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. 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.
Main themes
Slavery in West Africa vs. slavery in the Americas
The African slave's voyage from Africa (Igbo Land) to the Americas and England
The cross-cultural and geopolitical journey from slavery to freedom and heathenism to Christianity.
Summary
Preface
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." In his article, "Preface to Blackness: Text and Pretext" 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.
Chapter 1
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." He begins his story with a description of his homeland and the district in which he was born. He was born in the Kingdom of Benin, a part of Guinea. He details his district, Eboe (now Nigeria), and the isolation of Essake, the small province of his birth in 1745.
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.