Journal: Olaudah Equiano

Christine Sloss
Dr. Scott Lankford

English 48A
Journal: Olaudah Equiano
November 7, 2011

Author Quote: “Though you were early forced from my arms, your image has been always riveted in my heart, from which neither time nor fortune have been able to remove it;

”Internet Quote: "The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon connected with terror, when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled, and tossed up to see if I were sound, by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me."

Brief summary of what the author is saying in your own words: Olaudah is describing the last moments of which he sees his sister, and no matter what else has occurred in his life the wound of their separation will never heal.

My thoughts: I find the way Olaudah told his story very captivating. I found  myself immediately taken with terror, imagining the author distress as he and his sister were taken from his family. Olaudah does this not for pity, but to set the tone, knowing most reader can relate to this scenario. As a parent it is one of my biggest fear, to have my child, or any ones child kidnapped. Perhaps, for this reason Olaudah’s fears are bonded with us intimately, creating more of a connection to the story. The loss of a loved one is a timeless tragedy and can happen to anyone, young, old, rich, poor, black or white. However, with the other parts of the story, most of us can scarcely imagine the reprehensible terror of slavery, even though he briefly describes a few incidents, that regrettably happened so frequently, it lacks the readers experience of fear. The actual nightmare of Olaudah and the inhumane treatment of those slaves is in the distant past.   And, the inability to help helpless women being raped and beaten, men flogged to almost their death, the inhabitable quarters of the slaves on the slave ships, living in constant fear of your master or any white man who walk the earth, being in constant hunger and pain, all of these conditions can only be imagined with the vaguest of thought, and a hint of fear or humility. I feel Olaudah makes a few good attempts to bring the reader closer to the fear involved, for example when he is was forcible separated from his sister, after the kidnapping, the thought of these children and hope scared they must have been leaves me with tears. And this is just one nail in the coffin, Olaudah comment about images riveting his heart, his story will inevitably touch every readers heart.