From The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavas Vassa, The African, Written By Himself

Journal # 13
Posted By: Melissa Veum
Engl 48A
11-02-09

"I had before entertained hopes of getting home, and had determined when it should be dark to make the attempt; but I was now convinced it was fruitless, and began to consider that, if possibly I could escape all other animals, I could not those of the human kind; and that, not knowing the way, I must perish in the woods (Equiano, 679)."

"I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me (Equiano, Wikipedia)."

Reading the Narrative of Olaudah Equiano lets you see and hear how smart Olaudah was even as a young child. He wanted to get home, no matter how far, and was going to venture it in the darkness of night. As it was getting darker, he was getting a little anxious and scared. Things are different in the dark and you cannot see your way and it would have been very scary for a young boy to venture this alone. Once nightfall came he realized that this excursion was "fruitless" and was not going to end well. Even if Olaudah could get by the scary animals he might encounter, he would still have to be weary of the human "animals" he might encounter. He assumed he might as well have to die in these woods.

Olaudah is very smart because he recognizes his chances, considers the obvious and does not act like the average child would. He and his friends had methods of warding off bad guys and on this day, did not go as planned. Olaudah wanted to return home and when he saw his chance to get away, I feel that he tried to take it. His smart mind knew he may not make it all the way home and that venturing alone in the darkness was not the best idea in the world. I liked how Olaudah referred to humans as animals as well, being that most humans who indeed own slaves were animals and sure acted that way. I would think that for Olaudah encountering the human animals would be much more frightening than encountering the real animals that may be in the woods with him.