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.