Similarities Between Equiano And Mary Rowlandson

Equiano vs Mary Rowlandson

Human rights is defined as “the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are considered to be entitled, often held to include the rights to life, liberty, equality, and a fair trial, freedom from slavery and torture, and freedom of thought and expression.” This isn’t what Equiano or Rowlandson were allowed. Though both had different situations, they had many similarities as well. The two narratives, Equiano and Rowlandson, are similar in that they both were captured for money, but different because of their attitude towards their individual situation.

To begin with, we see that both stories share a motivation for their captors, which is money.”On a February morning, she and her three children were carried away by a Wampanoag raiding party that wanted to trade hostages for money. After eleven weeks and five days of captivity, Rowlandson’s ransom was paid.”In these two sentences of Mary Rowlandson’s narrative we see that she was held by her captors for ransom to be able to

One being each person 's attitude towards their situation.”There one of them asked me and gave me two spoonfuls of meal to comfort me, and another gave me half a pint of pea; which was more worth than many bushels at another time.” In the first reading about Rowlandson, her attitude toward her captors improved as she found that her captors were struggling to get by as well. In the second narrative about Equiano, his attitude toward his situation deteriorates as the story progresses, family members get taken away, and other degrading events appear. “(Quote)”.

Thus, we can see how each story of the captives help reveal the different feelings one might have while being held and dehumanized like Equiano and Rowlandson were. This is important because both rowlandson and Equiano were subject to torture, humiliation, and slavery. So, how would you react if you had someone you loved being subject to all these horrible, abusive