Racism, slavery and social perspective on slavery in Oroonoko and Twelve Years A Slave

Abstract

This thesis explores the theme of racism and slavery in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Solomon Northup's Twelve Years A Slave. This study examines how the two novels show the brutality of racism and slavery. By using the post-colonial lens, this thesis aims to analyze how racism against black people has turned their normal lives into slavery and how much black people had to suffer under white dominance. Aphra Behn's Oroonoko is about Oroonoko who belongs to a royal family but had to face the cruelty of slavery because of his race. It portrays that, white people did not care about the royal background, they treated every black person in the same manner and forced black people to work under them. It also shows the society's perspective on slavery and how they think that death is better than slavery. On the other hand, Twelve Years A Slave is an autobiographical novel by Solomon Northup. This novel is about his real-life experiences of racism and slavery. In this novel, he depicts how he has to face racism and slavery even though he is a free man. Northup's story shows how terrible and humiliating slavery was by describing how slaves suffered both mentally and physically. This novel shows how prejudice and hatred ruled American society at that time, which helps explain why slavery lasted for a long time. Through their writings, Aphra Behn and Solomon Northup show the reality of white people about the black community and how badly they treat black people because of their race. It shows how hard it is for black people to live in such an environment and their perspective on slavery. Through the use of post-colonial theory, the purpose of this paper is to analyze Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave in order to demonstrate the existence of racism and slavery between whites and blacks.