Let me start by voicing my thoughts on the poem at the beginning:
Wow. Just . . . wow.
I've gone to a Catholic school my entire life. Kindergarden until high school graduation, so naturally I have never ever been exposed to this type of content in a school setting. Therefore, I was really surprised at how detailed and intimate it got the more I read. I liked it though. It was interesting. I enjoyed the elegant word choice and flow and think it is very creative how just choosing these specific words can turn something that could have been presented so crudely in a way that was beautiful. Even when things got a a little tough and embarrassing, the elegant tone of the poem kept on. So, although I'm still not sure I understand why this poem was put right before the story, I was still very impressed.
As for the actual story, I will say that I am very excited to see where it goes. I'm hoping for a some kind of a happy ending, but I know not to get my hopes up too much. I mean, poor Imoinda is already dead and Oroonoko is a slave. Can the situation really get better? Hopefully. But now I'm thinking of the TV show Roots and one again my hopes are dwindling. They got their happy ending eventually but it took a long, long time, and many deaths and years of torture to achieve what they did.
Finally, I like the fact that the narrator is an actual character in the story. I think it is interesting how the story is not focused entirely on her and instead focuses on Oroonoko and his life. It is a nice and refreshing change from the usual first person or third person narration that we are all used to. The fact that we get insight into her thoughts and her views of the situation is unique and it has given me a different opinion of Oroonoko and the entire story than I probably would have gotten had it had been written in Oroonoko’s point of view.
I had a small glimmer of hope that the story would end happily, but that was dashed as I started reading the second half of the story. I also really enjoyed the story....up until people started hacking off limbs and shipping them out to other plantations. That part kind of threw me...
ReplyDeleteI also was wondering about the poem at the beginning of the story. I thought it was incredibly interesting, but I am not entirely sure I get why it is there? Maybe because sex and the inability to have sex is something that is prominent in this story? Or at least the first part of it. On a different note, the narrator was really involved by the end of the story and I really liked that. I thought it made her seem more credible.