I was immensely confused by this piece of writing when I read it on my own time, so many questions culminated in me barely understanding what I had read at the end of it. I pieced together some key moments in the text, but Omar’s strange and uncharacteristic depictions of enslaved life complicated the situation further. He was sold to a violent and dangerous slaver who he ran away from and then was brought by a slave patrol to a jail where he was then sold to Jim Owen. He describes the whole ordeal in just a few lines, with absolutely no emotion attached to the situation; just a matter-of-fact routine day. He then goes on to explain how great Jim Owen is and how he never lets him go hungry or forces him to do any kind of work. He talks at length about how he would pray as a Muslim with in-depth prayers and beliefs and follows it up with a blurb about how he no longer believes this and now is a Christian. Between these abnormalities and his frequent self-portrayal as a “weak and feeble” man, I began to understand that the target audience is not an outsider looking into his life, but rather men like Jim being given a document that reinforces their status as a provider and a good person. He is most certainly not content with his life, coming from riches and status as a scholar to a slave, but he is smart enough to weave these feelings into his writing; outsmarting everyone including his less-educated owner.
