Oroonoko Explored
Oroonoko's Extended Execution
One of the most important pieces to the novel is Oroonoko’s experience in his final days. After giving himself up after the slave rebellion, he is betrayed again and in short order he and his comrade Justin are mercilessly whipped by their fellow slaves, bringing Oroonoko within an inch of his life. Following this ordeal, he is tormented further with pepper applied to his wounds, causing him great agony. Shortly after, he encourages his own death by running away with his love Imoinda. After killing her, he loses all strength, and is eventually caught again by the masters. This time they intend to kill him, and they do so by slowly dismembering him piece by piece and throwing his parts into a fire before him.
Punishment by Whipping, from Georgetownsvgrevisted.co.uk
This account is crucial to the novel because it demonstrates two important things. First, the ordeal draws on similar accounts that both slaves and captured noble kings experienced, showing how Oroonoko is a composite character based on similar, contemporary accounts. Secondly, through this torment Oroonoko demonstrates his stubborn nobility and royal dignity to the end. We can see both of these working in Montaigne’s account in 1685 of a Mexican king enduring torture by his enemies, yet never giving in to the enemy's demands. Just like Oroonoko, he takes all the torture in stride and does not dishonor his character in death (Lipking 98). Another account is of a slave captured after a failed rebellion. In this account from Barbados in 1675, the slave mocked his captives as they prepared to burn him, saying “If you roast me today, you cannot roast me tomorrow (Lipking 111).” Thus, even though Oroonoko himself is a fictional character, Behn certainly draws on both slave and prisoner king accounts to describe him.