Equiano knew he had to please his masters to have any opportunity for freedom. He knew he had to find a way to stay with a kind master; otherwise he could be sold, mistreated and even killed. To do this he chose to build a relationship with his teachers by working hard to be indispensable to them. Equiano negotiated trades, proving his worth not only for manual labor. Adapting to his environment by learning to read, write, and speak English fluently was a smart way to increase his value as a slave and also to help himself in the future when he gained freedom. After becoming a free man, he continued to think of ways to abolish slavery, now his primary goal in life. He positioned himself as a mediator to promote his anti-slavery message to people of different classes and then went further to offer a solution for continued economic growth. Just as a trickster is able to transform himself into whatever he is meant to become, Equiano was both a protester of slavery and an industrialist, when the moment called for it..