There are many circumstances in which change occurs; change can either be sought after or forced upon. In Thing Fall Apart, change is forced upon the Ibo people by the white missionaries who inhabit Umuofia. In The Life of Olaudah Equiano and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, both Equiano and Douglass seek change by pursuing their freedom. In most cases, people tend to accept the changes they seek. However, when change is forced upon people, they may not always have the freedom to choose to accept or reject such changes.
In Thing Fall Apart, change is both rejected and accepted by Okonkwo and the osu, respectively. In The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano naturally rejects the involuntary changes he has to endure as a result of being kidnapped. But as time progresses Equiano has a desire for change and for adopting the English culture. Seeing the Englishmen as superior, Equiano has a strong “desire to resemble them” (81). In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass rejects the system of slavery and is committed to freeing himself from the chains of slavery.
The people of Umuofia, despite being oppressed by the white missionaries, have freedom and this sets them apart from Equiano and Douglass, who have to acquire their freedom. An individual’s status of freedom influences their attitude towards movement and home. People in Umuofia are not enslaved. They are free to govern themselves, free to practice rituals, free to gather meetings, free to make their own decisions. The osu, despite being forbidden to marry a free person, attend a free person assembly, and take a title in the clan, have more freedom than Equiano and Douglass.
The osu are outcasts, they seek acceptance as a means of acquiring freedom from their shameful reputation. Having lost their reputation in their own hometown, they find Christianity appealing. The “osu, seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations, thought that it was possible that they would also be received” (155). The osu, forbidden to cut their hair, always carry the mark of their caste. Mr. Kiaga orders the osu to “shave off their long, tangled hair,” before being admitted into the church (157). After being stripped away from their marks of shame, the osu are accepted.
Christianity, the movement in Umuofia, welcomes the osu and they have the freedom to embrace the new faith. By embracing a new faith they embrace acceptance and the church becomes their new home. The moment the white missionaries inhabit Umuofia, change is accessible to the osu. They only have to walk through the church’s doors to gain the acceptance and freedom they desire. Unlike the osu, enslaved Africans like Equiano and Douglass have to fabricate the change they want to see. Equiano has to save enough money to purchase his freedom. Being limited to the restrictions of slavery, Equiano has to create a plan to earn the money he needs.
He endeavors to try his “luck and commence merchant” (122). In St. Eustatia he buys a tumbler for half a bit and in Montserrat he sells the tumbler for a full bit. Seeing the profit earned, he buys and sells goods during each voyage. After years of buying and selling, Equiano is able to purchase his freedom from his master, Robert. “Like a voice from heaven” his master tells Equiano to go get his manumission (143). Equiano’s life revolves around movement. He spends most of his life on a ship, traveling from one place to another, but he embraces this movement as it was the means to obtaining his freedom.
Much like Equiano, Douglass’ freedom is not handed to him. Preferring “death to hopeless bondage” Douglass is determined to attempt escaping the chains of slavery (405). He convinces Master Hugh to hire his time and although Douglass describes it as a “hard bargain,” he considers it a “step towards freedom” (419). He saves money and eventually makes his escape to New York, a free state. Douglass refrains from providing the reader with the details on his escape to avoid mentioning those “involved in the most embarrassing difficulties” and prevent “greater vigilance on the part of slaveholders” (416).
Douglass subscribes to the Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper, attends anti-slavery meetings, and soon engages in “pleading the cause” of his brethren (429). Like many other enslaved Africans, Douglass embraces the abolitionist movement as a step towards change, the end of the institution of slavery, and freedom. Unlike Equiano and Douglass, the osu have a place to call home. As enslaved Africans, Equiano and Douglass have multiple masters and are therefore imposed to change. At a young age, Equiano and his sister are kidnapped from their hometown and sold to slave traders.
Equiano’s time in slavery is mainly spent on slave ships and British navy vessels, where he is eager to “engage in new adventures, and to see fresh wonders” (89). His amazement however is opposed by the culture shock he experiences from the European treatment of slaves. Equiano describes the air in the lower deck of the slave ship as “unfit for respiration,” the “galling of the chains” as “insupportable”, and the “groans of the dying” as horrid (60). Slave ships are evidently no place to call home. Equiano travels farther and farther from home exchanging masters along the way.
Much like the osu, Equiano finds comfort and a sense of belonging in the church. He is “wonderfully surprised to see the laws and rules” of his country “written almost exactly” in the Bible (96). By finding connections to his home in the Bible and adopting Christianity, Equiano holds onto a piece of home. Douglass however, is deprived from everything that “ordinarily bind children to their homes” (360). His home was a place where he witnessed his brethren beaten and oppressed. His home was not his home. Freedom for many is a luxury.
For the osu, having the freedom to enter into the church grants them acceptance and a place to call home. However, Equiano and Douglass have to scheme ways to acquire their freedom. Freedom to enslaved Africans is not granted. This is why the abolitionist movement is appealing to enslaved Africans just as Christianity is to the osu. The concept of home is foreign to Equiano and Douglass. The conditions of a slave ship and a plantation are no place to call home and neither Equiano or Douglass are attached to these places. After acquiring their freedom, Equiano and Douglass are free to look for home elsewhere.