Equiano: West and East

Equiano: West and East

Alike: Comparisons of African Society and Western Society
In Equiano’s critical memoir of his life, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he takes it upon himself to dispel many stereotypes attributed to Africans in the West. In Chapter 1, part six, Equiano describes several of the beliefs and rituals of his people. Equiano uses at this point, many subtle statements and ideas that are meant to lead the reader to comparisons between Africans and Western civilizations. One comparison Equiano makes comes when he describes the calendar and yearly rituals that take place. His description of the calendar of his people, for example, places an understated comparison to the creation of the calendar of the Romans, who are largely considered one of the greatest civilizations to ever exist. These connections become tools Equiano would use often in all of his writing meant for European and American audiences.
In his memoir, Equiano beseeches the Europeans to remember that theirs was not always the enlightened and technologically advanced civilization they are now. He reminds them that the ancestors of the European were “once like the Africans, uncivilized and even barbarous” (Equiano 46). It is in his comparisons of his people to past civilizations that he manages to toe a fine line. He knew that he must be careful not to make it seem as though the people of Africa were as refined as Westerners, because this would be an assumption that would repel his audience. This is a clever move on his part because he realized that it was far more important that as many people as possible read the memoir. Along these same lines, it becomes clear that Equiano knows how “play along” with European society, all the while attempting to change their opinion of his people. Even at the very beginning of his narrative, he slips in the fact that his father had slaves. Apart from establishing his father in a position of power among his people, it creates a comparison between...

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