By Emily Levesque (Fall 2022)
The story of Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave by Aphra Behn is told from the perspective of a female character, making the text important in a larger context. There is controversy regarding whether or not this individual is Aphra Behn herself, who uses her knowledge of the world during her time period in order to write Oroonoko. While some believe this was the first text in the novel genre, others debate whether it can even be considered a novel. Those who do, argue that it is more of a memoir. The racist narrator paints herself in a good light, regarding “The Royal Slave” as superior to other slaves but inferior to white men, showcasing the complexities and contradictions of racism in the text, as well as throughout history.
The story follows the life of a respected prince, named Oroonoko, and his journey through being cast into slavery in Surinam alongside his lover, Imoinda. His name is changed to Caesar and while his owner, Tryfry, talks of freeing him, Caesar is suspicious of this. The narrator of the text spends a lot of time with him, talking as though she is his friend. Due to his suspicions, Caesar decides to run away with his pregnant wife and the rest of the slaves, who willingly follow him. The colonists chase and catch them, causing the other slaves to betray Caesar by running away. The deputy governor, Byam, promises to meet his demands if he surrenders, and proceeds to break his promise. Oroonoko kills Imoinda and his unborn child at her request and promises to enact revenge against Byam. He fails due to his depression and is eventually publically executed through dismemberment.
Oroonoko was published in 1688, during a time period when racism was normalized. Aphra Behn wrote this text during a time of political turmoil, having been desensitized to racist ideas and topics. While reading Oroonoko, the reader must keep this in mind, especially since there is controversy regarding whether or not Behn places herself in the book as a narrator. In her introduction later, she writes as though this story really happened, saying “This is a true story of…the royal slave I had the honour to know” (Oroonoko, 5). Behn’s claim that this fictional story is real makes her white perspective more important since it proves how desensitized to racism she is. Since she is surrounded by it, she thinks nothing of it. She has no reason to contradict racist ideas due to how normalized it is for her, especially since it doesn’t negatively affect her. Assuming for a moment she is a character in the text, she is portraying herself in a racist light. She isn’t a slaveowner, but lives among them, proving that she condones the institution of slavery.
This racism is proved by one of her many contradictions, where she calls Oroonoko “The Royal Slave” as a continuation of the text’s title. Behn refers to Oroonoko as royalty, thus placing him on a pedestal. She then contradicts this claim entirely, which is a mirror to the text as a whole, by calling him a slave. One may wonder how an individual can be referred to as royalty, a term attributed with the utmost respect as well as a slave, a dehumanizing term. This contradiction and confusion become more evident as the story continues. This shows that Behn doesn’t see herself as part of the problem regarding racism. From her narrow perspective, it’s normal and not discussed. The only insight we have regarding whether or not she knows it’s wrong is the way she distances herself from negative situations regarding Oroonoko. But even then, readers get the impression that racism being bad wasn’t even a construct during the time Behn wrote the story. If it was, that doesn’t come through Behn’s negative perspective on indigenous and black people.
Assuming Behn was one of the good ones, as she portrays herself, and is still racist, this gives readers an idea of how racism was ignored historically. The narrator talks about Oroonoko in higher regard than other slaves and indigenous people, calling them “hobgoblins, or fiends, rather than man” (59). Even while feeling that way, she uses Oroonoko to tokenize ‘the other’, or, those who are different than her. She uses grotesque words for the people she views as savages, but makes herself out to be admirable for putting Oroonoko on a pedestal. However, she sees him as below white men. She calls him a slave and refers to him as Caesar. This name was given to him when he became a slave, which symbolizes his past being renounced. Her calling him proves she doesn’t see him for the person he is, but as the slave, he has become. She even dehumanizes him by saying “he was destined a slave” (44). This proves she condones his role as a slave, even though in other regards she attempts to paint herself in a positive light. By doing this, readers are educated on the former white perspective, which is that dehumanizing ‘the other’ was normalized. There was no other discussion around the topic, meaning it would’ve been all Behn knew. While this provides an explanation for this racist text, it is not an excuse for racism, much as Behn would like to portray.
To build off the idea that the narrator, whether she is Behn or simply an unnamed character, is presenting herself in a positive light, pronouns must be considered. The narrator says “They fed him from day to day with promises, and delayed him…so that he began to suspect them of falsehood” (48). The usage of “they” is striking, since it remains an ambiguous term. It disconnects her from it, creating a discrepancy between the narrator’s actions and words. She puts the wrongdoing on the slaveowners and none on herself, even though she too is betraying Oroonoko. This is shown through the way Behn brags about how she is Oroonoko’s greatest friend, saying “they ate with me…I entertained them” (49), but is not his friend. Rather, she is distracting Oroonoko from the fact that Trefry won’t be setting him and the pregnant Imoinda free. She also objectifies him like a shiny new toy, rather than an actual human, which dehumanizes him just as much as she does the other slaves. The statement “I took it ill he should suspect we would break our words with him” (49) also serves to show a major discrepancy between Behn’s words. Earlier, she says that “they” fill him with lies. Now she frets over him worrying that “we” are lying. All in all, her narrow, white viewpoint is hypocritical and her pronoun choice is contradictory. The narrator’s perspective is also important in the discussion concerning the genre of the text.
