BODY AS A KEY SITE OF DOMINATION AND RESISTANCE

BODY AS A KEY SITE OF DOMINATION AND RESISTANCE

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Body as a key site of domination and resistance

Having been born in the year 1745 Equiano was arrested by the colonial masters at 11 years of age, he Equiano was first taken to the African master slaves, and with time he was taken to the white masters through whom he traveled to West Indies, where he was deployed as a slave. When he arrived, he stayed in Virginia for a short time, and even though he enjoyed this, it did not last, and then, he was taken to the British navy vessels, whereby he spent most of his time during the time of slavery. Henry Pascal was the man who gave him the slave name, which was ‘Gustavus Vassa.’. This was the name which he used most of his life. In 1763 he was purchased by Robert King, who was a Quaker merchant. He became happy after he was purchased as these Quaker merchants were known for being benevolent to their slaves; he is given a bit of leniency in how he was treated and generally how he interacted with them.

This made him, with time, arrive at a position where he could buy himself from slavery and live a virtually free life. Apart from the Quakers, the king was also benevolent, and it can be said that they were following in his way of life and how he did his activities. Therefore Gustavus Vassa, even though he experienced terrible things on his way up the ladder from poverty to the level of being able to purchase himself, still has some appreciation for slavery. This is because it helped him get to the level of traveling the world in such an excellent manner. He was a Nigerian, and through slavery, he traveled so much. After he bought himself from slavery, he also traveled a lot, and this was in order to call for the world to stop slavery and look for a better way to get their labor done in their farms in other places where there was needed labor.

From his writing, we realize that it is essential for individuals to realize their worth and rethink the place of slavery in society and its benefits and weaknesses. Even though he does not explicitly disagree with the concept of slavery, he disagrees with how slaves are treated and suggest that it is essential for slaves to be treated better. The idea of the body also comes up whereby Equiano discusses this as a state of being in a conflicting situation whereby a person wishes to be white. Therefore they do all crazy things to stop being black since blackness is associated with slavery, and it is one of the things the blacks hated.

Another view of the body from his writing is that muscular bodies were selected to become slaves, and there was a sharp comparison between the strong-bodied and the weak-bodied. This was because only the strong ones were selected, and to some extent, it made the people think that it would have been better if they were weak rather than healthy and well build. The final tenet of the body is the issue of women and men. Even though they all had bodies, they were treated differently. This meant that men did more hard jobs than ladies. However, the ladies were mistreated and were given less freedom. In some cases, they even became sex slaves, and for the lucky ones, they got to be loved by their masters, and they enjoyed better living standards than the everyday slaves.

In the first view about slavery, Equiano tries to wash his face to be the same as his playmate; Mary, but it cannot happen; therefore, he cannot understand why they are so different. This is the first instance of the body being discussed, and in this, we see that he begins to have questions about why he is different from mary, which brings conflict in his mind. We can also say that he has been made to believe that the whites are superior, and therefore this is what makes him wish to look like Mary and does not want Mary to look like him. This is always the first mistake in comparing the two races, whether in the everyday daily life or in slavery, as was the case for Equiano. Therefore the comparison here is of a bitter realization of the truth that they can never be the same, and therefore Equiano has to deal with his challenge of not accepting himself as he is. From this instance, we realize that the body became a fundamental concept of domination and resistance in that the qualities and characteristics of the whites’ bodies and those of the blacks were different, and it is this that brought out the differences in who dominated and who resistant. It is clearly shown that the whites dominated at the time of slavery while the blacks were always resisting being captured as slaves. Still, in the end, they do not get any benefit from this, and therefore they have to accept the fact that they are slaves and to accept to work for their masters as of that time who were the whites. Apart from the body color, which was a very crucial distinction between the whites and the blacks, we also get to realize that in the black population, there was a struggle between who was captured to become a slave and who was not.

The concept of body strength and health or strength is a concept that was always considered during the time of getting the slaves, and it was an intriguing issue. This is because families could think of how to survive without the man in the house if they were taken to be slaves. The mothers turned to be the replacement of fathers in the place who were brought to be slaves, and this was one of the most challenging kinds of shifts that had to happen most of the time. This made the African culture and way of life change excellently as the healthy people, and those believed to be the pillars of the society were taken away. This left a weak association, and it went ahead to create a better community in the west. Therefore this served as a critical component of resistance in that the men who were taken away always thought about their families and how they can make their families feel safe, yet they have been taken away. It was one of their most challenging periods as they tried to give hope to their families, but it was impossible.

The other concept of body is a comparison between the women and the men who were slaves. This comparison comes up in that women were likely to be lucky and get the attention of their masters, who in some instances even could give them less work and have mercy on them. This rare situation mostly happened whereby the ladies were pretty, and the masters had a desire to use them sexually. Therefore it was a two-way kind of consideration. It was not always perfect for the ladies, especially those who, after sexual relations with their masters, became pregnant and were unaccepted due to their offspring. Therefore, we can say explicitly that the people who arrested the body’s concept were highly abused during this period.

