Oroonoko

“They have a native Justice, which knows no Fraud; and they understand no Vice, or Cunning, but when they are taught by the White Men.”

Here again, the Surinamese are represented as innocent and without wickedness. Indeed, it is only through the influence of colonizing White people that these people learn cunning and vice. Thus, the novella seems to question the value of colonialism.

“[H]e was adorn’d with a native Beauty, so transcending all those of his gloomy Race, that he struck an Awe and Reverence, even into those that knew not his Quality”

This is one of the first descriptions of Oroonoko, one which emphasizes his physical beauty and implies that this is but an outward manifestation of his “quality” or character.

“He knew almost as much as if he had read much”

Here the narrator is still discussing Oroonoko, this time focusing on his intellect. There is a suggestion that he is at a disadvantage in an oral society—where writing isn’t widespread—and would have known more if he had lived in a literate society. Literacy then becomes another marker of civilization in the novella and suggests that Cormantien is less civilized than other countries because it is an oral society.

“His face was not of that brown rusty Black which most of that Nation are, but a perfect Ebony, or polished Jet. His eyes were the most aweful that could be seen, and very piercing; the White of ʼem being like Snow, as were his Teeth. His Nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat: His Mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turn’d Lips, which are so natural to the rest of the Negroes. The whole Proportion and Air of his Face was so nobly and exactly form’d, that bating his Colour, there could be nothing in Nature more beautiful, agreeable and handsome”

This is a detailed description of Oroonoko’s appearance that not only catalogues his physical features but distinguishes them from those of other black people. In fact, the only thing that stands between Oroonoko and physical perfection is the color of his skin. Thus, even this positive description of a black man carries within it an implicit rejection of black people as beautiful according to European standards.

“[C]ontrary to the Custom of his country, he made her Vows, she should be the only Woman he would possess while he liv’d”

This is the point at which Oroonoko vows to remain monogamous—to marry only Imoinda, rather than to take many wives, as is traditional in Cormantien. Given that the narrator notes monogamy is usual in Christian countries, Oroonoko’s decision to be monogamous further aligns him with Christian and European values.

“[T]he Obedience the People pay their King, was not at all inferior to what they paid their Gods”

This describes the Cormantien people’s attitude towards their king; he has complete authority over them.

“I have observed, ʼtis a very great Error in those who laugh when one says, A Negro can change Colour: for I have seen ʼem as frequently blush, and look pale, and that as visibly as ever I saw in the most beautiful White”

In challenging the idea that black people do not blush, the narrator also implicitly challenges the idea that black people do not feel the same emotions white people do. The examples she offers here—blushing and turning pale—are both physical manifestations of emotions, such as embarrassment or shock and in asserting that black people also blush and turn pale, she is asserting that they feel the emotions associated with them.

“[S]he remained a spotless Maid till that Night…what she did with his Grandfather had robb’d him of no Part of her Virgin-Honour; the Gods, in Mercy and Justice, having reserved that for her plighted Lord, to whom of Right it belonged”

On the night they consummate their marriage, Imoinda assures Oroonoko that she is still a virgin. The language used here suggests that taking her virginity grants Oroonoko complete possession over Imoinda, more complete even that his Grandfather, who had confined her to the Otan and thus had her under his control. A woman’s virginity can be seen as a way to control women and of deciding who has authority over particular women.

“But as it is the greatest Crime in Nature amongst them, to touch a Woman after having been possess’d by a Son, a Father, or a Brother, so now he looked on Imoinda as a polluted thing wholly unfit for his Embrace; nor would he resign her to his Grandson, because she had received the Royal Veil”

This is the king’s reaction upon learning that Oroonoko and Imoinda have consummated their marriage. He cannot have Imoinda, so she is useless to him. However, he will not let her be with Oroonoko in case it is seen as sign of weakness, a failure of his power. Instead, he sells her into slavery. His attitude suggests that women in Cormantien are symbols of male power and prestige.

“He ought to have had so much Value and Consideration for a Maid of her Quality, as to have nobly put her to Death, and not to have sold her like a common Slave; the greatest Revenge, and the most disgraceful of any, and to which they a thousand times prefer Death”

Here, the King regrets his decision to sell Imoinda into slavery, acknowledging that it was a cruel thing to do and that death would have been kinder. This is yet another instance in which death and slavery are compared and in which death is found to be preferable.

“Oroonoko…was more civiliz’d, according to the European Mode, than any other had been, and took More Delight in the White Nations”

Once again, Oroonoko is associated with European civilization and white culture, distinguishing him from his countrymen.

“Farewell, Sir, ʼtis worth my Sufferings to gain so true a Knowledge, both of you, and of your Gods, by whom you swear”

These are the words Oroonoko speaks to the English captain as he is being sold into slavery. This is the second time that the Captain has deceived the prince and Oroonoko’s words not only declare him a dishonorable man but suggest that, in the future, Oroonoko will be less trusting of those who make vows in the name of the Christian God.

“Come, my Fellow-Slaves, let us descend, and see if we can meet with more Honour and Honesty in the next World we shall touch upon”

Here, Oroonoko is addressing the other slaves who are being sold in Surinam by the English captain. Interestingly, his comment about the next world suggests that as they “descend” into slavery they are entering a kind of death.

