Spiritual autobiographies, or conversion stories, were forms of literature popular in the 17th and 18th centuries among Americans and Europeans. Daniel Shea explains that a spiritual autobiography "is primarily concerned with the question of grace: whether or not the individual has been accepted into the divine life, an acceptance signified by the psychological and moral changes that the autobiographer comes to discern in one’s past experience” (XI). . As a result, this type of text was often used for religious, political or cultural propaganda purposes. With this in mind, the interesting account of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the Lone African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano and the account of the wonderful relations of the Lord with John Marrant, a Negro (1785) by John Marrant do not appear ostensibly interconnected. Equiano's narrative tells the story of an eleven-year-old black boy who is captured and must endure the trials and tribulations of the slave trade and the injustices associated with it. In contrast, John Marrant is a free, educated black man who accepts Christianity, voluntarily abandons his family, and assimilates into Native American culture. If at first glance these texts seem completely independent, a closer examination of their similarities reveals that they belong to the same genre. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay Although Equiano's text is generally studied as a slave narrative and Marrant's as a captivity narrative, it It is more advantageous to interpret both works as spiritual autobiographies, or conversion stories. In this regard, the simple structure of the two stories suggests their belonging to the genre of spiritual autobiography. In general, spiritual autobiographies and conversion stories are characterized by the author's journey from rags to riches, from damnation to salvation, or from ignorance to grace. Indeed, Equiano's interesting account and John Marrant's account of the wondrous relations of the Lord follow this structure. For example, in the case of Equiano, the former slave becomes a known, educated, and respected abolitionist. His narrative follows him from his African pagan roots to his final fulfillment as a saved and free black man. Born in 1745 in what is now Nigeria, Equiano was captured and sold to slave traders en route to the West Indies at the age of eleven. After a brief stay in Virginia, Captain Henry Pascal purchased Equiano as "a present to some of his friends in England" and renamed it Gustavas Vassa (Equiano 36). It was under Pascal's ownership that Equiano was exposed to Christianity, a force that guided his success until the end of his life. After traveling extensively with Pascal, he was sold again in 1763 to a man named Robert King. Working on Mr. King's trading sloops, Equiano was able to profit from minor trade exchanges, which eventually allowed him to purchase his own freedom in 1766. Once free, he returned to England where he began frequenting the school and even gets a job as an assistant. to the scientist Dr. Charles Irving (Potkay & Burr 159-162). As is often seen in spiritual autobiographies, Equiano's humble beginnings blossom into a life of accomplishment, ultimately aided by his discovery of Christianity. Likewise, John Marrant's account of the wondrous dealings of the Lord follows this same path from damnation to salvation. His account details his life as a free black child in the American colonies, his Christian conversion, his capture by the indigenous Cherokee tribe, his assimilation into Indian culture, and his spiritual and cultural transformationlater (Potkay & Burr 67-74). Feeling defeated and rejected by his family because of his newfound spirituality, Marrant wanders off into the desert “to return completely home” (Marrant 16). Despite the difficulties encountered and navigating unfamiliar areas, Marrant explains “the Lord Jesus Christ was very present, and that comforted [him] throughout” (18). Finally, he comes across an “Indian hunter” who takes Marrant back to his village after realizing the distance he has traveled from home (19). Although his initial relationship with the Cherokee tribe leaves him imprisoned and scheduled for execution, it is his relationship with God that leads to his acceptance into the indigenous community. As Katherine Chiles points out in Transformable Race, the desperate and fearful black drifter is transformed into a renowned and respected Indian preacher (123). Thus, John Marrant's narrative, as well as Equiano's, closely follows the rags-to-riches, grace-to-salvation structure commonly found in other spiritual autobiographies of the period. According to Daniel Shea, spiritual autobiographies are characterized by the fact that the author allows God and divine intervention as the decisive