Comparing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano and T

Comparing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano and Wiesel’s The Death of My Father   This essay will focus on the two works, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano by Olauda Equiano and "The Death of My Father" by Elie Wiesel. Although these works are quite different, at the same time they are sadly similar. Both works have value to me as they describe events that have historical significance. Their personal descriptions of these events help one better feel and understand the atrocities inflicted on both the African and Jewish people. Equiano's was most poignant as it details the crimes committed against the African people. Equiano's story tells us of his abduction and separation from his family, particularly his little sister. I learned that slaves were bought and sold in Africa, from African to African. I guess I just never realized that this was a practice before European influence. Of course, the difference seems to be that the African masters did not ill treat their slaves. It was not until Equiano was sold to the white traders that he became "converted into terror" and even after many years had passed he was "yet at a loss to describe" (479). Equiano's graphic account of the conditions on board the slave ship pained me as I read. I could only imagine the suffering as he described "the heat," "the air...unfit for respiration" and the "shrieks...and the groans of the dying" (481). While Equiano was luckier than most, if it can be considered luck. He reports the general treatment of slaves by their owners following their arrival in America. Equiano tells of sexual assaults against the slave women to include young children, the maiming and torture as punishment for a myriad o... ..." (1829). Wiesel is saying that if God existed, why would he have allowed the Holocaust to happen? Of course, this is one question among many that will never be answered for him. In the end Wiesel resigns himself to go to the synagogue, light the candles, and say the Kiddish for his father. Both of these writings were of value for me as they were not mere entertainment. They were stories of human suffering, suffering at the hands of other human beings. Although I have read many stories about the slave trade and the Holocaust, I still find each and every story more horrifying and saddening than the last. I, like Wiesel, cannot understand how such cruelties could have been inflicted upon anyone. How human beings could lack compassion and empathy for others is so far beyond my understanding that there are no words with which to explain my feelings....       Comparing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano and T Comparing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano and Wiesel’s The Death of My Father   This essay will focus on the two works, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano by Olauda Equiano and "The Death of My Father" by Elie Wiesel. Although these works are quite different, at the same time they are sadly similar. Both works have value to me as they describe events that have historical significance. Their personal descriptions of these events help one better feel and understand the atrocities inflicted on both the African and Jewish people. Equiano's was most poignant as it details the crimes committed against the African people. Equiano's story tells us of his abduction and separation from his family, particularly his little sister. I learned that slaves were bought and sold in Africa, from African to African. I guess I just never realized that this was a practice before European influence. Of course, the difference seems to be that the African masters did not ill treat their slaves. It was not until Equiano was sold to the white traders that he became "converted into terror" and even after many years had passed he was "yet at a loss to describe" (479). Equiano's graphic account of the conditions on board the slave ship pained me as I read. I could only imagine the suffering as he described "the heat," "the air...unfit for respiration" and the "shrieks...and the groans of the dying" (481). While Equiano was luckier than most, if it can be considered luck. He reports the general treatment of slaves by their owners following their arrival in America. Equiano tells of sexual assaults against the slave women to include young children, the maiming and torture as punishment for a myriad o... ..." (1829). Wiesel is saying that if God existed, why would he have allowed the Holocaust to happen? Of course, this is one question among many that will never be answered for him. In the end Wiesel resigns himself to go to the synagogue, light the candles, and say the Kiddish for his father. Both of these writings were of value for me as they were not mere entertainment. They were stories of human suffering, suffering at the hands of other human beings. Although I have read many stories about the slave trade and the Holocaust, I still find each and every story more horrifying and saddening than the last. I, like Wiesel, cannot understand how such cruelties could have been inflicted upon anyone. How human beings could lack compassion and empathy for others is so far beyond my understanding that there are no words with which to explain my feelings....