Apart from the issue of men leaving their families and society which they were protecting, they were also exposed to harsh conditions which made their lives in danger of sicknesses and other effects from the extreme environments in which they used to work in. This can be seen in the market for slaves, whereby most of the slaves who were being sold were stripped on their chest area to display how strong they were. This was done even though sometimes it was freezing, and this affected the slaves. Apart from this, their respect as human beings was never valued, and they were chained, which hurt them a lot whereby some of the slaves had to be thrown into the waters in case it was realized they could no longer make it to their destination.

The context of Equiano slavery can be termed as good and better in the last part of it as compared to the first part, which was not good. When he is captured at the age of eleven, Equiano is worried and does not know what to do since he is still a very young boy who wanted to live and be like other men. He had desired to be a young Nigerian strong man who could defend and protect his people and his reputation as a man. However, with the coming of slavery, he finds himself in a difficult situation as he is taken captive along with the other slaves who were captured and who included women, children, and men to be taken to be servants to the whites. Slavery took place between the 15th century to the 19th century. When he got his freedom, he wrote about his life as a slave and detailed everything that happened during those years, from the time he was captured at the age of 11 years and what it made him become when he was a free man.

The writing is a historical one and history, in this case, is of very great significance to the reader. This is because the history of slavery communicates to us and tries to tell us who we are and what kind of people existed before us. It helps us understand one another and at the same time focus on the future in a more positive desire to heal the wounds afflicted on the different blocks of people due to past offenses done to either of the blocks. This is because the effects of slavery are too many and affect a person to their most profound beings and the generations that come after them. This can be seen from the example of Equiano, who has changed his nationality and almost the whole of his life and belonging as a result of slavery.

The context in which this book is written shows us that life was tough for Equiano in the first part of him as a slave. Life was difficult because he could not enjoy the goodness of life as it was when he was a free boy in the Nigerian land where he got his family’s love, care, and protection. When he is taken a slave, this is abruptly cut off, and he becomes a member of another group of sufferers who never understand themselves and the context in which they find themselves. This is so because they get many issues at hand which they have to deal with. One of the most intriguing issues they cannot comprehend is the reason behind their fight and struggle, yet they have done nothing wrong. They struggle to understand why being themselves is being considered unsuitable, yet they are themselves. These are the questions that keep on arising in their minds, and a few of the naïve slaves tend to discuss this with their friends, and it difficult for them to understand.

The process of being captured into slavery goes from being captured freely by the black men who used to serve their white masters to the point whereby the white masters come in and buy the slaves. Most of the time, there was an exchange of slaves by buying and selling them. The reason why a person could sell their slaves was the fact that he or she never pleased the master or they did not have the qualities the masters wanted. After the capture on the mainland, the slaves were taken to the sea, whereby the significant means of transport in those times was through the water. Therefore the slaves were brought to America mostly, and a few of them were taken to Europe. The voyage was a nightmare to most slaves since, at any time, a slave could be thrown into the waters if they tried to resist, or they came up with issues that were not pleasant to their masters. Therefore at this point, the slaves had to behave in a particular manner that made them lovable by their masters to avoid risking too much for their lives still mattered to them.

Upon arrival at the destination, the slaves were always first shocked by the new way of life and the very many white people they encountered. Therefore the culture shock and the pressure for them to perform in anything they are being told to do makes them vulnerable and susceptible to be weakened from the different things they were going through. Their culture and social life are completely changed, and in their new places, they were almost of no origin because they had been cut off entirely from their people. Other parts of their lives which are changed are the social aspects, religious beliefs, clothing, social class, among other aspects of their lives.

Their religious beliefs are changed from the African traditional faith into Christianity which is so much stuffed with concepts to please the whites and never considered the blacks. Therefore religion was used to mistreat the slaves. This was especially true when the whites told them that the bible says that slaves should obey their masters; however, at the same time, it says that God created man and women equal, and there was no one above the other. This comes out as a contradiction, and it later brought revolutions due to the black people’s desire to be free of the rule of the white man. However, religion is also seen to make it possible for slaves to bear the issue they experience. When they encounter difficulties, they turn to God just like Equiano did and get their comfort by trusting and hoping that God will be available and make everything perfectly okay..

In conclusion, we can say that the purpose or the reason why Equiano wrote this text is mainly considered to be that he wanted to show the world how unjust the world is. He primarily focuses on slavery, which he suffered and which changed his life in so many ways, some of which he is unable to explain. Therefore he tries to show how society has always been unjust. Therefore, by focusing on this concept of injustice, the people should be able to rethink and bring about new ways to end it and make everyone equal in society. This means giving people autonomy to manage them and, through this helping them be who they are.