Olaudah chapter 4

It is good to hear that Olaudah was treated well. Typically we hear about slaves being treated poorly and with little respect. But Olaudah seems to be treated kindly and even sent to school. This is something you do not hear of very often.

I love to hear that he was able to get baptized. I think it is important for a person to have a faith, something to help them get through the tough times and give them hope. In this case, it gives Olaudah faith in an afterlife.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be separated from one of my siblings and to wonder where and when I would be able to see them again.

This is a hard reading. I think it is because there is not a lot of emotion in the writing. When I am reading, it seems like the events are stated, not being told as a story. It is hard to understand how Olaudah really feels about the events. The most emotion is when he speaks about the chaos with the French Fleet and having to leave in the middle of the night. However, after reading this section a few times, it is hard to understand exactly what was happening and why exactly they had to leave. This could be because Olaudah did not understand and therefore could not give all of the details.

The story becomes clearer in the next section and has more detail about what was happening. This had to be something that is an extremely vivid memory.

When Olaudah is explaining the fight scene between the ships I can’t help but think of a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is the kind of emotion I like to read about. The description of having to get the powder during the battle and worrying if he was going to live or not is very interesting to read about. I cannot even imagine what this must have been like. To see your friends and ship mates being killed around you, your master being taken to the doctor; that is a lot of stress to have to deal with.

We all take for granted our education. For so many people an education is the most important thing and they would do anything to go to school, like Olaudah. Whenever I hear about people who do not have the opportunity to go to school it makes me appreciate what I have and the next time I have to wake up early for class or stay up late for homework I need to instead appreciate that I have the chance to learn.

This is a horrible feeling that we are left with at the end of this chapter. Olaudah is yet again sent to be a servant when he was sure he would be set free. And to think that he was treated so well when he was first a servant. Now he will most likely be treated poorly from his new master.