This first-person narrative offers us an insight into Equiano's attempt to downplay his own identity as a black man to appeal to the readers this piece of writing is targeted at, which is the white men that make up Britain’s parliament back then. (Mallipeddi 923) By displaying a great sense of humility in his narration—“I regard myself as a particular favorite of heaven…. I am not foolishly vain as to expect from it either immortality or literary reputation.”—Equiano is flattering the Englishmen's notion of the inherent superiority of their culture (Equiano 515). It is also possible that Equiano thought that this display of humility could help in attracting the attention of the general public. In addition, Equiano has employed a direct and simplistic style of writing in Life. Paul Edwards wrote in the introduction of the 1967 edition of Equiano's slave narrative that he “as a rule puts no emotional pressure on the reader other than that which the situation itself contains—his language does not strain after our sympathy” (923). Equiano wants his autobiography to reveal the brutalities executed upon the slaves by the people of the New World in order to spur actions toward abolishing the slave trade, and he describes them in a direct but graphic manner because he does not believe that there was a need to dramatize his experience for the readers to grasp the terror he had been put through. What is astounding to me is his capacity to retain such vivid and detailed memories even after all these years. He is able to recount precisely the names, time and dates, sometimes the extraordinary sceneries he had beheld as a child. Granted, his self-awareness has prompted him to justify his extraordinary memory in the second chapter of the book in which he states “they had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression of my mind” (Equiano 515). Another thing worth noticing is Equiano’s assurance of his own identity writing as a self-made man. Ramesh Mallipeddi notes his confident tone in describing his early life is somehow uncommon and presents a glaring contrast to slave narratives of which the author is born as a slave instead of a free man (927). Equiano has recounted his gynecology history with authority by saying: “I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named Essaka” (927). Evidently, Equiano and Frederick Douglas, who admitted to being ignorant of the details of his birth and wrote: “I suppose myself to have been born about the year 1817.”, have both employed very different tones when writing about their pasts (927).
Although Life has been hailed as the first slave narrative ever produced and has received much praise for exposing the terrible things African slaves had been through, Equiano himself has actually acknowledged the fact that his enslavement is not representative of the majority of the African slaves when he “regard[s] himself as a particular favorite of heaven, and acknowledge[s] the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life.” (Equiano 515). Ramesh Mallipeddi and Ayanna Jackson-Fowler have each written about varying justifications for Equiano’s inclination to align himself with the very people who have total control over his own freedom. It is almost as if Equiano has succumbed to the influence of Stockholm Syndrome. When Equiano was kidnapped by a slave owner, he was merely eleven years old. Taking this into account, Mallipeddi proposes that Equiano’s tendency to think well of his African slave masters is due to his need to retain a sense of social belonging despite being enslaved. He believes that Equiano has forged filiation ties with his masters not merely out of necessity but also to guarantee safety and protection (Mallipeddi 925). Indeed, the flattering treatment he had received at Tinmah almost made him “forgot that he was a slave” and gave him the idea that he was going to be “adopted into the family” (Equiano 517). His physical displacement to another part of Africa does not constitute total captivity and estrangement because his milieu still retains a sense of home in social and cultural terms (Mallipeddi 931). The slave masters in Sub-Saharan Africa also view Equiano as a servant but never as property (931). We can ascertain this by the way they “washed and perfumed him” and allowed him to “eat and drink before their son” (Equiano 517).
Upon arriving on European lands, he begins to invent familial ties with whichever master who has at any point executed kindness upon him as a means to counter the anomie that comes with being enslaved (Mallipeddi 931). He tends to view himself as the child of the surrogate parents because he is overcome by the nostalgia for his own parents (929). Thus, the young Equiano has regarded Miss Guerin who has “treated [him] with kindness” and “sent [him] to school” as a mother. Rather than just plain loyalty, Equiano's attachment to the white Europeans can be seen as one of the means by which he achieves social reconnection and self-possession in a foreign place (932). Following that, he continues to acquire autonomy of his own identity by forging familial bonds with the shipmates during the years he spent on the sea. Shipmates, to Equiano, are equaled to brothers, and he has formed a close bond with most of them, especially one man named Daniel Queen who is a 40 years old steward on Pascal’s ship. This quasi-filiation relationship with Queen can be best explained by Robert Stepto’s idea of the “search of patrimony” (935). Equiano, at one point, has described Queen as such: “He was like a father to me; and some even used to call me after his name; they also styled me the black Christian” (Equiano).