There is much debate over what genre Oroonoko falls into. By many, it’s regarded as the first novel of its kind, employing a first-person female narration. A novel is longer than a short story, and while it can be fictional, includes realistic elements. Oroonoko, for example, addresses the topics of human relationships, slavery and racism. While the events within the text may not be entirely truthful if at all, these topics are very real and relevant to modern life. From this perspective, it’s possible to argue that due to its length and realistic content, this text could be considered a novel. Novels are also usually told from a third-person perspective. In a third-person perspective, the narrator generally isn’t explained and is simply there. While their perspective does impact the story, they are unnamed and don’t create much discussion. Due to the heavy complications over whether or not Behn is the narrator and character in her own text, it is clearly not told from this perspective. This complicates the argument that it is a novel. Skeptics of the novel claim argue that it’s more of a memoir.
A memoir is typically historical writing told from personal experiences, or even from a secondary source. This is closer to what Oroonoko is, since Behn claims the story to be true, and tells us everything she claims to know. On top of that, Behn prefaces the text by saying it tells the story of the “Royal Slave”, Oroonoko. It’s not a story about herself, even if it’s believed she is a character in it. In the beginning, she recaps events that she wasn’t there for. Rather, she’s repeating what Oroonoko told her. Since she’s telling another person’s story, it isn’t being told in the moment but is written down after the fact. The way she describes it is “a short chronicle of those lives that possibly would be forgotten by other historians…” (4). She claims to have written the story in just a few hours, but there is little likelihood of this claim, given that it’s a work of fiction. Therefore, we can surmise that word choice is important. In this case, she refers to herself as a historian, further proving that the text is written to fall into the memoir form. One contradiction to the claim that it is a memoir is the idea that memoirs are meant to be factual. However, Behn attempts to make us feel something in the opening as well as throughout the story. The narrator writes about how she feels concerning Oroonoko, saying “I give you the story of this gallant slave” (9), causing us to see him positively. This is merely one example of all the terms she uses to depict him in a certain way. Readers get a biased version, based on the narrator and Behn’s white perspective. If this is the case, the narrator is not reliable, meaning we don’t know if the text is factual or not. Therefore, it can not be said for sure if it is a memoir even though it fits that definition more fully than that of a novel.
The argument concerning the genre of Oroonoko is important when considering the historical impact of the text. The general claim is that it is the first of its kind, being a novel that employs a first-person female perspective, which was unusual for the time period. However, under the argument that it fits better as a memoir, the historical significance must be re-evaluated. Readers wonder if the text being a different genre causes it to have a lesser impact. Either way, however, it is important in seeing the evolution of literature, and the perspectives shown within literature. Since it’s written and told by a female, it remains a milestone book, no matter the genre. Through reading this book, readers realize the desensitization of racism not only at the time it was written, but today too. The narrator dehumanizes slaves without hesitation. While this isn’t as extreme today, the theme is still applicable. Behn’s racist voice serves to allow readers to look at their own lives, and what they have been desensitized to. It’s not like Behn knew she was desensitized to indigenous people, whom she calls a “gloomy race” (13), and the institution of slavery. She only uses negative words to describe them because that is what she’s been taught. Readers could be experiencing a similar issue, making Behn’s perspective important to understand.
The text can be contrasted with later works tackling the topic of racism, for a fuller historical understanding of how mindsets have changed. An important mindset to analyze is the female perspective since this text is one of the first written in such. Over time, the female voice has become more powerful and willing to say things that would have been considered inappropriate for Behn to write about. Readers can read between the lines, but there is much left unsaid. This is why her voice is so interesting to analyze and pick apart. It’s a female perspective, but not the one we would see today if compared to later literature. Her voice is diluted and limited by the seventeenth-century mindset which can be used to understand the evolution of accepted literature topics. This especially concerns grotesque and disturbing themes like the way Behn portrays racism and slavery. Overall, Oroonoko is relevant to understanding today’s society, no matter if readers believe it is a novel or a memoir.
Whether Oroonoko is a memoir or novel, it continues to hold historical significance today due to it being an early example of a female perspective. The complex narration and racist themes lead to a controversial book that must be explored for readers to learn about historical perspectives regarding racism. It is especially important to explore the desensitization of slavery and racism, and how that connects and is important to modern perspectives. By employing the contradictory and controversial story of a “Royal Slave” whom she both dehumanizes and puts on a pedestal, Aphra Behn becomes an important writer for early literature, relevant even today.
Works Cited
Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. Penguin Classics, 2003.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
