Benito Cereno From an Historical

Benito Cereno

From an historical perspective, "Benito Cereno" written by Herman Melville in 1855, is based on a true story found in Captain Amasa Delano's travel narrative and published in 1817. The third-person narrative relates the story of an encounter at sea, near Chile, between Captain Delano and San Dominick ship captain Benito Cereno. There are those scholars who believe that Melville is being too forgiving of slavery and how the blacks were treated. However, from a thematic perspective, this short story does show the appalling consequences of slavery and bigotry in maritime transportation during this time. With the Civil War so close in the future, it was also Melville's warning to the U.S. that such an event could happen in the U.S. (Karcher)

Delano's reveals his own racism from the moment he comes aboard the San Dominick and considers the "noisy indocility" of the blacks and other "peculiarities of captain and crew." He sees four strange happenings: First, the Spanish lad assaulted with a knife by the slave boy, which was winked at by Don Benito. Second, the tyranny in Don Benito's treatment of Atufal, the black; "as if a child should lead a bull of the Nile by the ring in his nose." Third, the trampling of the sailor by the two Negroes without any scolding, and fourth, the cringing submission to their master of all the ship's underlings, mostly blacks. He especially envisions the mental inferiority of San Dominick's Negroes, whom he considers "too stupid" to have established such a "design" on the "whites," who "by nature were the shrewder race" (Andrews). In fact, Delano is so biased that he cannot imagine how any blacks could possibly be in a position of power. His racism actually makes him blind to the reality around him: It was not the whites who were in charge, but the slaves who had revolted. They were being led by Babo and Atufal, who killed most of the Spanish crew and took control of the ship. They forced Cereno to sail toward Senegal, where they planned to escape.

Although Delano finds blacks "fun-loving" individuals who like bright colors and combine "industry with pastime," this approval hides his belief that blacks are not entirely human. In fact, when in the midst of trying to sort out what was going on aboard the San Dominick, he briefly thinks that Cereno might be teaming up with the blacks, but this was impossible, since "who ever heard of a white so far a renegade as to apostatize from his very species almost, by leaguing in against it with Negroes?"

Throughout the story, Melville relates how Delano eases his fears by seeing the inferiority of the blacks, like when he feels an "apprehensive twitch" of fear when a group of blacks surround him (Tawill). He quickly assures himself that this group of men are "like so many organ-grinders, still stupidly intent on their work, unmindful of everything beside." Later, Delano associates these Negroes with docile animals. When the black slave Babo is first introduced, he is compared to a pet dog: "By his side stood a black of small stature, in whose rude face, as occasionally, like a shepherd's dog, he mutely turned it up into the Spaniard's, sorrow and affection were equally blended."