“When these people knew we were brother and sister they indulged
us together; and the man, to whom I supposed we belonged, lay with us,
he in the middle, while she and I held one another by the hands across
his breast all night; and thus for a while we forgot our misfortunes
in the joy of being together: but even this small comfort was soon to
have an end; for scarcely had the fatal morning appeared, when she was
again torn from me for ever! I was now more miserable, if possible,
than before.” (Page 51)
This line in Equiano’s story is really interesting because it shines a new light on their slave masters. Equiano and his sister were kidnapped together and were forced to separate. In his hellish experience in slavery he has finally got a momentary relief of the harsh life of slavery. Luck has brought Equiano and his sister back together which they never thought they would see each other ever again. When their masters figured out they were brother and sister, they allowed them to be together for one night. Equiano and his sister held each other for the whole night finally happy to see each other again. Though, this moment was only temporary because they were soon to be separated from each other again and this will probably be the last time they see each other. Although the masters had compassion for them and allowed them to be together for a night, they soon taken them away from each other. This shows that to them, slavery is still a business regardless of ripping endless families apart. This leaves Equiano in even more sorrow and grief, knowing that his reunion with his sister is to be ended and wondering if they will ever see each other again. This experience seems very brutal to them, knowing that a silver lining has appeared in Equiano’s slave life only to be taken away again. He is now broken in spirit and miserable and this moment signifies the beginning of Equiano’s actual real life hell. Although he was captured and sold to slavery at a very young age, his experiences leading up to this part hasn’t even begun to be as terrifying as events afterwards.
I found this part of the reading interesting too. The fact that they somehow were brought back to each other after such a long period of separation was truly a miracle. I agree with you that this second separation between the two truly puts Olaudah in a state of extreme sorrow. This is another part in the story when Olaudah loses hope in returning to his previous way of life. whether it was the tike that he killed the chicken and was forced to run away and had to give up on his dream of going home or being taken from his sister again each one puts Oludah is more pain and sorrow.