Comparison of Journal of the Plague Year and Oroonoko
Summary:
A comparison of Defoe's Journal of The Plague Year and Behn's Oroonoko, in terms of the treatment of slaves as described by Behn versus the treatment of the poor as described by Defoe.
Throughout history, slaves have been treated like animals and thought of as property, not human beings. Even Oroonoko, a handsome, statuesque prince is turned into a slave because of his race, and is degraded and mistreated. To racist slave owners, the horrible treatment of Africans was acceptable because they were a different species, and no amount of education or beauty could save them. Behn shows how unjust and brutal slavery is in Oroonoko. The treatment of slaves is comparable to the treatment of the poor, as both have few rights, and both are unjustly judged and mistreated based on social status.
Behn begins Oroonoko with a description of the native people: they have long black hair, wear jewelry and paint flowers on their faces, and "have all that is called Beauty, except the Colour, which is reddish Yellow." They possess the same features that Europeans do, but their skin tone is considered ugly. They also possess personality traits, like modesty and decency, which Behn considers positive. The native Courtship is desirable to Europeans, as they refrain from touching or making contact. They have "Native Justice, which knows no Fraud; and they understand no vice, or Cunning, but when they are taught by White Men."# In other words, the Natives are incredibly similar to Europeans, but are still viewed as lesser beings, and are sold into slavery and treated like lesser beings without remorse. Oroonoko, a prince, possesses all the good qualities that Europeans do: he is intelligent, bilingual, brave, tall, and has European facial features such as his "Roman" nose and white teeth. However, his tribe participates in the selling of slaves, and one day an English ship arrives full of people that take advantage of Oroonoko. He is sold into slavery, given a new name, and treated like an animal.
Behn begins describing being sold into slavery as "most disgraceful. . . To which [a person] a thousand times prefer Death."# She further describes how one is sold into slavery, being either sold one by one or in lots with women and children, but families are not sold together; instead, they are separated, as a family cannot be trusted together for fear that they will commit "some great Action, to the ruin of the Colony."# At first, slavery is depicted as more of an embarrassment than a painful way of life, and Oroonoko lives a decent life for a while. Oroonoko is sold to Trefry, a Cornish gentleman who assists the Governor, and he proves to be a kind and gentle man to Oroonoko. Trefry cares deeply for Oroonoko, and "ever after lov'd him as his dearest Brother, and she'd him all the Civilities due to so great a Man."# Oroonoko is reunited with his love, Imoinda, who has also been sold into slavery, and the two are allowed to marry (which was a privilege that was not granted often). However, the lifestyle Oroonoko leads is not typical, as he reveals when he makes a speech to other slaves. Oroonoko reveals that slaves suffer "Loads, Burdens, and Drudgeries as were fitter for beasts than Men" and that both guilty and innocent slaves "suffer'd the infamous Whip. . . Till their Blood trickled from all Parts of their Body."#
The cruelty of the slave owners sparks a rebellion led by Oroonoko, which fails. The slaves are punished in the most merciless manner: they are whipped so badly, "rending the very Flesh from their Bones," and when he is "almost fainting, with loss of blood," his wounds are rubbed with Indian pepper.# Imoinda is spared punishment, and is not forced to watch her husband be tortured, but not out of kindness. Instead, her captors fear that she will miscarry from stress, and would therefore lose a slave. Oroonoko cannot bear the thought of raising his child as a slave, and decides to kill the pregnant Imoinda to prevent their child from suffering in the future. He murders her, is tortured and killed by his captors.
Oroonoko gives plenty of insight into the institution of slavery, but is a work of fiction. However, historical documents give us true accounts of former slaves and others that describe slavery even more. West Africa in the Triangular Trade describes the slave trade: eleven million Africans were kidnapped and sailed across the Atlantic between 1500 and 1870. # The British also attempted to obtain control of the slave trade, not to stop the atrocities that were occurring, but to ensure a cut of the profits for themselves. Africa became a "slave-making machine that cheapened and increased the supply of slaves."# It is also estimated that thirteen million slaves were taken from Africa as slaves, but that only eleven million made it across the Atlantic, meaning that two million Africans died from various forms of mistreatment along the way.
Phillips' A Journal of a Voyage Made in the Hannibal describes the means of transporting the Africans. First, the slaves were branded with a hot iron with the first letter of a ship's name, which supposedly "caused but little pain." Next, the men were shackled together, to prevent them from fighting back or escaping. Many Africans knew what awaited them after the journey, and committed suicide by drowning. Dead Africans were treated like animals, and were thrown overboard without ceremony.# Any Africans that acted out against the white men would have an arm or leg cut off, so as to frighten the others. Philips confirms that the slave trade was all about profit without regard to humanity, saying that the death of several Africans under his care was "a great detriment to our voyage. . .losing ten pounds by every slave that dies, and the owners of the ship [lose] ten pounds ten shillings."#
Lastly, one document gives attention to the life of a slave in Cugoano's Thoughts on the Traffic of Slavery. Cuguoano, who was born in 1757, taken to Grenada in 1770, and then to England in 1772 tells of his miserable experiences being sold. He saw countless horrors, and describes how he and his shipmates plotted to blow up their own ship on the journey across the Atlantic. They were betrayed by woman who had been sleeping with a sailor on the ship, which was common, and they are all punished severely for their plot. Once on land, Cuguoano was taken to a sugarcane plantation, that was no better than being on the ship. The punishment for eating a piece of the sugarcane was having teeth hit or pulled out to deter others from eating the merchandise. Cuguoano writes a stunning description of how Africa was "robbed of its inhabitants. . . Kidnapped, and violently taken away, and carried into captivity and cruel bondage." Cuguaono finishes by asking "when will the wickedness of man have an end?"#
Although Daniel Defoe was only five when the plague hit London in 1665, he was able to describe it vividly, as it caused terror that would not be forgotten for generations. Defoe describes the poor as generally being helpless throughout the plague, susceptible not only to disease, but to schemes and maltreatment as well. For instance, "mock astrologers" would travel the country predicting if the plague would hit, taking advantage of the lower classes.# The poor let their fears overcome their conscience, and they "threw away their Money in a most distracted Manner upon those Whymsies."# Doctors also deceived the poor out of their money, as they prescribed drugs like mercury that did nothing to treat illness and would actually make the patient sicker.# Beggars were prohibited by law from wandering the streets, as they could spread disease faster. The poor also had no access to provisions, and many died of starvation, nor could they afford nurses or doctors to care for them, although there was little a doctor or nurse could do fight the plague. Like Oroonoko, the poor revolted against the rich after being "starv'd for want of Work and by that means for want of Bread."# Some of the poor fled the cities and lived in shacks in the countries, but could not find food or heat, and many died. Although the rich and poor were both affected by the plague, the poor had their rights taken away from them, but the rich and powerful While the rich could flee to the country for isolation, the poor were trapped in crowded, filthy cities with no transportation out of them. However, there was charity and sympathy for the poor, and Defoe even sympathizes with a thief that died while robbing a house.
Both the poor and the African slaves were abused for the profit of others. Both went through tremendous suffering, although from different causes. The poor did have more freedoms than the slaves did, but were forced to remain in their houses under quarantine, and were not allowed to escape the infested environment that would ultimately lead to their death. The Africans were not only stripped of their rights, but of their backgrounds as well; they were given European names and forced to forget their national history. Overall, the Africans faced harsher treatments than the poor Europeans did, and the long-term effects from slavery still affect many today, while the plague doesn't.
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