What I found interesting in this book was how everyone mentioned in importance was described in the color of their skin (at least in the beginning stages of the story). Was anyone else thrown by this? I just found that part significant because this is the first time that descriptions of people went beyond their personality and their general physique. "His face was not of that brown, rusty, black which most of that nation are, but a perfect ebony or polished jet.... his nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat", describing Oroonoko here I just wondered if the author was trying to give us a better understanding about the differences that were present in this time of slavery and judgement upon race (Behn, 2187).
Also the love story between Oroonoko and Imoinda struck me as almost too easy, and as most of you have mentioned in a tragedy like this, I believe to have been too good to be true. The way he spoke to her so passionately "he made her vows she should be the only woman he would possess while he lived", which showed how the idea of love was viewed as in this time, "that no age or wrinkles should incline him to change, for her soul would be always fine and always young, and he should have and eternal idea in his mind of the charms she now bore, ad should look into his heart for that idea when he could find it no longer in her face" (Behn, 2189). I know some of you mentioned this already but this brought to mind the story of Romeo and Juliet and we all know how that turned out.
It seems to me in the midst of battle or conflict Oroonoko is one to leap without looking kind of attitude which in the long run might cause him or those he cares about harm. Kind of like Beowulf I believe he thrives in the thought that everyone looks to his guidance in battle but his modesty and naivety may be the cause of his downfall. He is too trusting for a tragic hero. What do you guys think about Oroonoko?
I don’t understand Behns way of describing people. She uses their outward features to describe their inner character and that confuses me. I have always learned that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and that is exactly what she wants me to do. I feel like Behn wants the reader to judge Oroonoko on his differences from his race and thus see him as a good character.
ReplyDeleteOne way that I think about the way that she describes everyone is, that for the time in which she was writing, I'm not sure that many people would pick up a book that was about slavery. Because of this, she needed some way to make the characters appealing to the audience. Also the way in which she relates the two races, might be because she wanted her readers to connect with the story and relate to it.
I also thought this story was a lot like Romeo and Juliet! The entire love at first sight and not being able to be together idea threw me back to high school when we were evaluating the love between Romeo and Juliet. By the end of the story, Oroonoko kind of annoyed me. The reason for this is because he was too trusting. He would have these really awesome and intense moments, but then he would back down because someone would promise to do something. They would then break that promise, and this is something that repeated throughout the entire story. I am not sure if Behns designed him like that to give him an achilles heel or if she was trying to show that the ideal human trusts other people as they are trusted, but I found it really frustrating. The result was always the same for Oroonoko, and It contributed to the end result of the story
ReplyDeleteI don't want to make it sound like it is ok for Behn to speak this way about people, but at the time it seems like it was neccisary in her mind. She wanted readers to see them as "civilized" and similar to Europeans, but in today's society that is unacceptable. It reminds me of movies about love stories. The lead characters have to be considered attractive to the general population or people lose a lot of interest. This is a love story no matter how tragic. She needed to pull her audience, just like they do today with the actors chosen for certain roles. So, while entirely horrible that she only sees him as a person because he resembles a European, it is what would have drawn her audience.
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