During slavery, many slaves did not have the opportunity to have a sense of identity for themselves. Their whole life was devoted to nothing but work and obedience to their masters as they would a chattel or an animal. For this reason, many black writers, during the slave era, wrote autobiographical narratives about their experiences and lack of identity as human beings in an enslaved world. In the narratives of Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano, we see how slave ownership affects slaves' sense of identity and how one can create an identity for themselves through education. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Being African and a slave, Equiano had no identity. The story of Equiano's lost identity began at a young age, when he was kidnapped from his home in the Ibo tribe at the age of eleven. Children around the age of eleven are starting to learn their identity as a person, so when Equiano was kidnapped he lost much of himself and what he knew. When he became a slave, he had no control over his movements or even his name. His name changes several times from Jacob, Michael and finally Gustavus Vassa. The name Gustavus Vassa derives from one of the Captains on board a ship in 1754, since then he kept the name and reports it in his writings. Equiano sought from the beginning to discover who he was, but slavery controlled his chances of self-discovery. After gaining his freedom, Equiano was finally able to create a true identity and discover a true sense of self. He made his own decisions about where to go and what kind of work to do. Equiano claimed a new identity through his Christian faith and with his new self-discovery he lost his African roots. He writes: “I no longer consider Europeans as spirits, but as men superior to us; and therefore I had a very strong desire to be like them; absorb their spirit and imitate their ways…” Equiano (136). This shows that as he tries to understand his new self, he loses his African heritage by stating that white men are superior to Africans. He does this to better integrate into English culture and to assimilate with the English. This assimilation can be seen as self-preservation for him, so he could use his autobiography as an instruction book for other Africans and perhaps write code for other African American writers. Frederick Douglass also had little to know about his identity, just like Equiano. He knew himself only as a slave who did not know his age, like most slaves, and that his father was the master and the white man. He was estranged from his mother at a young age and never had the chance to have a mother-child bond. This can affect a child's identity as they do not know where and who they come from. With all this, Douglass begins a lifelong journey of self-discovery, moving away from the slave identity that was imposed on him. His first step in claiming an identity was through education. Through his teacher's mistress, Sophia Auld, he learns his ABCs and learns to write small words. This was soon forbidden by his master saying, "If you give a nigger an inch, he'll take an ell." Learning will ruin the best nigger around” Douglass (351). This news does not quench Douglass' desire for an educated life towards freedom, he writes: "The mistress in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the thumb and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell" Douglass (353). He continued to learn to read and write with the help of the white children on his street. Through education, Douglass.