Benito Cereno

Herman Melville, in Benito Cereno, examines racism as it is manifested in slavery and specifically in relationships between rebellious slaves and whites on ships at sea. Melville portrays the slaves as having no legitimate political power, finding the only power they can by force in rebelling against their imprisonment by whites. However, the heart of the story is the fact that Captain Delano is in the dark with respect to the reality aboard the ship. He believes the white captain, Cereno, to be truly in charge of the ship, and the blacks to be slaves who are "tractable" (301) and, therefore, do not need to be kept in chains. In fact, the slaves have rebelled, killed a number of the crew, taken over the ship, and now present a false picture of reality with Cereno propped up as apparent captain. Again, what makes the story fascinating, with respect to the light it sheds on racism and slavery, is the perspective of the visiting Captain Delano. His observations allow the reader to see slavery in a new light, specifically in a reality in which blacks are in charge and whites are enslaved.

Throughout the story, Delano observes the blacks as if they were docile animals, referring to them as grizzly bears, does, fawns, sheep, leopards, doves, (266-268) and Newfoundland dogs (279). Delano is so accustomed to seeing blacks as non-human that he naturally sees them as different sorts of animals. At one point he suggests that Cereno could not be in league with the blacks, first, becau

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Category: Literature - B