“Mr. Trefry gave Oroonoko that of Caesar; which name will live in the Country as long as that (scarcely more) glorious one of the great Roman: for ʼtis most evident he wanted no Part of the personal Courage of that Caesar, and acted Things as memorable”

Oroonoko’s slave name reinforces his association with the Roman Empire and indeed, the narrator makes a direct comparison between him and the Roman emperor, suggesting that they are similarly courageous.

“But his Misfortune was, to fall in an obscure World, that afforded only a Female Pento celebrate his Fame; tho’ I doubt not but it had lived from others Endeavours, if the Dutch, who immediately after his time took that Country, had not killed, banished and dispersed all those that were capable of giving the World this great Man’s Life, much better than I have done”

This quotation both condemns the Dutch conquest of Surinam and defends the narrator’s decision to write the story of Oroonoko’s life. She writes out of necessity rather than any unseemly belief in her own ability. She must write this story if the story of this great man is to be written, for the Dutch conquest of Surinam means that she is the only person able to do so. In this light, the Dutch takeover might be seen as an attack on English manhood.

“‘I do not wonder (reply’d the Prince) that Clemene should refuse Slaves, being, as you say, so beautiful; but wonder how she escapes those that can entertain her as you can do: or why, being your Slave, you do not oblige her to yield?’”

“‘I have been ready to make Use of those Advantages of Strength and Force Nature has given me: But Oh! she disarms me with that Modesty and Weeping, so tender and so moving, that I retire’”

This is Trefry’s response to Oroonoko’s question about why he doesn’t rape Clemene. It is only the piteousness of her weeping that saves her from his unwanted attentions. Here, the responsibility remains with the woman: by this logic, if he did rape her, it would be because she did not protest enough. The slave master is thus absolved of any guilt or responsibility for their abhorrent treatment of their slaves.

“Caesar swore he disdained the Empire of the World, while he could behold his Imoinda; and she despised Grandeur and Pomp, those Vanities of her Sex, when she could gaze on Oroonoko”

This is the moment at which Oroonoko and Imoinda are reunited as Caesar and Clemene. Each rejects the particular pleasures that men and women are supposed to enjoy—for men, politics and power, for women, beauty and glory—in favor of the love of the other.

“[H]e began to suspect a Falsehood, and that they would delay him till the Time of his Wife’s Delivery, and make a Slave of the Child too; for all their Breed is theirs to whom the Parents belong”

Here, Oroonoko considers the possibility that he is being tricked again. He also points to the fact that slave women are particularly valuable to slave owners, who gains a new slave for every child they bear.

“I soon perceiv’d, by an Admiration that is natural to these People, and by the extreme Ignorance and Simplicity of ʼem, it were not difficult to establish any unknown or extravagant Religion among them, and to impose and Notions or Fictions upon ʼem”

Here, the narrator is commenting on the gullibility of the Surinamese people. Her remarks echo those at the beginning of the novella and suggest that the colony is ripe for colonization and the imposition of Christianity. In fact, the people’s extreme ignorance suggests that it is necessary for someone to take care of them and prevent some dishonorable person or nation from establishing an “extravagant” religion in Surinam.

“[It is] the Nature of that Country to rust and eat up Iron, or any metals but Gold and Silver”

This comment by the narrator comes shortly after her discussion of the discovery of gold in Surinam. By noting that only silver and gold survive the air in that country, she is reinforcing the association between the colony and those precious metals, underlining its value and thus what the loss of such an asset means to England.

“[Why] my dear Friends and Fellow-sufferers, should we be Slaves to an unknown People? Have they vanquished us nobly in Fight? Have they won us in Honourable Battle? Are we by the Chance of War become their Slaves? This would not anger a noble Heart; this would not animate a Soldier’s Soul: No, but we are bought and sold like Apes or Monkeys, to be the sport of Women, Fools and Cowards; and the Support of Rogues and Runagades, that have abandoned their own Countries for Rapine, Murders, Theft and Villanies. Do you not hear every Day how they upbraid each other with Infamy of Life, below the wildest Salvages? And shall we render Obedience to such s degenerate Race, who have no one human Virtue left, to distinguish them from the vilest Creatures?"

This is part of the rousing speech Oroonoko/Caesar makes in his attempt to convince the other slaves on the plantation to abscond with him. His main argument lies in the difference between the kind of slavery practiced by the English and the kind of slavery practiced in Cormantien. Oroonoko accepts slavery as a consequence of war rejects slavery as a purely commercial institution, in which people are bought and sold like animals. The type of slavery practiced by the English is another manifestation of their lack of virtue and honor, other examples of which he lists here. He points to their hypocrisy in treating others like animals when they themselves act like the “vilest Creatures”.

“[H]e was ashamed of what he had done in endeavouring to make those free, who were by Nature Slaves, poor wretched Rogues, fit to be used as Christian Tools; Dogs, treacherous and cowardly, fit for such Masters; and they wanted only knowledge of the Christian Gods, to be the vilest of all creeping Things”

Oroonoko/Caesar speaks these words to Deputy Governor Byam before he surrenders, condemning the cowardice of his fellow slaves whose resolve crumbled under the English attack. Their cowardice makes them fit to be Christians in Oroonoko’s opinion, whose experience with Christianity has not endeared him to that religion or its practitioners.