Summary:
Oroonoko is an intriguing and epic story of a young African prince who gets tricked into becoming a slave for a workers plantation written by the first professional woman author, Aphra Behn. Oroonoko is a wonderful story that is narrated beautifully, but when one reads it, you must be aware of the first hand perspective and the bias because the events that happen could be exaggerated or understated by the narrator.
Oroonoko is an intriguing and epic story of a young African prince who gets tricked into becoming a slave for a workers plantation written by the first professional woman author, Aphra Behn. As the story is told by the narrator (who the reader will presume to be the author Aphra Behn) the reader gets a sense of a first hand perspective from the narrator. This allows the reader to only get a perspective from the narrator's point of view. As the story is told to the reader, the narrator seems to favour or share sympathy with Oroonoko and even in some cases, throw in a biased opinion. This is why the story of Oroonoko and his misfortunes should not be taken as a true account, but rather as a narrative biased opinionated tale.
When we first meet Oroonoko he is described physically by the narrator very descriptively and in depth. The narrator does an immensely intense job of describing all of the physically defining features that Oroonoko withholds. He is even fit to a description by the narrator as being an absolutely flawless human being with no imperfections except for the fact that he is black. He is described as "not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing; the white of 'em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the negroes. The whole proportion and air of his face was so nobly and exactly formed that, bating his color, there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. There was no one grace wanting that bears the standard of true beauty." As the reader can clearly tell from the descriptions that the narrator gives, she favours him heavily and does not tend to point out any physical flaws (other than the obviously dark skin) that Oroonoko may have. As Behn describes him as "of a shape the most exact that can be fancied" the reader can truly have it engraved in his or her mind that the author is most definitely favouring the physical body of Oroonoko.
As the reader can clearly seen the favouritism that Behn has with the physical part of Oroonoko, one can also capture from the writings of Behn that a strong sense of emotional favouring is had by the narrator with the Prince. A good example of that emotional favouritism is when Oroonoko and his fellow tribe mates are tricked into having a dazzling feast on board such an immense and wonderful ship by the Captain. When Behn describes the way that the Captain takes the many tribesmen and Prince Oroonoko into custody as slaves she uses harsh words that would seem almost to condemn the acts that the Captain had ordered. "The same treachery was used to all the rest "she says, describing the harsh and emotionless forces and that the Captain and his shipmates administer to betray the trust of their guests. Even though the author later states that "some have commended this act, as brave in the captain; but I will spare my sense of it, and leave it to my reader to judge as he pleases", there are still a few feelings that show that Behn is secretly (to the untrained reader) feeling sympathy towards Oroonoko and utter disgust towards the Captain. This emotional sympathy towards Oroonoko can be shown or even implied in much of the writing about the Prince and his adventures and sufferings that he goes through. Behn truly has a favourite and shows it in this story.
The story of Oroonoko is told to the reader by a person who witnessed each and every event first hand, or in literary terms, in the first person perspective. Because the tale of Oroonoko is told in the first person perspective this changes the entire story completely. With a first person perspective, Behn gives the reader the unique chance to see things through someone else's eyes. As the narrator tells the story, the reader is able to comprehend that what is happening is, or could be, an opinion of the narrator. Being able to only see the story through one persons mind gives the book a unique point of view, but not necessarily a correct one. As previously stated in this essay, Behn seems to have some sort of attraction or a liking for Prince Oroonoko and therefore what the reader is being told about this man could be biased. The bias that the narrator throws in could change the entire story or maybe just a few small things, but the reader does not know this because the account is only being told to him or her through one person's vision. Sadly we do not have Behn to question about the bias in which this book is written but one can conclude that when we read the story, the reader must be sure to know that what is happening is truly only one person's biased opinion.
Aphra Ben's story of Oroonoko is beautifully written, even for the first ever professional woman writer. The story takes the reader through the twists and turns of a portion of a young African Prince's life. However, with the narrator telling the story in the first person perspective we can only concur that what is being said may or may not be biased. As we see in the descriptions of Oroonoko, and even in the way Behn phrases her words, there is some clear favouritism going on. All in all, Oroonoko is a wonderful story that is narrated beautifully, but when one reads it, you must be aware of the first hand perspective and the bias because the events that happen could be exaggerated or understated by the narrator.
This is the complete article, containing 1,002 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
