Aphra Behn does some really...interesting things with her story. I
do like her storytelling, she gives out a lot of really helpful information but
I'm rather partial to stories that have more dialogue. Not sure if that's going
to pickup in the second half but right now it seems like it's a lot of block
text. Which has been working, but it is getting a little boring.
I
really did enjoy the part about the Native Americans who though the English
Governor was dead because he didn't show up when he said he would. There total
willingness to call him a liar was also pretty cool. I just really like the
idea of a group of people who don't expect everyone to lie all the time. It
might be naive but it's also great to see, especially now when our society is
built almost entirely on lies. Honestly, what's the point of lies? I'd be
really interested in seeing our society try to function without lying. Of
course then would come the inevitable collapse of the government and banks and
every other piece of infrastructure.
I don't really like
how she explains how beautiful Oroonoko and Imoinda are and then goes and says
it's because they have all these white features. If it weren't for Oroonoko's
black skin he would be one of the most beautiful men around. But not only is he
black, he's really really black. Like coal. So while she goes on about how
attractive he is to all people she keeps throwing in the caveat that 'oh he's
not actually that hot because he's black'. It's rude and really racist.
Although I feel that's to be expected in this time frame. Imoinda is even so
beautiful that 40+ white men have been caught staring at her. As if the fact
that white men even find her attractive makes her stand out so much. Half of
Aphra Behn's love of Oroonoko comes from the fact that she loves how educated
and cultured he is. He speaks English and French and all that jazz but those
are all markers of European civilization. Who cares? He's a pretty awesome guy
for other reasons. He's a renowned soldier and leader, unbelievably loyal, and
a good friend. And any guy who doesn't kill the man who literally steals his
wife the day(ish) before the wedding (grandfather or no) gets points in my book.
I know he's going to do some stuff that I can't really support in the next half
of the story but for now Oroonoko seems like a pretty cool guy.
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ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree. For one, you are totally right. . . Oronooko is completely awesome and gets points in my book for every noble and exceptional thing he has accomplished. But, where I disagree is the concept that Alphra Behn should consider these things when judging him on physical appearance. Yes, she is totally a racist because he is not any less beautiful because he is black, but that doesn't mean she has to instead find him attractive based on the things he has accomplished and his character. Does that make any sense? Cause it's entirely jumbled in my head. Anyways... I think she does see all the great things (character-wise) that we had listed and acknowledges them as good because she made a point to describe him in such a way in the novel.
ReplyDeleteI see where you're coming from, but I HATE reading texts like this because I'm forced to read them with the explanation "get over it, it's how people thought in this epoch." FUCK THAT! I resisted this text so much because of its racist content, and I personally didn't take shit from this story.
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