factor in their lives (xii). In Marrant's and Equiano's stories, God becomes the guiding force in their lives almost immediately after their first exposure to Christianity. For Marrant, this happens when he is on his way to “play [music] for a few gentlemen” and stumbles upon a “large meeting room” where “a mad man…[is] to scream in there” (10). Recognizing that it is a sermon, Marrant's friend encourages him to disrupt the service by blowing loudly on his French horn. When Marrant prepares to do so, the "mad man," the famous Reverend George Whitefield exclaims, "PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL" while looking "directly at [Marrant] and pointing at him." finger” (10, 11). ). After this spiritual encounter, Marrant is knocked to the ground "both dumb and senseless" by Whitefield's invocation of God and falls ill for the next three days until a minister is sent to convert him to Christianity, curing him of his ills (11). Returning to the demands of a spiritual autobiography, it is this moment of divine intervention that sets the stage for Marrant's later conflicts where he must rely entirely on God to pave the way for his life. Likewise, Equiano's first encounter with the presence of God sparks his interest in the spiritual world and guides all his decisions thereafter. Upon his first arrival in England and his first sight of snow, twelve-year-old Equiano asks his shipmate "what it is for and who made it", to which his shipmate replies: "a great man in heaven. , called God” (39). Through this brief explanation from God, “Equiano’s immediate ambition was realized” (Walvin 91). Equiano goes on to describe the effect this moment had on him: After that I went to church; and never having been in such a place before, I was again astonished to see and hear the service. I asked everything I could about it; and they made me understand that it was “worshiping God, who created us and all things”. I was always lost and quickly found myself in a never-ending field of inquiry, and I was able to talk and ask about things (39). Notably, Equiano considers his newfound spirituality to be the most powerful force in his life, much like his faith. in God begins to grow. It is this same unwavering faith that allows Equiano to feel safer and more confident in his ability to transform into someone loved by God instead of his previous damned state. For example, when seven people, including Equianohimself, fell from the ship's upper deck and no one was injured, Equiano credited God for sparing his life: "I thought I could clearly trace the hand of God, without permission from whom a sparrow cannot fall. I began to lift up my fear of man to him alone, and to call on his holy name daily with fear and reverence: and I hope that he has heard my supplications (53). Likewise, the power of God directly saves John Marrant's life. After Marrant's family rejects him and his adopted religion, he leaves for the desert, testifying that "the Lord Jesus Christ was very present and that comforted him throughout his life" (18). . When he first meets the “Indian hunter,” Marrant informs him that he was “supported by the Lord” even though the Indian is ignorant of Christianity (19). Despite this, the Indian hunter convinces Marrant to join him in returning to the native village. Once Marrant arrives in the Indian community, he is separated from the man he met in the desert and forced to answer to the rest of the tribe about his intentions and purposes for his presence there, or else he will be executed. Unable to satisfactorily explain his presence, he was thrown into prison and was to be executed the next day. However, the following account illustrates the requirements of a spiritual autobiography and demonstrates the active role God plays in Marrant's life. In prison, he begins praying in the Cherokee language, said to “wonderfully affect the people” nearby (24). To his surprise, his prayer converts the executioner who insists that “no one will harm [Marrant] until you are with the king” (24). As a result, he is “taken forthwith” to meet the king where his explanation of God's word and the Bible instantly converts the king's daughter (24). Just as Marrant experienced after hearing Reverend Whitefield, the girl is overcome by "physical weakness" and passes out sick, angering the Cherokee king who threatens to kill Marrant on the spot if his daughter is not immediately cured (27). When Marrant prays for the young girl, he explains that “the Lord appeared very beautiful and glorious” and relieved her of her ills (27). As a result, “a great change [occurs] among the people; the king’s house [becomes] the house of God” and Marrant succeeded in converting the entire indigenous village to Christianity. (28). As Marrant explains, he is subsequently “treated like a prince” and “the Lord has made great