Oroonoko is, simply put, a tale of honour, injustice, love, and revenge. It is interesting in its hash of ideologies. At times, the narrator is critical of slavery and its cruelties; nevertheless, she still acknowledges the (mostly financial) benefit of this practice to the empire. Colonialists and slave traders are often depicted as morally corrupt and infringing on the rights of the natives who, perhaps telling of the author’s prejudices, are naïve and unfamiliar with laws and morality- though innocently happy in this state.

It is important that this novel is one of the first written in English and, remarkably, written by a woman. Not only do we get a sense of how colonialism (and everything surrounding it) was viewed by contemporaries, but also the way it was viewed and engaged with by a member of a likewise oppressed group. Then, it is true that Behn’s narrative is largely fabricated (with exaggerations which are reflective of her Western mind-frame), but its departure from the view of the majority is considerable. 

Though a little hard to read at times due to the structural and grammatical conventions of the time, Oronooko is a worthwhile read. Though most readers will find themselves in disagreement with a lot of the ideologies presented, it certainly presents an interesting viewpoint which, in my opinion, is important in considering the way colonialism functioned and affected those oppressed by it.