The search for patrimony is necessary for Equiano to invent his manhood without either of his parents or anybody to model after and to remake the definition of his own identity that is not largely overshadowed by slavery (Mallipeddi 935). It is most likely due to his young age that Equiao had an abnormally deep attachment with his first slave owner, Pascal. He fears greatly being abandoned by Pascal and admits that if he leaves him, it would “break his heart” (Equiano). Even though Pascal has struck him before for refusing to answer to his new name, “Gustassa Vassa,” Equiano does not hesitate to inform the readers of how Pascal has “treated him with the greatest kindness” later on in the story (Equiano 529). It is an unexpected betrayal for Equiano to find out that this man who had seen more like a guardian and father than a master to him had decided to sell him off instead of granting him his long-deserved freedom. Rather than retracting his praise of Pascal, Equiano tries to negotiate this seemingly unreasonable turn of events by thinking it is God who is trying to “teach [him] resignation and wisdom” (Equiano).
Ayanna Jackson-Fowler has a different take on this observation. She posits that Equiano has written in such a way that paints the Europeans in a favorable light because black authors like Equiano had been subjected to the image of the noble Negro, thus producing such a paradoxical work (Jackson-Fowler 51). “Noble Negro” is defined by Wylie Sypher as “the African who united the traits of the Negro so that he might not be repulsive… and the traits of the Negro, so that he might arouse pity.” (51). Equiano seeks to push his readers toward the abolitionist movement by ‘humanizing” Africans through the model of the noble Negro (51). Life, among much other abolitionist literature, is seen by many as a narrative that popularizes “the stereotyped, simplified, patronizing, and degrading images of Africa.” (51). By claiming royal ancestry and acting upon his “desire to resemble them; to imbibe their spirit, and imitate their manners,” he is setting himself apart from the common Africans (Equiano 527). Throughout Equiano’s narrative, the readers might notice the absence of a relationship with an African close enough to be paralleled to those he has had with Queen or Baker. He does have one encounter with one “poor Creole man,” but like many others before and after him, he is not named. He does not feel a sense of familiarity with people from his own ethnicity but refers to the Europeans as his “new countrymen” and “men who are superior to us.” (527) Who are the “others” to Equanio in Life? Certainly not his white owners, shipmates, and captains. It does not seem to me that his view on the Europeans has changed much since it is reported that he has owned slaves after gaining his freedom. He even advises the slave masters in Life that by “changing your conduct, and treating your slaves as men, every cause of fear would be banished. They would be faithful, honest, intelligent and vigorous; and peace, prosperity, and happiness, would attend you.” (Equiano). This might explain why Equiano has so readily praised his own masters for their kindness. Being a self-acknowledged favored slave has made him approach the issue of slavery very differently. It looks like he thinks that slavery is only called so when violence is inflicted upon the subjects. After reading about this one line in Life, I realize that this narrative is saturated with conflicting points. He writes Life to move people to abolish slavery but talks about how kind his masters were to him in the very narrative. He condemns the slave masters for forcing the slaves to labor against their will but then turns around and writes that it is justifiable if you actually ask nicely about it.
So what is Olaudah Equiano trying to tell his readers exactly? It is indeed interesting to consider whether Equiano's gratitude to his own slave masters is just him being brutally honest about the exceptionally kind treatment he had indeed received or are those expressions added into the book as an afterthought? The feeling of anger seems to be noticeably absent in the journey of his enslavement as well. After reading both journals by Mallipeddi and Jackson-Fowler, I’ve come to the realization that perhaps Equiano has done so in order to preserve his own conformity within the social setting in England where he had first published it. He wants to abolish slavery, but at the same time, he does not want to lose the favorable position he has tried so hard to attain in society. And so, he tries at length to please the European readers by constantly using flattering words like “kindness”, “gratitude” and “thankful” in relation to his slave masters. It makes me think that he is thanking them for shaping him into the counterpart of a sensible white European man that he was when he was writing the book. I see Equiano’s attempts at elevating his status as a slave in many parts of the story to show that despite having been enslaved, he is still a man who is fully in control of his thoughts and actions. There is one instance in which he highlights himself as capable of the same decision-making skill that his master possesses when deciding upon which vessel to purchase: “I was well pleased he chose this, which was the largest; for, from having this vessel, I had more room, and could carry a larger quantity of goods with me.” (533) The mention of him with his own possessions despite being a slave is notable as well and agrees with my idea that Equiano commences his journey towards acquiring his own freedom by dismantling people’s view of him as property. He achieves his goal by becoming a merchant who has a certain measure of mobility and the ability to own possessions.
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