On Being Brought from Africa to America Identity Quotes

We'll start here, because, you know, it's the beginning. And "in the beginning," our speaker was a pagan. Her sense of identity was associated with where she was from. That's not uncommon, but it's particularly important here since the title of the poem suggests that this is about leaving Africa for America. Her identity also seems like something she needed mercy to be saved from. It complicates her sense of self. Does she not like her homeland? Her self? Her former self? What's so merciful about being kidnapped as a slave? It isn't until later that we see her transcend issues of physical and political racial freedom to argue that her faith in redemption is a source of identity, too, rather than country and color. Though she uses spiritual equality as her platform for racial equality, Wheatley's voice and identity as a Christian are clearly strong in the poem. 

Just a quick thought: in the first line, she was taken physically. In this line, the speaker's soul is being "taught" something. So far, her body, mind, and soul have been changed in the poem. In other words, the speaker is addressing identity as something that has a physical, mental, and spiritual quality. Ever read "Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth? She takes her audience through the mental, physical, and spiritual aspect of identity as a slave as well. Check it out here and see if you can find any parallels with this poem.

Again, she's referring to the past. The good ol' days as a pagan. But her sense of self was something that was lost, or at least unaware of the possibility of being saved. That's also called hopelessness. On the other hand, she may just be saying that, before she came to America, she'd never heard of Christianity or the concept of being saved by God. So, it's not a criticism of her self, rather it's a statement about the difference in her identity between Africa and America.

Through the white looking-glass, this speaker is now looking at herself from a "white" perspective. She refers to her race as "sable," which means both shrouded in black cloth for funerals (death) but also refers to the valuable pelt of the sable animal. She could be suggesting both—that her identity is trapped in the perspective of different races. She may also be suggesting that blacks are valuable, but for different reasons than slavery allows. Whites may view slaves with scorn, while she may find her race beautiful and valuable. Either way, this couplet is where she shows us her ideas about herself through the perspective of society.

The quote is another way to give us an "outsider" perspective. The speaker's identity as black is referred to as "diabolic" or evil. This goes along with the darkness of a "Pagan" land, but it also refers literally to her skin color. It's as if the speaker sees herself through the eyes of others. Maybe that's because they've had so much influence and power over where she ended up (America) that they have some say in her identity.

One way to read this line is that the speaker addresses all other "Negroes," as well as "Christians." She's including herself here, as one among many. Just like she's been converted in the above lines, her sense of identity is now broadened to be included with all Christians and all Negroes. Why does that matter? Because her sense of self has been morphing throughout the poem. First we saw her associated with her land, then her conversion, then through the eyes of a "scornful eye," then as one among many other Negroes and Christians. Her sense of identity is like a mirror with three sides that shows us different points of view, but all of the same person. Trippy.