FREE ESSAY ON OROONOKO'S SLAVERY PROBLEM

OROONOKO'S SLAVERY PROBLEM

Oroonoko's Slavery Problem: An Interpretation 
Aphra Behn's seventeenth century tale of a noble African prince's tragic fall to slavery,
Oroonoko, has often been cited as a major antislavery work. Under close examination,
however, Oroonoko tells a more complex story. The volatile cultural, moral, and religious
crosscurrents that Behn finds surrounding her manifest themselves in the forms of
narrative equivocality and intermittent satire in Oroonoko. Throughout the text, she
seemingly possesses a conflicting attitude toward the slavery institution and racism in
general. On one hand, her portrayal of the protagonist Oroonoko is just, heroic, and
deeply sympathetic, and she often disparages European culture and religion while
portraying Europeans themselves in an unfavorable light; however, Behn perhaps
unconsciously reveals her deeply rooted cultural bias and racism, fictionalizes and
romanticizes the lives of slaves on the plantations, and displays an apparent
noncommittal attitude towards slavery. 
In selecting an African prince as her protagonist in a heroic romance, Behn not only
makes an unconventional literary decision but also makes a statement on race. She shows
that African Americans can be just as noble, virtuous, passionate, heroic, and just as
worthy of literary praise and human compassion. Rarely before has an African American
been portrayed in such a favorable light in British literature:  . . . 'Twas amazing to
imagine where 'twas he got that real greatness of soul, those refined notions of true
honor, that absolute generosity . . . the highest passions of love and gallantry(2155);
There [is] no one grace wanting that bears the standard of true beauty(2156). The manner
of Oroonoko's death echoes that of tragic Christian martyrs and heroes in classic
literature. His speeches compare to great leaders of antiquity, and the question he puts
to his fellow slaves--Shall we render obedience to such a degenerate race, who have no
one human virtue left to distinguish them from the vilest creatures?(2184)--is perhaps
Behn's strongest statement against slavery. Her pen lavishes no less praise on Oroonoko's
lover Imoinda, the brave, the beautiful, and the constant(2193). Through Oroonoko and
Imoinda's suffering Behn highlights the excessive cruelty of the white man while
underlining the honor and virtue of the lovers. She thus elevates two slaves to immortal
status. She establishes what she has set out to do: to make [Oroonoko's] glorious name
survive to all ages(2193). His name survives indeed, not as a common slave or even a mere
prince, but an African American who serves as a sympathetic while revolutionary hero and
a vehicle for Behn's indirect attack on the slavery institution and those who perpetrate
it.
In addition, Behn shows that she is not incapable of appreciating cultures different from
her own while disparaging European society and its religion. She devotes many paragraphs
to descriptions of the natives of Surinam whom she portrays as charming and novel(2153),
innocent in their ways yet skilled in war and game. A philosophical libertine, Behn
conveniently utilizes these natives, along with Oroonoko's virtues, to launch a raillery
against European civilization, especially religion. The natives' nakedness, she claims,
better instructs the world than all the inventions of man; religion would here but
destroy that tranquility they possess by ignorance(2153). When the captain who captures
Oroonoko as a slave refuses to release his shackles, Oroonoko replies that he [is] very
sorry to hear that the captain [pretends] to the knowledge and worship of any gods who
had taught him no better principles(2170). To his death Oroonoko refuses to accept
Christianity. This is no surprise since Behn all but populates her story with dishonest,
villainous Christians. There is the captain who abuses Oroonoko's trusty nature and sells
him as a slave; there are the pursuants of Oroonoko who torture him in a most deplorable
and inhumane manner(2187). Indeed, the most despicable character in the story is the
European deputy governor: He [is] a fellow, Behn describes, whose character is not fit to
be mentioned with the worst of the slaves(2186). He, too, lures Oroonoko back to
captivity with cunning duplicity, and his men eventually kill Oroonoko with unimaginable
cruelty. The governor's council has no sort of principles to make them worthy the name of
men(2189). In addition, Behn comments on existing gender issues when she describes
Europeans laughing at Mr. Trefry because of his civility to a slave(2174): in this case,
Imoinda. It is apparently outrageous that a white aristocrat like Mr. Trefry treats
Imoinda--a slave as well as a woman--with proper respect. Behn in effect criticizes her
contemporaries for treating women, slaves or not, as property. Under Behn's pen, the
Europeans indeed come off as without virtue or morality(2157) and form striking contrasts
to the native Indians, Oroonoko, and his countrymen.
Despite these revealing insights into the fallacies of racial discrimination, Oroonoko
reveals that part of Behn still clings to her cultural biases and inveterate racism.
While she is open minded enough to praise the beauty of the natives and of the Africans,
for example, Behn comments that they have all that is called beauty except the
color(2153). She indeed attributes many of Oroonoko's great qualities to the care of a
Frenchman of wit and learning and to his constant contact with English gentlemen that
traded thither(2155). She yet perceives African music as barbarous(2173) and the natives
as having extreme ignorance and simplicity(2182) without actually knowing much about
them. Albeit she claims to true friendship with Oroonoko, when she perceives that her
status is in danger she takes the side of her European friends and serves as a spy and
someone who keeps Oroonoko in check. When she hears that Oroonoko has escaped with all
the slaves, she professes to fearing that he would secure himself till night [and] come
down and cut all [their] throats(2188) thus revealing her inherent distrust in Oroonoko.
