...it was amazing to imagine where he learned so much humanity; or, to give a more fitting name to his successes, from where he drew that true greatness of soul, those refined notions of true honour, that absolute generosity and that sweetness capable of the highest passions of love and gallantry...( 10-11) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay So says the narrator of Oroonoko: Or, the Royal Slave by Aphra Behn. The narrator alludes in the above quote to Oroonoko as a royal king, but throughout the tale implies additional meanings to the words "Royal Slave"; Oroonoko is "stately, magnificent, splendid" as well as "finely dressed; resplendent; grand or imposing." Oroonoko's "majestic" kingship suggests an elevation not only above other slaves due to his social status, but his "refined notions of true honor" elevate him above even the most powerful white men later in the tale. Likewise, the word "slave" has multiple meanings. Oroonoko is not a slave in the literal sense, as the narrator comments that Oroonoko suffers "only the name of a slave, and... nothing of the toil and labor of one", but rather a slave who practices his high ideals of honor. (46). Just as it can be recognized that Oroonoko is not simply a real slave in the literal sense, it can also be interpreted that the work Oroonoko is not a clear anti-slavery work. In fact, Behn comprehensively condemns only two things: that an individual as exalted as Oroonoko is unfairly placed in a class much lower than his own, and that slave traders unfairly deceive Africans with deplorable techniques. As a result, Behn focuses on how enslaving the idea of ​​someone like Oroonoko is the worst of the atrocities committed in the name of imperialism. That someone who is literally a king and someone who practices high ideals should be forced into a dishonorable life, Behn would agree, is far worse than the practice of slavery itself, an institution the narrator never consistently renounces. The narrator's exaltation of Oroonoko's physical and psychological characteristics is a key to understanding. The narrator describes Oroonoko's face as "not that brown, rusty black which is the greater part of that nation, but of a perfect polished ebony or jet... his nose was raised and Roman, instead of African and flat. ..her mouth, the most beautifully shaped that could be seen, far from those large shapely lips, which are so natural to the rest of the negroes," proves that the narrator takes the trouble to separate Oroonoko from the rest of the African race (12). He is completely different, and therefore Behn does not protest against the enslavement of the African race, but against the enslavement of such a special and perfect character. Indeed, Oroonoko is also very different from his African brothers in mentality; in her formative years, Oroonoko receives the “wit and learning” of a “Frenchman” in the form of “morals, language, and science” (11). Behn detests that colonialism that colonialism dares to lay its hands on such a fine specimen, not on all slaves collectively; this is the main complaint shared by Behn and Oroonoko's narrator. Not only does this language indicate that Oroonoko's physical and psychological capabilities differ markedly from those of other "niggers," but Oroonoko's treatment also results in the narrator's almost blind acceptance of slavery as an institution. After describing Oroonoko's advanced learning in the sciences and ingenuity of the white man, he tells of his extraordinary ability to learn the English and Spanish languagesand to use his dexterity in each in the slave trade (11). At one point Oroonoko offers a gift of slaves to Imoinda, and also tries to trade her freedom for "either gold or a great quantity of slaves" (44). Even in Africa, due to frequent wars and Oroonoko's godlike strength and courage, he is "lucky to take a large number of prisoners", and since the spoils of war in Africa consist of "...slaves; at least, those common men who could not redeem themselves,” Oroonoko himself becomes a sort of slave master (10). Here Behn establishes this idea as a precedent for the rest of the tale, as only those beyond a certain threshold and above a certain class level (i.e. if anyone will pay your ransom) have the inalienable right to remain free. All people of power in Suriname, as well as those below, recognize that Oroonoko is not this kind of common man, and he shouldn't. be demoted to a simple slave. The exceptions to the rule are the "innocents" of Suriname, who, despite having the mark of the common man, outnumber the black and white minorities so that their enslavement at Oroonoko can be avoided as long as an individual maintains a high profile or a group maintains numerical strength, a pattern the narrator never overtly attacks Aside from Behn's descriptions of Oroonoko's abilities and their contrasting effects on an abolitionist interpretation of the work, it is Oroonoko's sense of honor. this makes his fall so tragic. Oroonoko very blatantly outlines his belief in honor during his speech calling for a slave revolt: "Have they defeated us nobly in battle? Have they defeated us in an honorable battle?" these methods, for Oroonoko, are the only acceptable methods by which one can honorably reduce another man into slavery (58). This part of the speech denounces the white man's methods of turning Oroonoko and the Africans into slavery, but also partially justifies the institution in following Oroonoko's sense of honor. Only "for the case of war" does Oroonoko believe that one should become a slave, because honor is "the first principle of nature"; dying with honor is greater than living in shame, slavery and dishonor (58, 59). Slavery becomes acceptable, even right, Behn points out, through an honorable approach like Oroonoko's. Because Oroonoko practices her high sense of honor and has "never violated a word in her life," Behn seems to believe it is permissible for slavery to occur when one is under the dominating power of such an elegant power structure as Oroonoko's (35). he explicitly places this Oroonoko system much higher than both other Africans and the white man. Oroonoko uses his military skills and through his power in speech gains the support of all the slaves, who "by mutual agreement [promise] to follow him unto death," forming a pact of honor (59). When the slaves betray Oroonoko (with the exception of Tuscan and Imoinda), once again an honorable bond of trust is broken, just as Oroonoko experiences with the ship's captain and his countless broken promises to the white men for her freedom. When the other Africans give up the revolt, they violate Oroonoko's honor system and become to him "slaves by nature, poor, miserable thieves, fit to be used as the Christian's tool, treacherous and cowardly dogs" (62). Oroonoko continues with a diatribe that the narrator can only describe as "not fit to be recited here" (63). His fellow rebels abandon him, Oroonoko is left to fight for his honor alone with Tuscan and Imoinda. Though Oroonoko at this point has only scant traces of respect for Trefry, Byam, and the other men;.