Because of their vast numbers, the colonists are unable to enslave them and so must look elsewhere for slaves to work on the sugar plantations-that is, they look to Africa.Īfter her overview of Surinam, the narrator switches the setting to Coramantien (today Ghana) on the west coast of Africa, where the protagonist Oroonoko is about to meet Imoinda, the daughter of the general who has just died saving Oroonoko's life. Before introducing the primary character, however, the narrator provides great detail about the colony and the inhabitants, presenting first a list of multicolored birds, myriad insects, high-colored flora and exotic fauna, and then an almost anthropological account of the natives with whom the British trade and who seem to the narrator to be as innocent as Adam and Eve in "the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin." The British, she insists, live happily with the natives. During her wait, she has the opportunity to meet and befriend prince Oroonoko and his lovely wife, Imoinda. She is the daughter of the new deputy-governor, who unfortunately died during the family's voyage to take up his new post. The tale is set primarily in this locale on the northern coast of South America during the 1640s, just before the English surrendered the colony to the Dutch.Ī young English woman, the nameless narrator, resides on Parham Plantation awaiting transportation back to England. Oroo noko chronicles the story of the African prince Oroonoko and his beloved wife Imoinda, who are captured by the British and brought to Surinam as slaves.
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