Oroonoko – The Massacre of the Human Spirit Aphra Behn presents her characters in Oroonoko as beautiful people who possess pure, innocent love. Behn does this in an attempt to make his readers feel and question. His poetic description of their emotions amplifies the horror of the final scene. Behn's romantic love story comes to a tragic end through brutality and death. Why did you choose an ending like that? His decision to have Oroonoko take the life of his wife and unborn child leaves the audience wondering. Was what they had love? If not, what was it? What had killed their innocence? Oroonoko and Imoinda's story began with him approaching her and ended with her cutting him with a knife. Oroonoko began and ended the story that was "them." Therefore, when analyzing their relationship it is very important to examine Oroonoko's behavior. Oroonoko is the one who determined what path their story would take. What pushed him to end "their" story in such a brutal way? What led him to act so uncontrollably? The truth is, his heart couldn't bear to lose her again. He couldn't risk not finding her. He was afraid because he realized he couldn't protect her. Even the strong and powerful Oroonoko was unable to save her and her unborn child from slavery. His hope and innocence were killed by fear. He finally met a force that could beat him. Throughout the story, Oroonoko shows her power and control. To prove her courage once again, Oroonoko goes on a hunt to kill a tiger that was too ferocious and powerful for others to conquer. When Oroonoko meets the tiger, he is devouring his new prey. As Oroonoko approaches, the tiger glares at him with a "very fierce rag... middle of paper... heaven. This is a beautiful image. Does it really matter how they chose to exit this world? The truth is that it is so. The story of Oroonoko by Aphra Behn is not only a tragic love story. It is also a story about slavery and how it can kill a person. The relationship between Oroonoko and Imoinda is described as pure and innocent compliments the point Behn was trying to make about slavery. Slavery can kill hope, purity, and innocence not only kills the human spirit. The student may want to begin the article with the following quote: “E these two Persons represented for me an absolute Idea of ​​the first State of Innocence, before Man knew how to sin." (page 10) Works cited: Behn, Aphra. "Oroonoko." The Norton anthology of English literature. Ed . AH Abrams New York 2000.