Dana Housch
EH 236
September 12, 2005
Essay 1

Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko is a story about slavery. Behn does not seem to be opposed to the concept of slavery, yet in the end we will see that she is opposed to the brutality of the situation when she describes in detail the beating and murder of Oroonoko.
Oroonoko is portrayed as a brave young prince who has survived many wars but like all of the other people in his kingdom he seems to possess a certain innocence. Behn goes into detail describing this innocence and trusting nature probably in order to help the reader understand why the prince and his friends could be so easily tricked into boarding the British slave ship.
Imoinda was described as being the most beautiful creature Behn had ever seen. The beauty of Imoinda is further seen when Behn describes the other slaves doing her work for her because they were in awe of her beauty. In the story Oroonoko’s grandfather saw Imoinda and took her for himself as a wife. This move by Oroonoko’s grandfather seems to be very selfish and cruel considering that he knew Oroonoko was in love with Imoinda. So one is left to wonder how much Oroonoko’s grandfather truly cared for him. When this consideration is being made it should also be taken into account that he was the one who was responsible for Oroonoko’s mood when he entered the slave ship. His grandfather told him that Imoinda had been put to death because she dishonored him, when in reality she had been sold as a slave.
Behn who is the author/narrator of the story tells Oroonoko’s story from the beginning yet she was not present during the entirety of the story. She goes into detail of the country in which Oroonoko is from and the character of the people who live there, yet she has never been to it herself. If the reader believes that it is a true story, as Behn would have you believe this means that Oroonoko is a very detail oriented man. Why then did he not escape the plantation? If he was so detail oriented then surely he would have given more thought to the problem of escorting the slaves to their salvation.
Behn, describes the bravery and the level of knowledge that Oroonoko possesses and seems to be impressed by him. She is obviously not against slavery and yet it is obvious to the reader that she is horrified by the cruelty that Oroonoko endured as he died. In the story the plantation owner beat Oroonoko and tortured him before cutting him up limb by limb and having the parts of his body sent to the other plantations as a warning to would be escapees. One must wonder why, if Behn was so opposed to what happened, she did not make a move to save Oroonoko’s life. She was a member of the high society and one would assume that she would have a voice in what was happening, however small it may be. The move Behn made to write the story about slavery in her day and age was a brave one. The only lingering question is if she was so brave to write about slavery why then did she not act on Oroonoko’s behalf. It is a question that may have several answers. The answer that one must consider is that although brave with the pen, she was not a hero in real life. Her only bravery is with the pen.
The story of Oroonoko is a story of slavery and how cruel the situation can become when the accepted standards are questioned or the rules disobeyed. Behn does an excellent job of describing the cruelty that occurred when the accepted behavior is not followed.