“Where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity.”
Aphra Behn wrote the novel Oroonoko in 1688 and based it on her trip to what many researchers believe is Surinam.
Behn makes it clear in the beginning of the novel that she is “an eye-witness,”. She states that she is writing about true events and throughout the novel, she gives many details.
I chose this video because it contains not only summary of the plot but also, talks about the author and details on each character from the story in very understanding way. By not only talking but also presenting photos that help me better understand the plot.
In sum, Oroonoko is the story about a man who falls in love with an exceptional woman, Imoinda. However, their happiness does not last long. Mainly, because Oroonoko’s grandfather, the king, desires Imoinda for himself. Despite the fact that Oroonoko and Imoinda are married, the King forces her to become part of his Otan. Imoinda refuses to submit to his desires. King pretends to put Imoinda to death, when he has actually sold her into slavery.
Tricked into slavry by English sea captain, Oroonoko went to Surinam. There, his true identity is discovered and he is promised his freedom. He discovers Imoinda, now named Clemene and the reunited lovers finally live as husband and wife.
Soon after Imoinda conceives a child, Oroonoko begins to suspect further treachery on the part of the English . The uprising does not succeed and Oroonoko is betrayed by the Deputy Governor Byam.
Burning with a desire for revenge, Oroonoko decides to kill Imoinda and their unborn child, before killing Byam and then himself. Once again, his plan fails and having killed his beloved wife, his strength leaves him. At the end, he is brutally killed by Byam’s associate.
I would like to focus on the very last part of the novel which is Revolt in Surinam and mainly the act of killing his loved one. For me very tragic moment for both lovers when they realized that their life as a slaved with baby coming will be more difficult to get freedom.
He makes a plan to kill her first, take his revenge on Byam, and then kill himself. Taking Imoinda with him into the woods, he tells her “of the necessity of dying,” explains the impossibility of escape, and then reveals his plan. Being a dutiful, loving wife, she falls at his feet in gratitude for arranging such an honorable way for her spirit to return home. He draws his knife while
“tears trickle down his cheeks,” and he gives to her the “fatal stroke, first cutting her throat, and then severing her smiling face from that delicate body” (72).
I can understand the difficulty of being enslaved however; killing someone actually two people do not justify that decision. Of course, that plan was not the first option but came out after trying other options. But again, it does not justify killing .
Of course, I look at this piece from Christian perspective also, not being of course a slave therefore; it is harder to understand. For me there is no justification of taking someone else’s life.