"I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across, I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind before"
Reflection: It seems that many people may question the reasoning behind Equiano writing his narrative because they are so brutal and distasteful that it could almost make you sick. But, I think that he uses knowledge of vocabulary to give an image of just that. He wants people to understand what they had to go through so that it doesn't happen again, or even for people simply to get an understanding of the behavior and inhumanity of people. Equiano is able to make the reader feels as if they are there beside him, feeling what he is seeing, hearing, tasting and smelling what he is smelling; "I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat".
Dear Dairy,
The Narrative of Olaudah Equiano have influenced my opinion in the passage greatly. I have before heard of the cruelty of the men on the ships but what I have read from him shows an all time low for people. The brutality of the situation with the saddening fact that this is about people enslaving and treating other people like they are are animals or merchandise; I actually believe that most animals are treated with greater respect than these poor blacks did. It infuriate me that a person could be so cruel and cold to another human being.
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