In the illustration Bodies in the Sea (1854) by Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, the viewer will first notice a beautiful and charming oil painting of a ship sailing away in the open seas on a bright, cloudy day with birds flying nearby. The illustration first presents another day at sea; however, as the viewer looks downwards in the image, the viewer will then begin to notice unusual dark shapes just a few feet away from the ship, perhaps slowly sinking into deeper waves. As the viewer peers more clearly into the image, the viewer will be able to understand that the dark shapes in the water are not sea animals of any kind, no seals or big fish; the dark shapes in the water are the bodies of slaves abandoned and left to die at sea. As the viewer begins to understand what the illustration conveys, then the viewer may realize that the image provokes thoughts of disgust, feelings of horror, rage, and sadness. The viewer sees the bodies of those who may have been mothers, fathers, children, and loved ones, taken out of his or her homeland, away from everything he or she ever knew. The viewer is left with the idea that these slaves have been simply tossed aside to the waves of the sea like garbage, to be forgotten about without justice.

         The critical questions that arise from the illustration are: From the artist’s perspective, how did the artist feel while creating this image? Does the artist have a connection to the history behind this image? Was the artist possibly a slave him or herself and can relate to the experience portrayed here, especially as a participant of the Middle Passage? How long did the artist take to create this image and how did the artist feel while creating this image? Did the artist possibly know someone who was treated in the same way? It also prompts the question to learn if this image did not only become well known but also became a popular image to persuade individuals to become abolitionists.

         Similarly, as the painting Bodies in the Sea portrays the idea of an artist’s ambiguous perception of slaves, in Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko or, the Royal Slave, the author also presents her protagonist Oroonoko changes as a character based on the reader’s perspective of him. The phrase to judge a book by its cover is useful in order to help one unpack how an author conveys an imagined fiction of a slave and not the reality of it. Slaves were deemed through various aspects such as his or her appearance, skin color, intelligence, sense of knowledge of European customs and cultures, and even through what he or she is wearing or not wearing. The connection between the novella and the illustration is that both objects touch on the themes of prejudice, discrimination, treatment based on which slave is considered unique and unusual, and the fear of rejection slaves may have had if they were to be perceived in many forms based on whatever white slave owners and buyers thought made them different than anyone else.

         In Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko or, the Royal Slave, the reader is presented with a description of the main character Oroonoko’s short life as a royal prince in Surinam, a kingdom in Africa. He is described as a beautiful, strong and intelligent individual much different than Behn could have ever expected for a black man from Africa. However, no matter how much beauty, strength and morality Oroonoko could have had, he would still eventually become a slave after falling in love with a woman named Imoinda. Unlike many other slaves, Oroonoko was allowed to be married and live happily with the woman he loved without the fear of Mr. Trefry, a white slave owner going after Imoinda because Mr. Trefry grew fond of Oroonoko and knew Oroonoko was not to be treated like any other slave. After Oroonoko falls in love and marries Imoinda, he does not realize that their love for each other will soon lead to their undoing.

         A specific moment that connects Oroonoko on how he is treated “differently” from other slaves is once he realizes he has become a slave, Oroonoko makes the conscious decision of telling Mr. Trefry that he wishes to be treated no differently than any slave. To which is not possible because even if Oroonoko is not a royal anymore, Behn makes it clear that there is something different about him that anyone can clearly see, to realize that Oroonoko is not an ordinary slave. Although he was a prince back in Africa, is aware he is incredibly intelligent, Oroonoko is described as looking much like a European and can entertain Mr. Trefry due to the fact that Oroonoko is fluent in English and French. The manner in which Behn chooses to distinguish Oroonoko as a slave and as a royal, as people will still understand he is not a typical slave and will be considered different, “the royal youth appeared in spite of the slave, and people could not help treating him after a different manner without designing it; as soon as they approached him, they venerated and esteemed him; his eyes insensibly commanded respect, and his behavior insinuated it into every soul.” (Behn 43). This is a specific moment that expresses how although Oroonoko is a slave unlike other slaves from Africa, he has the option of letting his master know what he wants and actually be listened to because he looks and presents himself much differently than a regular slave, as it is fairly clear that Oroonoko is not just an ordinary slave and he should not be thought of as one. Behn does not go into much detail on Oroonoko’s hardships as a royal nor as a slave, unlike the artist in the illustrations; therefore, there is a distinction on how Oroonoko is treated “differently” than other slaves. This moment is significant from this piece of the text and the illustration because unlike the image as the artist chooses to present the brutal truths of slavery, to exhibit how not everyone would be treated and viewed the same as Oroonoko. Whereas Behn makes the decision to not depict the harsh truths of slavery, instead she just chooses to give a brief explanation on how he is a slave, but it is not until his death that Behn will describe how he will undergo the death of a slave. The story that arises by putting the object and the text in connection with one another is a regular slave owner with a cigar in his mouth, purchasing a dark-skinned, almost to bare naked, with shackles on his or her arms and legs slave and taking one look at the slave and saying “you are ugly but you will do,” with an ominous tone to clearly express that the slave is easily replaceable. That slave will undergo any form of torture for being viewed as ugly and simply the slave owner can do whatever he wishes, unlike Oroonoko, who even as a slave was treated “differently” because he was perceived more as a European than as a black man.

        Another particular moment that connects on how Oroonoko is treated “differently” from other slaves is when Oroonoko who is also known as Caesar, which is a name known to be strong and powerful. This is a significant event because the fact that Oroonoko was given a name to represent strength, talent, skill, and toughness, he was not given any simple name nor referred by Behn or anyone else in the novella by the “n” word. “I ought to tell you that the Christians never buy any slaves but they give them some name of their own, their native ones being likely very barbarous and hard to pronounce; so that Mr. Trefry gave Oroonoko that of Caesar, which name will live in that country as long as that (scarce more) glorious one of the great Roman…” (43). The narrative that comes to the surface is by the reader coming to the realization that slaves who are favored will be given special treatment and even acknowledged in a nicer way than slaves who are thrown aside and considered as property. The story that emerges by putting the object and the text in connection with one another is that slaves who are given a name that is not cruel and ruthless are the ones most likely to be remembered and even admired by someone unexpected. A slave that is snatched away from his or her homeland, viewed as nothing but as a being with dark skin with almost to no intelligence and ignorance of European customs and traditions and thought to be useless before the ship reaches its destination is no Oroonoko/ Caesar, he or she is simply a “negro.”

        In conclusion, the lingering questions that continue to emerge after a close reading and analysis of the image and of the text as the harsh reality of slavery was exposed by several artists and authors, obviously not every slave was viewed and respected like Oroonoko/Caesar and treated cruelly unlike he was. Therefore, during the voyage from the Middle Passage to take slaves to the West Indies, could there have been any possible way for a slave who was perceived to be like Oroonoko? Could he or she eventually have gained a certain, amiable and more intelligent manner that was considered more tolerable and esteem like his? The answer may be unknown but perhaps may have been possible, especially towards abolitionists. If so, are there any documents, whether in images or novellas that conveys that example? An important implication of these questions is that a larger scope implication is that in simple terms, no matter how many centuries it has been, even continuing to modern day, there is always judgment and discrimination for those who are thought to be different than a white person, it was clear during the time of slavery: books, (slaves) were judged and deemed unworthy by their cover.

Works Cited

Baquaqua, Mahommah Gardo. Bodies in the Sea. 1854. 485703. Art and Artifacts   

        Division. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York.

        http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm                    

        migration=1&topic=99&id=298212&ty

        pe=image&metadata=show&page=7

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, edited by Janet Todd, Penguin, 2004.