Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko a noticeable tale

Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko a noticeable tale

Aphra Behn’s novella Oroonoko became a noticeable tale that reflected what was happening in early American society. I got interested in the way the author set a fiction in an art form but still send a message that was within the expectation of the society. The tale was released during a period society was facing slavery, racism, and people being betrayed by their own rulers. The narrator invested so much in convincing the readers that most of the events in the tale tried to prove what was happening in the real world. Behn described the aspect of “Verisimilitude,” where his fiction would depict truthful accounts off events happening in the real world. He allowed the readers to understand that societal issues such as racism and slavery started back in the past before even independence.

In terms of racism, Oroonoko appeared like a royal slave who tried to escape slavery. We saw he organized a revolt that aimed “to escape slavery and sail back to Africa” (Behn, 58). Why would Oroonoko want to escape and yet he bears a Christian name “Caesar,” meaning the King Slaves. One, Oroonoko did not want to be a King who reigns against his culture. Two, it was ironic to lead other slaves, and yet her wife (Imoinda) was got trapped into a “royal veil.” A norm that Oroonoko’s culture saw it as part of slavery. Through the royal veil, Oroonoko felt betrayed by the King after stealing his wife. An act I found unethical and still bites the society up to date, doesn’t?