May 05, · Benito Cereno is Melville’s version of a true story he read in Amasa Delano’s Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (). Melville freely adapts Delano’s Essay about The Character of Captain Delano in Benito Cereno Words | 6 Pages The Character of Captain Delano in Benito Cereno Captain Amasa Delano is an interesting embodiment of white complacency about slavery and it's perpetuation. Delano is a human metaphor for white sentiment of the time In "Benito Cereno," the narrator is Amasa Delano, the captain of a Massachusetts whaling ship. When the story begins, Captain Delano and his ship, the Bachelor's Delight, are anchored off the island of Santa Maria. The Delight is a sealer, or whaling ship. While anchored, the crew spots another ship coming toward the island
Benito Cereno: Slavery and Racism Essay Example
In "Benito Cereno," the narrator is Amasa Delano, the captain of a Massachusetts whaling ship. When the story begins, Captain Delano and his ship, the Bachelor's Delight, are anchored off the island of Santa Maria, benito cereno essay. The Delight is a sealer, or whaling ship. While anchored, the crew spots another ship coming toward the island. The new ship seems to be floating rather listlessly, and her sails are torn.
Delano decides to send a benito cereno essay over to investigate. He and his men reach benito cereno essay ship, benito cereno essay, which they see is called the San Dominick. The ship looks weather-beaten and decrepit. The figurehead of the ship is covered by canvas, but chalked underneath are the words in Spanish"follow your leader.
He boards the ship, and he is immediately accosted by sailors and black slaves, all begging for water and supplies. Delano orders his crew back to his own ship to get supplies, benito cereno essay, then tries to figure out what's happened to the San Dominick. He meets the ship's captain, Benito Cereno. Cereno seems a strange man, very nervous and strangely aloof; his behavior confuses Delano.
Delano wonders if Cereno is an aristocrat who was given command of a ship, even though he doesn't seem to be a very good captain. But Delano is a patient and forgiving man, so he persuades himself that Cereno's behavior is a result of the trouble Cereno and his ship have suffered. Cereno is constantly attended by Babo, his young black servant.
Delano asks Cereno to explain what happened to the San Dominick. Briefly, benito cereno essay, Cereno falters, staring down at benito cereno essay deck. Annoyed, Delano goes to ask a sailor for the story, but Cereno abruptly speaks up.
He tells Delano that the ship had left Buenos Aires six months earlier, bound for Lima. While rounding Cape Horn, they struck heavy winds, benito cereno essay, Cereno claims, and to lighten the ship they threw supplies overboard, including their containers of fresh water.
While telling this story, Cereno has one of his many near-fainting spells, which makes Delano believe that Cereno is both sick and perhaps mentally troubled, benito cereno essay.
Whenever he has these spells, Babo catches his master in his arms. Cereno continues the story, brokenly: the San Dominick rounded Cape Horn, but the ship was badly damaged, and many of the ship's crew became sick with scurvy and died, including every officer.
The ship was then blown into the deep seas, where the wind suddenly died out, benito cereno essay, leaving the ship adrift and with little water. Since then, benito cereno essay, Cereno claims he had continually attempted to reach land, but had always been prevented from doing so by bad weather or bad seamanship by the remaining sailors.
He adds that the slaves' owners were "quite right" in claiming that it was safe to allow the slaves to roam free on the deck, without chains. Cereno ends by praising his servant Babo, whom he credits with keeping the slaves pacified during all the benito cereno essay. Delano also praises Babo, saying he envies that Cereno has such a faithful friend.
Delano is particularly struck by the image of the pleasant, strong black slave upholding the weak, well-dressed white captain. But unlike "Bartleby," where interpretation of the story's essential meaning is the main area of interest, "Benito Cereno" owes much of its popularity among literary critics to its subject matter: slavery.
Therefore, it is bothersome to Melville scholars that the story is so maddeningly enigmatic. Like much of Melville's work, the benito cereno essay interpretations of "Benito" have changed depending on the political and academic atmosphere of each critic. The historical incident that "Benito Cereno" is based on is very similar to the one that Steven Spielberg's film Amistad was based upon. The film's plot is entirely sympathetic to the slaves.
Their masters are shown to be cruel monsters who deserved their deaths, benito cereno essay, and the slaves are portrayed as righteous freedom fighters who want nothing more than to return home. Imagine if Spielberg had tried to make a film where the black slaves are the bad guys and the slavers, heroically defending themselves with pistols and rifles against the swords and hatchets of the benito cereno essay, are the good guys.
In the s, when Amistad was made, such a movie would have drawn massive protests—Spielberg would have been run out of the country. But "Benito Cereno," published in during a time of great political turmoil over the issue of slavery, six benito cereno essay before the Civil Warprovides that very scenario: the slaves, benito cereno essay, who are portrayed as both brutal and cunning, revolt against their masters and are thwarted by the efforts of well-armed white men.
However, few critics believe that "Benito Cereno" is a pro-slavery story. Few men in America had had more contact with indigenous foreigners, living in their native homes of Africa or the Polynesian Islands, than Melville. Melville's brutally cunning slaves may have been somewhat inspired by his experiences living amongst cannibals, but Melville was also a product of New England, of Massachusetts and of the Transcendentalist movement—he was in the center of abolitionist activity, and he was never known to trouble his literary friends by expressing benito cereno essay attitudes.
It seems highly unlikely that in "Benito Cereno" Melville was deliberately trying to portray blacks as being rightly condemned to slavery; rather, it is an intriguing exploration of the relationship between blacks and whites. The story is surprisingly modern in its contemplation of racism, more than a hundred years before the civil rights movement.
The protagonist of "Benito Cereno" is not really Captain Delano—his character does not really change in the course of the story, other than his awakening to the true relationship of Cereno and the slaves. Rather, the protagonist is Cereno himself, who falls under "the shadow of the Negro" in the course of the tale, eventually leading to his death. But upon a first reading, until the very end, it seems almost certain that the story is going to be Delano's, and Cereno will be revealed to be some sort of villain.
By re-reading the story, the reader can properly understand Cereno's behavior in any given situation. The reader understands benito cereno essay Cereno's eyes go glassy for a moment when Delano asks him what has happened to his ship; Cereno is trying to remember the story Babo told him.
When Babo shows Cereno the bloody razor, the reader understands his terror—Babo is threatening him. Looking for homework help that takes the stress out of studying? Sign up for our weekly newsletter! Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Character List Bartleby, benito cereno essay. Themes Motifs Symbols Key Facts. Important Quotes Explained. Context Full Book Quiz Section Quizzes Context Benito cereno essay Overview Character List Themes, Motifs, and Symbols 'Bartleby the Scrivener' 'Bartleby the Scrivener' cont.
How to Write Literary Analysis Glossary of Literary Terms How to Cite This SparkNote Suggested Essay Topics. Summary "Benito Cereno" Part I. Page 1 Page 2. Summary In "Benito Cereno," the narrator is Amasa Delano, the captain of a Massachusetts whaling ship. Analysis "Benito Cereno" is, like "Bartleby the Scrivener," one of Melville's most hotly debated short stories.
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May 05, · Benito Cereno is Melville’s version of a true story he read in Amasa Delano’s Narrative of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (). Melville freely adapts Delano’s The novel "Benito Cereno" () by Herman Melville is a literary work that contemplates and depicts the issue of slavery and racial discrimination, which is a social problem that existed and is promoted by nineteenth century Western society Benito Cereno In many of the short stories written by the American author Herman Melville (), the main characters tend to exhibit some form of rebellion, usually against the normal dictates of society or against those who are in blogger.comted Reading Time: 1 min
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