Slavery

Throughout the narrative, slavery is portrayed as a symbol of almost the ultimate destructive force. As both a concept and a practice, its controlling and soul-corrosive qualities represent all that the author, the narrator, and the protagonist (Oroonoko), as well as other characters, strive to both survive and transcend.

Christianity

Again throughout the narrative, Christianity is portrayed as a belief system that, like slavery, represents oppression and control. There is also the sense that, again as both a concept and a practice, it represents almost an unnatural set of boundaries and limits on free expression of the human soul.

Colonialism

Colonialism is a practice in which a dominant - often white, often European - culture exerts social, economic, and political control over an indigenous population. In this story and in the history of the practice, colonialism is often linked to both slavery and Christianity, all three...