Analysis of Oroonoko Essay

Oroonoko is a man who symbolizes honor and love. The nameless narrator is also a believer of Oroonoko’s stand. The narrator on the first part of the story talked of the place of Surinam as a very beautiful place. Behn tries to attract the reader to continue reading the story by giving the details of the place with all its plants and animals. The culture of the people is also a part of the first stage of the story. Oroonoko is the story of the African Prince named Oroonoko and of his love Imoinda. They were captives of the British’ they were brought to Surinam as slaves. The story is set in South America. The narrator became a friend of the Prince Oroonoko anh his love, Imoinda. The narrator wrote the account as Oroonoko gave his story. The British colonists did not use the natives to work on the plantations. They look for slaves to work on these, so they got slaves from Africa. The narrator after giving an account of the place, Surinam, the next location of the story is Coramantien, now known as Ghana, found in the western coast of Africa. Coramantien is the place where the Prince Oroonoko will meet his wife, Imoinda. The king who is a hundred years old is the grandfather of Oroonoko. The hardship of Oroonoko starts when his love, Imoinda is also the attraction of the king. The king falls for Imoinda. Being the king he sends the royal veil to Imoinda, that the beautiful girl cannot refuse. The royal veil signifies she is now the wife of the king. Imoinda now stays in the Otan or the royal seraglio, a place where only the king can visit. Aboan, a friend of the Prince helps him to go into the otan. Aboan keeps Onahal one of the senior wives who teaches the new wives how to make love to the king and how to deal with everything with regard to the king. Oroonoko is caught but he flees. Although Imoinda is sold to slavery, the king tells Oroonoko that Imoinda is honorably put to death. Oroonoko sells slaves who are captives from war. The British trade for slaves in Coramantien. The Captain of the vessel invites Oroonoko and friends to be the guests, as they ride their vessel. Little did Oroonoko know that he was now a slave. When they learned they were slaves, Oroonoko and friends refused to eat, the Captain promises them freedom upon the vessel’s arrival in Surinam, but when they reach the place, Oroonoko is sold to Mr.  Terfry. He is a very well-mannered man and a very intelligent overseer of the Parham Plantation. It is in this moment that the narrator meets the prince. Mr. Terfry befriends Oroonoko. Both Mr. Terfry and the narrator assured to Oroonoko they will be set-free upon the arrival of the lord-governor Willoughby in Surinam. Oroonoko is never sent to work. He resides away from the rest of the slaves, because of his social status, his education and good looks were taken into consideration. One day as Mr. Terfry and Oroonoko are walking, Oroonoko sees the love of his life, Imoinda. Oroonoko holding on to his promise not to fall in love to any other woman except Imoinda felt so happy when they saw each other. They embrace each other, got married later and Imoinda now pregnant. Due to Imoinda’s pregnancy Oroonoko is bothered that his child will be born a slave. Despite of the promises of Mr. Terfry and the narrator that everything will be fine when the lord-governor arrives in Surinam. They diverted Oroonoko’s attention by letting hi go to fish, hunt and visit the other natives in the nearby villages. Together with the other natives Oroonoko stage a revolt on a Sunday as the white were drunk. The group of Oroonoko was easily traced as the group left a trail. Oroonoko’s group wanted to go back to Africa once they find a ship, but they planned to settle near the shore while they were looking for a ship. The narrator still gets an account of the event despite of fleeing. Byam, the deputy-governor talked to Oroonoko to surrender and promised him amnesty. The deputy-governor lied as Oroonoko was brutally-whipped when he surrenders. His wounds were powdered with pepper. Oroonoko now feels, he will never be a freeman together with his family. Oroonoko tells Imoinda of his plan to kill her and revenge against Byam and will kill himself. Imoinda thanks his husband of her honorable death. Oroonoko cuts the throat of Imoinda. Finally Imoinda dies. Oroonoko had no strength after the death of Imoinda. He was so depressed to stand and take revenge to Byam. The stench of the dead body of Imoinda brings Byam’s men to the site. Byam’s men now set out to kill him. Oroonoko stood his ground. He was killed standing stoically, smoking his pipe as the killers chopped him to death. The story tells of a very brave man, a man of valor despite of his color and race. Oroonoko is a man of dignity and honor. He never broke a promise especially with regards to his heart. Nowadays, a man like Oroonoko is hard to find. The writer wanted to impart to her readers that Oroonoko will be the symbol of a man of valor and honor. He stood his love till the last drop of his love. Every woman wants to have Oroonoko for her love. Oroonoko not only held on to his love but also stood for his people. The many readers of this story feel that the writer was a racist by heart, but for me she only used this as a facade to the story to make you feel pity for the oppressed. That the Africans despite of their race and color they still hold-on to their values. The story was made in the 17th century but up to this time you could still feel the oppression belonging to the lower class. Oroonoko wants us to be aware of our principles and values. We as good citizens of our countries should not be corrupted by anybody. Oroonoko had been betrayed so many times almost by all the characters but still he held on. He was also betrayed by Imoinda when she chose the old king instead of Oroonoko. Oroonoko was called Caesar by the whites, maybe because of his gallant stand during war. Although he was treated not a free man they still called him Caesar. He was called Caesar but was not free to do what he wanted. Despite off all the misdeeds of the whites, Oroonoko still respected the colonists and he also respected the slaves. Due to his greatness in battle, the whites were also scared when Oroonoko staged a revolt together with the other natives. Oroonoko is disappointed that there is no justice and honor for slaves in the west. The writer described Oroonoko’s group as very noble. They were slaves but the narrator did not do anything to help them. During the event of the escape of Oroonoko and the natives the narrator also fled. The narrator left them behind. This could have been the best time to help them. Also Byam promised amnesty but Oroonoko was tortured upon his surrender. The narrator coul have negotiated for Oroonoko and the slaves. The narrator used â€Å"we† to be a member of the slaves but she was not able to do anything to help them. She fled in time when Oroonoko and the natives tried to escape from captivity. The writer wanted to let the readers give value to the qualities that Oroonoko had. This time many do not give value to honor, love and promises. They keep a vow now soon to be forgotten. Despite of the racial discrimination, Oroonoko did not give in to what the colonists wanted, he stood his ground bravely. Especially for his love Imoinda. Imoinda was wife to the king still Oroonoko married her and loved her till death. If Oroonoko could only be alive now, he would still be so in love with Imoinda. Oroonoko would be the man of his generation and even still be the man of this generation. References http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/oroonoko/ http://www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/warner/courses/w00/engl30/Oroon1.html http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/oroonoko/shortsumm.html http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/oroonoko.html