Professor Jones
October 29, 2017
Black Literature
Narrative Analysis Paper
There are over 1,000 or more slave narratives written throughout the slavery period. There are still countless more still unknown to this day. When people think of slave narratives, two people come to mind. They are Venture Smith and Olaudah Equiano. The purpose of this essay is to tell about who they were and to show the similarities and differences between the two even though they have never met.
Venture Smith was born in Guinea. His real name is Broteer. His dad was the king of his providence. Broteer was the first of three kids from his real mom. His mother left his father after he married another woman without her permission. Broteer …show more content…
He was the youngest son of a village leader, Equiano was born among the Ibo people in the kingdom of Benin, along the Niger River. Equiano's father was the leader of their tribe. Equiano's family ironically owned slaves. Equiano and his sister were captured with the children. Equiano was separate from his sister and he was sent to the coast and put on a slave ship. The Middle Passage was a horrific experience for him. The ship arrived in the port at the Barbados and most of the slaves were purchased except for Equiano. He was sent back on the ship and was brought to the port in Virginia. He was purchased by a man named Michael Henry Pascal. Pascal was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Equiano used this as chance to educate himself while sailing around with his master. Equiano used the money he earned while working in the trade business in the West Indies to buy his freedom in 1776. He became an abolitionist when he lived in England. He protested against the slave trade and against the treatment of slaves from the slave owners. Equiano went on an expedition to find the North-Western …show more content…
Their fathers were the head masters of their respective tribes and they were well respected by tribe and their families. They learned basic hunting skills. They both were great workers, which became an amazing thing to have when they became slaves. Equiano and Smith were captured under the age of 12 and were also separated from their families. They both witnessed the Middle Passage. They both also talked and wrote about their