Raid on a Village

In the story of Oroonokoby Aprha Behn, is a story of an African Prince and his wife, Imoinda, who are captured by the British and are transported to Suriname as slaves along with others. The story takes place in South America in the 1640s. Throughout the story, Oroonoko goes through many trials to free himself and his pregnant wife from slavery. There is one moment at the beginning of the book that Oroonoko is a General and is the person who is raiding and seizing African people, like himself, and selling them into the slave trade. I chose a digital archive image from the In Motion AAME (African American Migration Experience), titled “Raid on a Village”, to compare the similarities between the character, Oroonoko, the revolt in Suriname, and the image from the digital archive.

The Digital archive I chose is titled, “Raid on a Village”. By the title, without looking closely at the image, I can already visualize that the image will be disturbing. As I open the image for a closer look, it is in black, white, and grey. The time of day seems like it is at night, there are dark skies with a full moon and a mist of cloud hovering in front of it. There is also smoke in the sky from the fire that is in the village further back away from the people, which might be another reason there are dark skies. The village is being raided and there are men, dressed in a white dress like attire, with white hats, a belt squeezed around their waist and bead-like jewelry around their necks. They are holding spears, guns, and knives pointing at the village people. The village

men are only wearing a cloth around their waist and women are wearing a light-colored dress as are the children. The villagers are fighting back but are not winning this fight, since it was a raid and unexpected, they were not prepared. There are no weapons in the villager’s hands, they are using their hands and bodies to fight back. Some of the villagers are on the floor with their hands over their faces to cover themselves from being beaten. In this raid children and young adults are being taken, the infants and the elderly were being left behind. Villages like this one are always relocating due to the raids and have to live in hiding. They had no way of any growth or movement to avoid being captured. The “Raid on a Village” image, evokes a heartbreaking moment to its viewers as a person who has a family, which is most of us. Seeing only through an image, that the villagers, children, and young adults, are being ripped away from their families, we can only imagine if we were in that position it would be terrifying. Especially the young children and adults who had to witness this and be held in captivity with strangers they only have one thing in common with is being sold and being in the same boat as them, not knowing where they are going and whether or not they will survive this trip.

I chose this object to create a discourse between this image and the story of Oronooko. Though this is not the same as the revolt in the story where Caesar also tells the slaves that are in the same place that he is in, to fight back the white people. This object is the complete opposite of what happened in Oronookowith the revolt. In fact, the image is related to Oroonoko himself and his character before becoming a Royal Slave. Oroonoko is a prince who is promoted to General who kidnaps Africans and sells them into the slave trade. He presented Imoinda with hundred-fifty slaves as a gift of love, “So that having made his first compliments and presented her a hundred and fifty slaves in fetters…” (16).  So, this image is comparing it to Oroonoko as a person who could have been the persons raiding this village with his army.  In this image, the people who are raiding the villagers are the ones who are the same color as them. The people in the picture look like the people are wearing something similar to what Oroonoko is described to be wearing.

The story and object emerge the bigger picture as the tables are turned on Oroonoko. before his captivity, an English Ship arrives in Coramantien, who Oroonoko knows the captain, “to this captain he sold abundance of his slaves…” (36). The English Captain invited Oroonoko and hundred others on to his ship for a party with wine that they all enjoyed too much of. By everyone’s surprise, the captain seized all of them on his ship, “gave the word and seized on all guests, they clapping great irons suddenly on the prince when he was leaped down in the hold to view that part of the vessel, and locking him down…and betrayed him into slavery” (37). At this point, Oroonoko is now held in captivity as the slaves are when he himself captures them.  This is when karma comes into play with Oroonoko, he was in the position that this captain is in now, and now that the tables have been turned Oroonoko feels betrayed by him. The captain reassures Oroonoko that he and his people will be released once they reach land only because they were starving themselves, the captain did not want them to die. Oroonoko is now sold to a man named Trefry, in Surinam. He is angry with the captain for not keeping his word as told, “Farewell, Sir! It is worth my suffering to gain so true a knowledge both of you and your gods by whom you swear” (41). At this point, Oroonoko is confused as to why the captain would do this to him. Him being royal and being on their side with trading slaves, “…and being wholly unarmed and defenceless, so as it was in vain to make any resistance, he only beheld the captain with a look all fierce and disdainful, upbraiding him with eyes…” (41).

The object also is similar to a scene in Oroonoko towards the end of the book where the Oroonoko who is now named Caesaris revolting against the white men. He rallies up all the slaves and gives a speech to them to fight back the white men, “…made a harangue to them of the miseries and ignominies of such loads, burdens and drudgies as were fitter for beasts than men…” (61).  Everyone then agrees with Oroonoko to fight back with honor and praising him, “…Caesar has spoke like a great captain, like a great king” (62). The object and Oroonooko are compared as being similar because Oroonoko, at one point at the beginning of the story, is like the men in the image that are raiding the villages to capture innocent villagers that are in hiding to sell them as slaves. The digital archive shows an example of what Oroonoko and his army was doing in the beginning before he was held as a slave himself.  The tables finally turn on Oroonoko when he is in the position of the people he usually is capturing, and now he is their position who is being sold into slavery. Oroonoko not surviving but dying in noble honor for his people and also himself.

Works Cited:

“Raid on a Village.” AAME, www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/index.cfm?migration=1&type=image&page=11&topic=99&.

 

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. Penguin Classics, 2016.