Equiano and Oroonoko

There are many similarities between Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative. Although written one hundred years apart the similarities are apparent and include: Christian rhetoric, the slavery issues, the authority of the narrator/author, authenticity, both of the characters were from prominent families, and both stories begin with an apology.
Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko suggest that Christians are not the outstanding citizens they believe themselves to be when they do not believe another man when he gives his word, solely based on the belief that he is somehow less than the white man. Does the Bible not teach equality among all men, if so can it be said the captain of the slave ship cannot be the Christian he professes to be. The faith expressed by Equiano in a higher power is equal to Aphra Behn’s faith she expressed in Oroonoko. Equiano was puzzled and struggled with his newfound faith in the Christian God. Throughout the story he wonders why the whites enslave blacks when the Bible says they are created equal. Oroonoko is a slave just as Equiano is and although the two men’s stories are one hundred years apart both shed light on the horrors of slavery and the effects it has on the people involved in the slave trade.
Both narrators seem to struggle with the authority/power that they lack. While reading Aphra Behn’s story it seems that she believes she can change the world or at least influence the people who can. When her authority and power come into question, when she really has an opportunity to prove that she has the power to influence decisions, she does not exercise that right and in fact flees the situation altogether. As a result Oroonoko dies a horrible death. The same can be said for Equiano. When he and his friend John Annis are working together on a ship and men come on board to take him back to his master who previously freed him there is nothing Equiano can do, and in fact when he tries he had to paint himself white in order to serve John Annis’ former owner with papers to appear in court. Here he realizes that he does not have the influence he believed he had.
The Authenticity of both Oroonoko and Equiano have been questioned because there is no proof that Oroonoko even existed and although there is proof that Equiano was truly a real person his origins have come into question because of his description of his native land and the uncovering of new facts.
The two men in the stories are also similar because they were both thought to come from royal or upper class families. The way Aphra Behn describes Oroonoko and the response he evokes from Trefery and his friends makes the reader believe that there was such a difference in Oroonoko’s stature and composure that he stood out from the rest of the slaves tremendously. In fact, the man whom he belonged to treated Oroonoko as more than a common slave. This is evident in the mere fact that he was able to be in the house of his owner and not be working but instead participating in conversations. Equiano had similar instances of being treated as more than a slave. This is apparent in his being able to read and write, most slaves were not able to read and write because their owners worked them up to 14 hours a day six days a week. Equiano was fortunate and set well apart from his peers by the mere fact that he was able to publish his own story during a time when even freed black men had few rights.
Both of the writers give an apology in the beginning of their tales for the content of their writing. The reader gets a sense in the beginning that although the author has a message to give, the receiver of that message may not want the message being sent out.
The similarities in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative are evident. Both stories center on the slave experience and their authors face some of the same challenges in having their works published and even having their authenticity questioned.