‘Horrors of a slave ship’ is an article written by Olaudah Equiano. The story is mainly about an African slave family that had free children, and due to a kidnapping situation, the author was separated from his family. The author gives off an incidence that occurred in 1773 during the slavery era. He was kidnapped by robbers who in turn separated him and the sister. The separation affected the author greatly to the point that he always desired to find a way to go back home. Plans of escaping the slavery life occurred to him but due to some circumstance that took place with the master, the plans were not executed. As time went by he was sold off to different farms in the various countries. The hopes of running away faded with time and he now got used to adapting (Edwards & Ogude, 1997).
One day as he was on a new farm, new slaves were brought in, and one of them was his sister. He was very excited and could not help but embrace each other in tears. Unfortunately, that relief and happiness were not to last, and after some time they got separated never to see her again. It discouraged him and made him lose hope of happiness. During his journey across Africa, he met some good masters who helped to shape him become stronger. As time went by he was sold off to some African merchants who took him and other slaves to the slavery ship. At the slavery ship, he went through various horrific experiences. He got to see people of a different complexion and their cruelty towards the blacks and fellow whites was astonishing. The journey to the island of Barbadoes was filled with sorrowful events and arriving at the mainland was a relief. He is astonished to see horses and houses made of brick. They were then sold off to go work in farms (Edwards & Ogude, 1997).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The author through the story is trying to show how horrific is slavery. He shows how he was kidnapped showing the unwillingness to partake the journey and how innocent children always fall victims to such atrocities. There are good and bad masters, and the author shows how they all had an impact in his life during this journey. His argument is that some masters do not care about their slaves and can sometimes mistreat them. It is not a pleasing feeling for the victims and during his journey he has seen many of the slaves’ sacrum to death. The author describes the whites as cruel, and it is because they handled the slaves. They did not care about their well-being, and this led to many of them committing suicide (Edwards & Ogude, 1997).
The topic of slavery is something that is discussed by historians. Slavery mainly occurred and began before the World War I. It is something that had a very negative impact on the lives of many Africans. There are those that willingly entered into slavery may be to settle a debt or provide for their families. On the contrary, there are those that were kidnapped. All the same the Africans in slavery suffered the experience with no one to help them. They were always taken to different countries in Africa or oversee and therefore could not escape. Many of those taken to slavery were energetic young Africans despite their age. The numbers of people who survive through slavery always turn out strong but filled with anger towards the masters who condone slavery (Edwards & Ogude, 1997).
In conclusion, slavery is not human and all those who practice it can be considered to lack a conscience. It is never right to take away the rights of someone without their consent. A human being cannot be sold as a commodity because they have a reasoning capacity to make their decision. It is also hard to make a slave out of a man, and therefore cruelty is always involved. Cruelty is used in animals to tame them. The same method is what these masters used, and therefore it affected the African slaves greatly. Psychologically they were like pets or children. Such actions were unacceptable, and it is because of such things that the effect is felt centuries later. Until today racism is a great problem in the white countries. There are those who still hold the grudge of slavery, and there are those that still see blacks as inferior therefore not having equal opportunities (Edwards & Ogude, 1997).
References
Edwards, P., & Ogude, S. E. (1997). Equiano's Travels (p. xv). Heinemann.
