1. The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Modern World Literature W3
Noemi Bartolucci

2. Synopsis Born in the Eboe province of Africa in 1745
As young children Equiano and his sister were seized by kidnappers and sold to slave traders
Equiano was brought across Africa to the coast and sent to the West Indies
He was quickly bought by Michael Henry Pascal (lieutenant in the Royal Navy) and was brought to London as he was intended to be a gift from Pascal to his friends
Pascal decided to keep Equiano to help him on the ship during the Seven Years’ war
Equiano learned of Christianity, became well read and indispensable to Pascal who later sold Equiano to Cap. Doran because he learned about Equiano’s desires to be free
On Pascal’s orders Cap. Doran (who was strict, cruel and unsympathetic) sold Equiano to Robert King a Quaker merchant who worked in Philadelphia
Equiano traveled to America and the West Indies with King describing the punishments and treatment inflicted upon the Africans on the plantation
Equiano went on frequent voyages as a sailor with King’s friend Cap. Farmer
After being accused for an attempted escape (by King and Farmer) King offers Equiano money to buy his freedom as compensation
Equiano bought his freedom in July 1766 and continued to sail with King and Farmer (now as a paid sailor)
After sailing around the world Equiano accepts his friend Dr. Irving’s proposal of becoming an overseer on a plantation in Jamaica
He left Jamaica to go back to England and work for Governor Macnamara and after that he tried to help the government relocate slaves from Sierra Leone
Later he presented a petition to the Queen asking for slave abolition and married an English woman
In his final chapter he explains how he became politically involved in abolitionist activities and confirms that it is faith that taught him to be better and wiser

3. What is modern in the text?
Modernity (A break with the past/ an attempt to let go of traditions/ the conventional/ living at odds with one’s time/acceleration of time/ the rise of the everyday/ and experience of fragmentation displacement and dispersal)
The crave for abolition/freedom (the idea) and abolition in the end (the more things change the more they stay the same… has slavery really been abolished (figuratively)?
Slave trade/ plantation
Equiano defying stereotypes (he was a well-educated, industrious and capable leader

4. How does modernity operate?
Equiano having to leave his home/traditions (Any sense of history, culture, tradition, values, etc. were almost obliterated by the dominant society/names erased Gustavus Vassa/ issue of losing face/identity)
Equiano fighting for freedom
His kind masters/friends (Robert King helping Equiano towards his freedom/Dick Baker befriending him and teaching him how to speak better English)
Susanna Cullen (wife/ Englishwoman)

5. What is “worldly” in this text?
Equiano seems very concerned with religion as it shapes who he is and seems to guide his thoughts and dreams, however the word “worldly” is concerned with material values. Worldly means “terrestrial” “mundane” “non-spiritual” “tangible”
The interaction between the cruel slave owners and the slaves (rich old gentlemen that puts a nozzle on one of his misbehaving female slaves/ Dr. Drummond who has Equiano severely beaten/ Pascal who sells/betrays Equiano– real things that people experience in real time)
Segregation/ white v. black
“Equiano devotes his later years to ensuring the physical liberation of the millions of Africans still in bondage, making implicit argument through his work that freeing them would lead them towards a spiritual freedom like his own.”
Equiano’s attempt to encourage his English readers to listen to their better selves