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The first division contains the married men who in their dances frequently exhibit feats of arms, and the representation of a battle. To these succeed the married women who dance in the second division. The young men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth. Each represents some interesting scene of real life, such as a great achievement, domestic employment, a pathetic story, or some rural sport. This gives our dances a spirit and variety which I have scarcely seen elsewhere." The central theme of The Classic Slave Narratives: The Life of Olaudah Equiano is obviously that the institution of slavery should be abolished. However, in addition to the central theme, Equiano indirectly provides the reader with various "sub-themes" in order to support the central theme and to eventually convince the reader to support his argument that the institution of slavery should be done away with wholly. One such "sub-theme" is the existence of a set way of life, traditions, and/or customs by which the Africans live. The above passage is one that supports this sub-theme. The tone, diction, and syntax of the passage are the literary elements used to indirectly persuade the reader to agree with Equiano's argument that slavery should come to an end. Equiano's decision to choose the humble approach is wise considering that his audience requires humility. It is an effective way of getting his point across without being rude. Each literary element openly but humbly reiterates the sub-theme. Equiano's tone is one of pride. The passage begins with "We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets" (Equiano, 14). The pride he has is not an obnoxious pride, but a pride that says the Africans can express themselves similar to the ways Europeans express themselves through dancers, musicians, and poets. Therefore, Equiano is humbly pointing out that they too, like the Europeans, are a civilized culture and thus deserving of freedom. He even goes as far as to say that he has scarcely seen dancers with such variety as the Africans (Equiano 14). This implies that they are capable of being skilled in or mastering an activity which is another indication that the Africans are a civilized culture and therefore have the right to freedom. To generalize Equiano's use of tone in the above passage, the fact that he takes time to mention something as minor as dancing and music shows the reader that his attitude is one of pride for his culture. Therefore, the reader should be compelled to realize that the Europeans themselves have a similar pride in their culture thus qualifying the Africans for humanity and freedom just like the Europeans. Equiano's diction is another literary element used to support the sub-theme. He uses the words married men, married women, young men, and maidens to let the reader know that these people make up the African's society (Equiano 14). Society means companionship or association with one's fellows (Webster, 1094). Since the meaning of society does not change with culture, the Africans are, once again, just as civilized as the Europeans. Equiano purposely divides the society into these four categories so that the reader can see that a society existed. Had he simply used the word "society," in place of the people that actually make up the society, the audience would not have the same appreciation for the idea of a society. Also the fact that Equiano wrote his narrative in English shows the reader that if he has the capacity for learning a language in just a few years, other Africans do as well which strengthens his argument that slavery should be abolished because they are intelligent human beings. Finally, Equiano uses the literary element syntax in the above passage to reiterate the overall theme that slavery should end, and to reiterate the sub-theme that a set way of life, traditions, and/or customs exist among the Africans which makes them civilized and deserving of freedom. Equiano asks the reader rhetorical questions, an indirect approach to persuade the audience. These questions make the reader think logically, which makes the readers be truthful with themselves and see that slavery is simply wrong. For instance, Equiano asks, " Are slaves more useful by being thus humbled to the condition of brutes, than they would be if suffered to enjoy the privileges of men?" (Equiano, 80). The reader does not have to answer to anybody concerning his/her true feelings about slavery. Therefore, the reader has no problem in his/her mind with answering this logical question truthfully. The logical answer to this question is "No." Though the reader may not verbalize their opinions on the matter of slavery, Equiano's rhetorical questions, such as the one just mentioned above, is a good way of remaining humble, indirect, and a good way of inspiring conviction. Conviction brings on shame; shame brings on change. Equiano uses another form of syntax in the narrative besides rhetorical questions. He uses anaphora. Equiano argues that, " When you make men slaves, you deprive them of half their virtue, you set them, in your own conduct, an example of fraud, rapine, and cruelty, and compel them to live with you in a state of war; and yet you complain that they are not honest or faithful" (Equiano, 80). He repeats the word "you" in each clause of this sentence to force the reader to acknowledge that they are the cause of the existence of hatred and the spirit of rebellion in the slaves' hearts and to refute the idea that the slaves are just a rebellious or uncivilized people. Anaphora was the perfect technique to stick the word "you" in because it requires repetition of a clause, phrase, or, in this case, word in one complete sentence. So Equiano could drill the fact that THEY are the ones that cause spirits of rebellion among the slaves into one complete sentence. And the audience has no choice but to acknowledge the truth of what Equiano's saying because he familiarized the word "you" with a specific common situation that every reader would be able to relate to. Had he simply asserted vaguely that "You are all wrong," the reader would quickly become insulted by this statement and as a result would opt to give a deaf ear to what Equiano is saying which would minimize the chance of slavery ending and ending quickly. Equiano's use of syntax was a very powerful way of remaining humble as he had done in other parts of the narrative; it's a great way of supporting the overall theme that slavery should end and the sub-theme that the Africans are a civilized group of individuals like any other culture. In conclusion, the fact that slavery should be abolished is the central theme of this entire narrative. It is essentially the reason for the narrative being written in the first place. However, the underlying reason or sub-theme of this passage and the narrative in general is that Africans are, in fact, a civilized society with traditions and customs of their own. Equiano uses the literary elements diction, tone, and syntax to indirectly persuade the audience and to strengthen his argument. Though these elements are powerful in themselves, the passage and the narrative in general are also crafted with a humble approach. Humility is needed for this audience because they hold the power of ending or continuing slavery. Overall, Equiano presents his argument, not only in the above passage, but in the whole narrative, in a fashion that is to be respected. Bibliography: Word Count: 1317
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