34 pages • 1 hour read
Oroonoko
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Symbols & Motifs
Children and Parents
Images of children and parents operate as another dimension of the discourse of civilization in the novella. The Surinamese are described as children, in awe of the strange Europeans in their midst, while the more knowledgeable English visitors are in the position of parents, teaching the native people. Children then represent innocence and ignorance—a lack of civilization—whereas parents represent the knowledge and authority that come with civilization.
Natural Resources
There are a number of passages describing the landscape and wildlife of Surinam. In part, these contribute to the narrator’s claim to truth, as they underscore her knowledge of the place. At the same time, these passages can be read as a catalogue of the natural resources that the colony offers and which the English have lost control of in ceding Surinam to the Dutch.
Roman Deities
Both Oroonoko and Imoinda are compared to Roman deities in the novella. For example, Imoinda is described as “the beautiful Black Venus to our young Mars [Oroonoko]” (13). These comparisons serve to reinforce the association between ancient Rome and contemporary Cormantien as well as to suggest that Oroonoko and Imoinda are exceptional, not ordinary, people.
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