The Star and His Shadow: Examining the Opposing Trajectories of Olaudah Equiano and Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
In The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano and the Narrative of Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, we witness the maturation of two African children as they are taken from noble families, sold into bondage, and finally freed. It is at this point of freedom that their experiences diverge drastically, Equiano receiving many accolades and accruing wealth, Gronniosaw descending into destitution and becoming a burden upon the community. Because their lives are so similar up until their respective manumissions, luck initially seems to play a key role in the fate of each. But when their narratives are compared closely, it becomes evident that the choices Equiano and Gronniosaw make determine their fortunes. Equiano resists inculcation from pervasive white supremacist values, maintaining pride in his African heritage; Gronniosaw embraces these white supremacist values, internalizing notions of African inferiority. We are introduced to their differing ideologies as early as their recollections of their origins in Africa.
Many facts of Equiano and Gronniosaw’s beginnings match to an uncanny degree, but their descriptions are often diametrically opposed: Equiano’s appear to be faithful recollections of his early life, while Gronniosaw’s act as placeholders for the white supremacist perspective. We see a key example of this dichotomy when the two characters describe their encounters with albino Africans. Gronniosaw speaks of his “beloved sister,” saying, “she was quite white, and fair, with fine light hair though my father and mother were black” (5), depicting her as the European ideal of an angel. In contrast, Equiano says that such albinos “were universally regarded by myself, and the natives in general, as far as related to their complexions, as deformed” (25), further asserting that “in regard to complexion, ideas of beauty are wholly relative” (25). Here, we see Equiano anticipating the white supremacist perspective and thwarting its pretensions to objective truth. But why is Equiano capable of resisting white supremacist indoctrination while Gronniosaw falls victim? There are two answers to this question, to be addressed in tandem. The first is that Equiano learns to read.
Both Equiano and Gronniosaw are thrown into consternation when they first see their masters “talk” to books and later try speaking to them themselves (Equiano 48; Gronniosaw 10), but only Equiano pursues reading diligently when given the opportunity to learn (56). Conversely, Gronniosaw blames the color of his skin for the book’s silence, saying “when I found it would not speak, this thought immediately presented itself to me, that every body and every thing despis’d me because I was black” (10). Gronniosaw loses the desire to read as he loses his sense of personal value in association with his color. The ironic effect of his apathy toward learning to read based on the color of his skin is that he becomes even more susceptible to white supremacist indoctrination. This susceptibility stems from him being incapable of interpreting ideological doctrine for himself, namely the Bible, instead relying upon the Eurocentric received interpretation. Frank Lambert discusses the ideological threat that this received interpretation of the Bible posed to black Christians in his essay “‘I Saw the Book Talk’: Slave Readings of the First Great Awakening.”
In “I Saw the Book Talk,” Lambert explains that eighteenth-Century Christian evangelists undertook an initiative to convert slaves to Christianity by encouraging them to attend church and teaching them to read the Bible. But the movement soon met with resistance: slaveholders, apprehensive of their slaves organizing socially and wary of the raised consciousness learning to read would foment, began protesting the evangelists’ initiative. To appease these slaveholders, evangelists took subsequent measures intended to reduce the threat conversion and education represented. According to Lambert, evangelists “attempted to guide [slaves’] interpretation of the new birth, emphasizing especially the biblical injunction for servants to obey their masters” (189). Preachers induced guilt and encouraged docility, scaring slaves with myths like Jesus feeling the pain of crucifixion anew when they disobeyed (189). Through these measures, the religion that promised salvation became another tool of oppression. But not all slaves fell victim to the deceit.
Just as the slaveholders feared, learning to read opened up new ways of thinking to slaves. In particular, they developed new interpretations of the Bible that encouraged notions of spiritual equality with whites rather than inferiority. Equiano establishes himself as one of these critical-minded Africans when he says of the Bible, “I prized it much, with many thanks to God that I could read it for myself, and was not left to be tossed about or led by man’s devices and notions. The worth of a soul cannot be told” (145). Therefore, because Equiano can read, he is able to resist the influence of white supremacist preachers to whom Gronniosaw is powerless.