Behn's attitude is consistent with her portrayal of Oroonoko and his countrymen as
warriors and hunters of great physical prowess or, in other words, savages. Therefore,
Oroonoko becomes more of a singularity than the norm, the nobility and virtue he
embodies, Behn seems to insinuate, are not prevalent in the rest of the race. In this
respect, she vacillates between the perspectives of European aristocrat and compassionate
author. 
Aside from her inherent prejudices, Behn also has the tendency to romanticize slavery and
life on the plantations rather than choose to confront most of its harshness. The
struggles of Oroonoko and Imoinda are made to seem heroic and beautiful instead of very
real and cruel. Oroonoko's identity eventually becomes eclipsed by the heroic persona the
whites give him: Caesar. He becomes not simply a wrongfully captivated slave but a sort
of romanticized fantasy of Behn's associates. Not only does Behn inadvertently help usher
Oroonoko towards his fate, she is effusive in her sentimentality when she comments that
the eternal leave-taking of two such lovers, so greatly born, so sensible, so beautiful,
so young, and so fond, must be very moving(2190). Her very claim at the commencement of
the story--I do not pretend . . . to entertain my reader with the adventures of a feigned
hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet's pleasure(2152)--seems
contradictory to her technique and narrative. What is Behn doing, by elevating Oroonoko's
life to the level of tragic epic and heroic romance, if not intentionally catering
to--and seeking to entertain--the Restoration aristocracy? She diverts attention to
Oroonoko and Imoinda's passionate love and Oroonoko's martyrdom and honor rather than to
the actual practices of the slave owners and British colonizers. The slaves' lives are
romanticized by Behn's description of their welcome banquet for Oroonoko; Oroonoko
himself, the central focus of the story, never experiences the actual life of a slave.
The contrast between Oroonoko's projected romantic identity and his actual slave status
becomes, however, grotesque to the point of satire. Behn cannot help inserting appalling,
if brief, illustrations of plantation life. The result--romanticization with occasional
satire--reflects Behn's desire to entertain as well as her desire to tell the truth.
Most telling with regard to Oroonoko's status as an antislavery text is its almost
nonchalant treatment of slavery. It neither provides any justification for enslavement
nor offers any sound arguments against the institution of slavery itself. Rather, it
seems that Behn indirectly supports the enslavement of African Americans because she
finds the natives less troublesome, for she offers: [The Indians] being . . . very useful
to us, we find it absolutely necessary . . . not to treat them as slaves; nor dare we do
other, their numbers so far surpassing ours(2154). Her subsequent description of slave
trafficking in Coramentien--Oroonoko's native country--is unemotional and dry. She even
stipulates that Coramentien, being continuously at war, has the fortune(2154) of
capturing many Africans to sell to the slave market. Behn's compassion for Oroonoko may
be great, but this might only be because Oroonoko has a native beauty so transcending all
those of his gloomy race(2154), and because Oroonoko's story has satisfied her poetic
fancy. She does not make any mention of the conditions the other slaves are in; she
merely records Oroonoko's moving oratory on the evils of slavery and does not comment.
Indeed, when the slaves who fled with Oroonoko eventually betray him and return to
captivity, he comments that they are by nature slaves . . . fit to be used as Christians'
tools(2187). Ironically, Oroonoko himself sold captive of war as slaves while yet in
Africa. The man who supposedly symbolizes the spirit of antislavery supports the
institution himself. Throughout the narrative, Behn frequently praises Oroonoko's
nobility, laments his treatment in the hands of the whites, and lashes out against the
villains who do wrong to him, yet she never once comments on the institution of slavery
itself. Oroonoko may have been used as propaganda for antislavery causes, yet Behn in all
probability never intended it for that purpose. There is even a hint of dejection in the
text, an ultimate rejection of the age of reason. If man is reasonable and this reason
elevates man to a higher status, why does Oroonoko enslave his own people? Perhaps the
reason Behn offers no definite statement on slavery is because she has looked into the
matter and found human nature lacking.
Those who desire to find in Oroonoko a decided antislavery statement may find themselves
disappointed by Behn's apparent lack of involvement or concern in the slavery issue.
However, she is not entirely insensible to the humanity, grace, and beautiful martyr hood
she has found in the supposedly nonfictional Oroonoko. Behn's small triumph lies in her
seeing that at least some among the enslaved deserve mention in her little novella, that
there are weaknesses inherent in supposedly superior European civilization. Nonetheless,
Behn still cannot shake her long-entrenched cultural bias and racism, and Oroonoko
ultimately fails to make an effective and conclusive statement on the institution of
slavery. This conflicting attitude can be explained if one views Oroonoko as an extremely
personal story for Behn. As a compassionate woman, she feels for Oroonoko and his plight;
as a libertine, she does not hesitate to attack European conventions and hypocrisy; as an
honest writer, her occasional satire reflects her discontent with the idealistic image
she has projected. Freshly transported from Europe, she finds herself in a strange world
where new ideas and harsh reality confront her European sensibilities. Throughout its
carefully constructed narrative Behn's inveterate racism, prejudice, and cynicism
surface, undermining her very intent. This is where Behn's problem arises, where Oroonoko
stops short of what it has presumably set out to accomplish. 
Bibliography
Oroonoko's Slavery Problem: An Interpretation 
Aphra Behn's seventeenth century tale of a noble Af