Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis

Equiano's near brush with death near the North Pole makes him very anxious about the afterlife and his salvation. He endeavors to find a religion to devote himself to. He attends many services and listens to religious people from many religions, including the Quakers, Jews, and Roman Catholics, but he does not find the enlightenment he craves. He reads the first four books of the New Testament himself, and finds himself very attracted to Christ and his qualities. He decides the Turks are the most Christ-like people he has encountered, and so he boards a ship bound for Turkey.

The journey goes badly. A black man on board, John Annis, who has been freed by his master, is nonetheless pursued by that same master, who now wishes to recapture the man. The master boards Equiano's ship and forcibly kidnaps John Annis...