What Happened
Olaudah Equiano recounts his childhood training in javelins and war before his sudden abduction by kidnappers. He provides a firsthand inventory of the horrors aboard a slave ship, including the lethal overcrowding and the shock of seeing white men for the first time. After being sold to a Royal Navy officer, he spends years at sea, witnessing naval battles and learning the mechanics of English literacy. Unlike many of his peers, Equiano leverages a small allowance for personal trade, moving goods between Georgia and Montserrat. By meticulously saving his earnings, he eventually presents his master with the cash for his manumission papers, transitioning from property to an influential London abolitionist.
Key figures
- Olaudah Equiano
The narrator who buys his freedom and writes his own life story.
- Gustavus Vassa
The Swedish-inspired name given to the author by his master.
- Miss Guerins
London patronesses who taught Equiano to read and instructed him in religion.
- Montserrat
A West Indian island central to Equiano's merchant trading voyages.
What it's really about
- Providence
- The belief that divine intervention guides escapes from drowning and slavery.
- Cultural Identity
- Maintaining African customs while navigating European naval and religious structures.
Why it's memorable
- Falling into the Thames while playing on watermen's boats and nearly drowning before being rescued.
- Turning four barrels of pork into a three hundred percent profit to fund his manumission.
Where it lands
Equiano concludes by urging Parliament to replace the slave trade with an immense system of commerce between Britain and Africa.
For your book club
- The role of literacy and Christianity as tools for survival within a captive environment.
- The psychological impact of being renamed Gustavus Vassa against one's own will.