The Horrid Journey If it were not for the stories past down from generation to generation or the documentations in historical books, the history of the twelve million African slaves that traveled the “Middle Passage” in miserable conditions would not exist. Olaudah Equiano contributes to this horrid history with The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Through this narrative, the appalling personal experience of each slave is depicted. He accomplishes his rhetorical purpose of informing the world of the slave experience in this narrative. His use of unique style and rhetorical devices in this conveying narrative portray his imperative rhetorical purpose. Throughout Equiano’s works, a unique style is evident. This
This appeal consists mainly of his imagery. The vivid imagery used all throughout his piece tells the story of journey of the “Middle Passage” which is clearly used to portray his rhetorical purpose. The imagery creates horrific emotions and images for the reader allowing him or her to accurately feel as though they trapped aboard the foul ship as a dehumanized slave. Furthermore, Equiano uses logos, appeal based on logic, to portray his rhetorical purpose. In this, his writing is in chronological order and is comprehensible. The reader can evidently understand his narrative so that the reader can evidently understand the horror of the “Middle Passage.” Conclusively, through this use of ethos, pathos, and logos, the reader can clearly view the author to be a logical, emotional, and ethical writer, therefore understanding his rhetorical purpose. However, the complete fulfillment of his rhetorical purpose can not only be reached with his unique style of rhetorical devices; in addition, it requires the unique style of this specific narrative. The style of this narrative includes a first person point of view, the use of passive voice, and chronological order. First person point of view can be seen throughout his entire narrative; for instance, “Happily perhaps, for myself, I was soon reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost always on deck…” (45). By putting the narrative in first person, the reader can