charge of creating clothing for the men and women to wear. Agriculture was the primary occupation, because the kingdom sat on rich soil and facilitated abundant growth. Though slaves were present in the kingdom, only those who were prisoners of war or convicted criminals were traded in Eboe. Hardships were brought about by an unusual number of locusts and constant arbitrary wars with other districts. If another district's chief waged war and won, they would acquire all slaves belonging to their opponent. In the event of a loss, chiefs were put to death. Religion was extremely important in Equiano's society. The people of Eboe believed in one "Creator", who believed lived in the sun and was in charge of major occurrences: life, death, and war. They believed that those who died transmigrated into spirits, but their friends and family who did not transmigrate protected them from evil spirits. They also believed in circumcision. Equiano compared this practice of circumcision to that of the Jews. Equiano also explains the customs of his people. Children were named after events or virtues. Olaudah meant fortune, but it also served as a symbol of command of speech and his demanding voice. Two of the core values of the Eboe religion were cleanliness and decency. Touching of women during their menstrual cycle and the touching of dead bodies were seen as unclean. As Equiano discusses his people, he explains the fear of poisonous plants and venomous snakes within the community. He describes an instance where a snake slithered through his legs without harming him. He considered himself extremely lucky. Equiano makes numerous references to the similarity between the Jews and his people. Like the Jews, not only did his people practice circumcision, but they also practiced sacrificing, burnt offerings, and purification. He explains how Abraham's wife was African, and that the skin colour of Eboan Africans and modern Jews differs due to the climate. At the end of the first chapter, Equiano asserts that Africans were not inferior people; the Europeans considered them as such because they were ignorant of the European language, history, and customs. He explains it is important to remember the ancestors of the Europeans were once uncivilized barbarians. He states, "Understanding is not confined to feature or colour." Equiano is forced onto a slave ship and spends the next several weeks on the ship under terrible conditions. He points out the "closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate added to the number in the ship" suffocates them; some slaves even preferred to drown, and one was saved only to be flogged later, as he had chosen to die rather than accept slavery. Paul Edwards edited The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, in 1967 and sparked further debate about the validity of the story's origins. In 1999, Vincent Carretta published findings of two records that questioned Equiano's birthplace in Africa. Carretta found Equiano's baptismal record dated 9 February 1759 from St Margaret's Church in Westminster, London, where Equiano was recorded as "Gustavus Vassa, a Black born in Carolina, 12 years old", and a naval muster roll from 1773 where Equiano likewise identified his birthplace as "South Carolina". These documents were enough for Carretta to believe that Equiano's claims about his early life were "probably fictitious". Aside from contradicting Equiano's account directly, these records suggested that, even if Equiano were born in Africa, he would have been at most seven or eight years old when he was sold into slavery (given that he must have been purchased by Michael Henry Pascal in Virginia no later than December 1754). This made Carretta doubt the reliability of Equiano's first hand descriptions of his home "country" and "countrymen". Carretta believes his findings indicate Equiano had borrowed his account of Africa from others, and said the timing of the publication was not an accident. Carretta noted "the revelation that Gustavus Vassa was a native born Igbo originally named Olaudah Equiano appears to have evolved during 1788 in response to the needs of the abolitionist movement." Carretta explains that Equiano presumably knew what parts of his story could be corroborated by others, and, more importantly if he was combining fiction with fact, what parts could not easily be contradicted. Lovejoy believes Vassa's description of his country and his people is sufficient confirmation that he was born where he said he was, and based on when boys received the ichi scarification, that he was about 11 when he was kidnapped, as he claims, which suggests a birth date of about 1742, not 1745 or 1747. Lovejoy's thoughts on the baptismal record are that Vassa couldn't have made up his origins because he would have been too young. Lovejoy goes on to say:

In 2007, Carretta wrote a response to Lovejoy's claims about Equiano's Godparents saying: "Lovejoy can offer no evidence for such a desire or perception."

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was one of the first widely read slave narratives. Eight editions were printed during the author's lifetime, and it was translated into Dutch and German. The structure and rhetorical strategies of the book were influential and created a model for subsequent slave narratives. The different kinds of aspects and ideas in his narrative, such as travel, religion, and slavery, cause some readers to debate what kind of narrative his writing is: a slavery narrative, a spiritual narrative, or a travel narrative. The work has proven so influential in the study of African and African American literature that it is frequently taught in both English literature and History classrooms in universities. The work has also been republished in the influential Heinemann African Writers Series.