Moving on to the second answer to the question asked above, Equiano not only learns to read but becomes financially independent. Gronniosaw, conversely, survives by “the boundless mercies of my God!” (34), which is to say the charity of others. Both Equiano and Gronniosaw mention coming from backgrounds that teach them little use for currency (Eq. 24; Gr. 23), but Equiano learns to practice fiscal responsibility while Gronniosaw flounders. It is not a matter of luck: each of them experiences numerous swindles (Eq. 122, 129, 130; Gr. 21-2, 24-5), and Gronniosaw, in particular, receives several boons (19, 31). But where Equiano fights for restitution, Gronniosaw invariably forgives debts in favor of piety. Piety also encourages Gronniosaw to give his money away, which he boasts he would do endlessly if not for a need to feed his wife and children (23). Thus, in affecting excessive generosity, Gronniosaw becomes a drain on his neighbors. His narrative itself is a ploy for money to relieve his destitute family, written by a friend with all proceeds going to Gronniosaw (iii). Because Gronniosaw puts himself at the economic mercy of Europeans, it behooves him to adopt their viewpoint to encourage pity for himself, thereby devaluing himself further. Equiano, on the other hand, because he is fiscally responsible, does not want pity, so he does not tailor his words to his audience and thereby gains their respect. The difference in Equiano and Gronniosaw’s conceptions of self-worth, therefore, are inextricably linked to their economic destinies, which we find the best predictions for in their respective manumissions.
Gronniosaw is given his freedom and ten pounds sterling by his dying master, but the master’s wife and children are good to him, so he continues to serve them until they all die, and he is left with nothing (19). In contrast, Equiano’s master tells him that for forty pounds sterling he may purchase his freedom (104). Earning this money through trade and industry teaches Equiano the value of money, a value Gronniosaw never grasps. Sumner Eliot Matison analyzes the psychological effect of purchasing one’s own freedom compared to being granted it by one’s master in the essay “Manumission by Purchase.” Matison argues that self-purchase “helped refute the argument that slavery was justifiable and necessary because Negroes were inferior beings… [It] demonstrated that Negroes could not only maintain themselves as freemen but could attain their freedom in the face of overwhelming obstacles” (167). Because no slave could attain freedom without the consent of his or her master, self-purchase encouraged a business-like cooperation between the perceived inferior and superior that resembled equality (161). We see this cooperation taking place between Equiano and his master as he negotiates for his freedom (104). Equiano gains his master’s respect in attaining liberty, and the two remain friends and business partners throughout the narrative. In contrast, Gronniosaw is abruptly given his freedom by his dying master, denying him the opportunity for self-purchase that would fuse the desire for freedom to the need for fiscal responsibility. Thus, it is only much later in life when he has a family to feed that he begins to understand the necessity of proper money management.
Comparing the narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, we observe one of the clearest representations of the insidious psychological effects of white supremacist indoctrination on African slaves. It becomes evident through their stories that the ability to read and thus interpret ideological doctrine for oneself and the ability to provide for oneself financially are critical skills that allow one to resist dependency and inculcation. Equiano’s story is one of rousing success in these fields; Gronniosaw’s, unfortunately, is one of disheartening failure. Though both slaves accept European Christianity, Equiano develops his own Biblical interpretation that does not make him feel inferior for the color of his skin, while Gronniosaw resorts to considering himself lesser, evidenced in beliefs like his that the Devil is a black man (11). But it is perhaps the sentiments they express about waiting for heaven that are most telling of their differing situations by the ends of their narratives.
Equiano, during an ecstatic espousal of faith says, “I rejoiced in spirit, making melody in my heart to the God of all my mercies. Now my whole wish was to be dissolved, and to be with Christ—but, alas! I must wait mine appointed time” (146), revealing a joy in life eclipsed only by anticipation of the afterlife. In contrast, Gronniosaw concludes his narrative dismally, saying of he and his family, “As Pilgrims, and very poor Pilgrims, we are travelling through many difficulties toward our heavenly home, and waiting patiently for his gracious call, when the Lord shall deliver us out of the evils of this present world and bring us to the everlasting glories of the world to come [text normalization mine]” (39), revealing a sadness in life that he hopes will be alleviated by death. Where Equiano’s optimistic language intimates the pride of overcoming adversity, Gronniosaw’s denotes the poignant resignation of a defeated man. Though both characters adopt the religion of their captors, one is liberated by his equality in the eyes of God, the other is enslaved by debt and sentiments of inferiority even after his manumission. It is a harrowing testament to the pervasive influence of white supremacy that Ukawsaw Gronniosaw is unmade so completely, and it is a testament to the faculties of the mind and human spirit that Olaudah Equiano resists.
Works Cited
Shirley, Walter. A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince as Related by Himself. University of North Carolina. Docsouth.unc.edu, 2001. Web. 25 September 2015.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. Ed. Werner Sollors. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001. Print.
Matison, Eliot Sumner. “Manumission by Purchase.” The Journal of Negro History. 33.2 (1948): 146-67. JSTOR. Web. 21 October 2015.
Lambert, Frank. “‘I Saw the Book Talk’: Slave Readings of the First Great Awakening.” The Journal of Negro History. 77.4 (1992): 185-98. JSTOR. Web. 25 September 2015.