The narrator has clearly seen many events and the story of each event is told throughout the novel. The story starts off bearing true faith that it is true, because she has either seen the events unfold or have been told firsthand by the involved characters. The way in which this novel is written gives a reader a more intimate encounter with the unfolding events. In the beginning, we are painted the picture of the South American colony Suriname; where we are introduced to how slaves were put into the slave trade and brought to America. The innocence is put on full display as the natives are described. The narrator talks about the kind of innocence that was in the Garden of Eden, before the fall of Adam and Eve. Coramantien’s King was over 100 years old and due to wars he had no heirs to take his throne however, he did have a grandson who was the prince and his name is Oroonoko. At seventeen Oroonoko was meant to die, the General he was training with took an arrow meant for him. Oroonoko was made a General himself and sent off to fight in wars; after a while he was brought back in order to be restored into a ranking member of society. He was taught different languages very well and could speak and write many different ones to the point, and unless you knew he was a great warrior, you wouldn’t assume so. Oroonoko walked many ways of life and in each one honor was the number one value he followed and this is where his moral dilemmas stemmed from.
The General that was training Oroonoko had a daughter Imoinda and within the first meeting they fell madly in love with each other. Their love was evident as they decided to wed “After a thousand assurances of his lasting flame, and her eternal empire over him, she condescended to receive him for her husband; or rather, received him as the greatest honor the gods could do her” (Oroonoko). Unlike the King, Oroonoko’s sense for honor made him vow he would never take another woman while he lived. Receiving the blessing of the King to marry was very important to Oroonoko due to his morals, so he took Imoinda to the King to get his blessing. Imoinda was very beautiful and the King wanted her for himself. Imoinda and Oroonoko sneak away and consummate their agreement, when the King found out he sent them both into slavery. Oroonoko was still bound by his honor, even after receiving word that Imoinda died he returned to war fighting for the King before he was sold to Tefry in an English colony.
Due to his royal background Oroonoko was renamed Caesar. He was treated more that of a guest than a slave, and the other slaves referred him as a God. During this time he finds out that Imoinda had not died, rather she also had been sent to the Colony and renamed as Clemene. Since Caesar was looked up to by other slaves, his words alone led to revolts and to runaway slaves; which led to divesting constancies for Caesar and Clemene, who is now with an unborn child. Since Caesar was to blame for so many of the issues, the Governor, Byrum, has him whipped. Caesar has finally reached the end of his ropes, so he works on a plan to kill the Governor and other settlers within the Colony. Governor Byrum hears this plan of Caesar’s to get revenge, so he puts in place a plan of his own to hang Caesar. This deeply concerned Caesar as he did not know what would happen to Clemene and his unborn child, in the event his plan didn’t work and was captured or killed. In the event he failed, Clemene would face the possibility of rape and an un-honorable death. This caused Caesar to come up with the honorable plan of killing Clemene and their unborn child, those that caused them such pain, before he took his own life. Clemene agrees to this plan after he kills them, “hand resolved, and a heart breaking within, gave the fatal stroke, first cutting her throat, and then severing her yet smiling face from that delicate body, pregnant as it was with the fruits of tenderest love” (Oroonoko). He mourns for two days before carrying out the rest of his plan. Before he could carry out his plan he was found by a search party, this caused Caesar to harm his own body to show he had no fear of death. Caesar was brutally torn limb by limb until he falls under the weight of death.
The author tells the tale of Oroonoko in attempts to have the readers live by their own morals, and make a life full of honor, which grants them the free will all slaves fought and died for. Everyone is allowed to make their own decisions without the say of another, and this is a privilege that so many before did not have; and that so many today have forgotten they have. The characters of this tale Oroonoko and Imoinda did not have the choice to marry, live a free life, be sold as slaves, or to have their child. We today get that honor and the choice to build a future built on a base of morals that Oroonoko lived and died with.
Works Cited:
- Bear, R.S. Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave, www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/oroonoko.html
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Lessons Taught from the Fate of Caesar and Clemene.
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