Olaudah Equiano - Ch 5

 I found it especially interesting that Olaudah, who has been a slave in both England and the United States, referenced Christianity so much in his writing. Within the first paragraph of this chapter, Olaudah writes, “I therefore, with contrition of heart, acknowledged my transgression to God, and poured out my soul before him with unfeigned repentance, and with earnest supplications I besought him not to abandon me in my distress, nor cast me from his mercy forever” (Equiano 182). This really stood out to me. First off, I have often been led to believe that many of the slaves tried to retain their indigenous religions even though Christianity was at times forced upon him. Yet, in Olaudah’s autobiography, he is clearly asking God for help to protect him and help him through his servitude as a slave. In addition, this quote speaks for itself in depicting the detrimental effects that slavery had on the slaves themselves. We do not often have insight into the way slaves though or reflected on their enslavement. Olaudah wants nothing more than for something good to finally happen in his life. Throughout the remainder of this chapter, he continues to reference the Lord and continually asks him for help and to punish those slave owners who abuse the slaves.

  I was glad to see that Olaudah’s previous owner respected him so much that he set him up with a owner that would treat him well and see that he was rewarded for his good behavior. This is not to say that the institution of slavery is any better in the United States, but rather that there were slave owners that treated their slaves like human beings as opposed to work horses. I don’t know why, but it also stuck out to me that his later owner, Mr. King, was a Quaker and I feel as though his religion (and also his location in Massachusetts) may have contributed to his better experience later on. It was also interesting to read that Olaudah was so well trusted and respected that he became a clerk under Mr. King and was thus given additional responsibilities that many slaves would not be entrusted with. In fact, it was interesting to hear that while Olaudah was in the West Indies, he was not allowed to transport cargo without a white man present because they did not trust him there. Just goes to show what many thought of slaves.

 The picture that was painted of slavery in the West Indies is that of a cruel one. I could hardly bear to read some of the accounts of torture that was done to the slaves. How can anyone mangle and abuse another human being in such a way, especially over such small mishaps? I was appalled to read that one slave was beaten until his bones were almost broken because he over boiled a pot of water. It is almost as if slave owners looked for an excuse to beat their slaves. It was interesting to read the perspective of a slave on the institution of slavery because we rarely have the opportunity to do so. Because of this, I think many details were removed on how bad the institution really was.