friends of all [his] enemies” (28-29). In this way, the reader can understand the significance of God's active power in Marrant's life. Also noteworthy is the power of God to comfort men through their trials and tribulations. In Equiano's case, when Captain Henry Pascal sells him to another owner after promising his freedom, Equiano wonders if he has done something for the Lord to punish him. . At this moment, he believes that it is God who punishes him instead of the white man: “At the moment when I expected the end of all my labors, was I plunged […] into a new slavery […] I wept very bitterly for some time: and I began to think that I must have done something which displeased the Lord, for him to punish me thus so severely” (59). He goes on to explain how he “felt that the Lord was able to disappoint [him] in all things,” just as the Lord helps him to succeed and be happy (59). In doing so, Equiano, like John Marrant, “appropriated the word of God for his individual purposes,” which “constituted a particularly daring form of self-authorization” (Andrews 1). These examples, as well as several others in the storyEquiano's interesting work and in John Marrant's account of the wondrous dealings of the Lord, reveal the extent to which God becomes a powerful and guiding force in the lives of these men, thus reiterating their belonging to the genre of spiritual autobiography. The most notable similarity between these two stories lies in Equiano and Marrant's choice to adopt the racial "mask" of their captors. As Sisters of the Spirit explains, the Negro was traditionally seen as "a kind of Canaanite, a man devoid of Logos, whose low social status was a punishment resulting from sin or a natural defect of the soul" ( Andrews 1). In short, black people were considered subhuman and therefore incapable of achieving salvation in the 17th and 18th centuries. As a result, “the black spiritual autobiographer had to lay the necessary intellectual foundation by proving that blacks were as much chosen by God for eternal salvation as whites” (Andrews 1). In order for Equiano and John Marrant to successfully demonstrate their potential for salvation, the two men adopt the racial “mask” of their captors. In John Marrant's case, his adoption of the Cherokee mask begins almost immediately after his encounter with the Indian hunter in the woods. Even before arriving in “a large Indian town, belonging to the Cherokee nation,” Marrant had already “acquired a more complete knowledge of the Indian language” (21). Interestingly, he learned enough language in this short time to pray fully in the indigenous Cherokee language. After converting the entire village to Christianity, he “immediately takes the garb of the country and [dresses] almost like the king” (28). As Katherine Chiles points out, Marrant "taking on the customs of the country" indicates "that he dressed like the Cherokee and practiced their way of life (such as learning their language), and that he adopted the constitution or the 'appearance of the country'. Cherokee Corps” (Equiano 28, Chiles 126). He has transformed himself so much into an Aboriginal person that when he returns home, his family does not recognize him: “[the] singularity of my dress attracted all eyes to me, and yet no one knew me” (32). Indeed, Marrant's adoption of the Cherokee "mask" "is less about disguising oneself for a period of time than about becoming something different from one's previous state of blackness" (Chiles 122). In short, Marrant sheds his former blackness to escape the historical black exception of Christianity and establish himself as a spiritual autobiographer. Just as Marrant adopts the mask of his native captors, Equiano adopts the mannerisms and habits of his white captors and counterparts. At first convinced that white people are evil, savage, and cruel, Equiano comes to view white people as “magical” as the story progresses (140). He explains: Not only did I feel comfortable with these new compatriots, but I appreciated their society and their manners. I no longer regarded them as spirits, but as men superior to us; and that is why I had the strongest desire to be like them; to imbibe their spirit and imitate their mannerisms. So I seized every opportunity for improvement; and every new thing that I observed, I kept it preciously in my memory (46). At this point, Equiano decides that he sees himself more as a European than as a black African. He wants to emulate the people who held him captive because of their apparent intelligence and good manners. As a result, Equiano strives to achieve this whiteness through his education, particularly regarding religion. Therefore, he surrounds himself with white, educated companions who help him in his understanding of the Bible. Throughout the story, Equiano is eager to adopt the "white mask, 1998.