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livloveslibros 's review for:
Oronooko: The Royal Slave
by Aphra Behn
I had to read this in its entirety for my English class, a survey of literature pre-1800. While I can't say I totally enjoyed this precursor to the modern-day novel, it did make me think. The depictions of slavery are fascinating -- even though they portray it as a brutal practice, the narrator never really condemns the institution as a whole. Oronooko as a character is an excellent example of the way whites viewed other races in the 17th Century. In this book, he is lauded as being noble, but mostly for his European physical characteristics, although his honesty and kingly spirit are traits he shares with no white character in the book. I don't think Behn was promoting feminism or abolitionism in her book here, but it's an interest perspective regardless. Pretty gory read at times, though.