benito cereno Essay

Submitted By omiqbel
Words: 1470
Pages: 6
Open Document
Oula Miqbel
Professor Hole
English 51
M, W, & F 9:30-10:45
October 24, 2014
Benito Cereno Herman Melville’s assessment, of the trans-atlantic slave trade in his novel, Benito Cereno; postures an enlightened tone written in response to the temperament in support of slavery that was perpetuated during that era. In this novel he invokes a tone of sentimental sympathy towards the racial injustice of slaves, explicitly through the character of Benito Cereno. The statial binaries that existed during the trans-atlantic slave trade allowed for the slave bodies to be “out-grouped”. According to Gordon Alport, who believes that, “The ultimate attribution of error arises as a way to explain an out-group’s negative behavior as flaws in their personality”, which allows us to believe that the theory of out-grouping permits the negative connotation attached to certain social groups by other social groups to flourish in the status quo. However, if we examine Foucault’s philosophy in Discipline and Punish, (in conjunction to Alport’s theory), he states that the “examination of the object leads to the play of question, and through marking of classes we are able to examine power in relation to intelligence”. This quotation is key to explaining the racial binary that existed while Melville wrote this novel. I believe that this novel was written to critique the normalcy of slavery. The tone he uses while writing in this novel, express his critical colloquialism that he uses to criticize the intellectual race dichotomy presented during this time period. Melville’s aim in this novel is to capture how the slave bodies are stripped of all their autonomy by the white bodies, because they are perceived as not being purposeful intellectual beings. In my essay I will offer four lenses of observation used by the white body to dominate the slave body, represented in Benito Cereno.
The first lens of observation elucidates intelligence; in this novel Melville introduces a character named Babo, who is the leader of the slaves in Benito Cereno. Babo led the other slaves in a revolt against the sailors, which allowed for them to take over the San Dominick. Once they are in control of the ship Babo masquerades as Cereno's servant in front of Amasa Deleno. However, he is actually there to keep an eye on Cereno and to make sure that Cereno doesn't betray Babo and the slaves to Captain Delano. Babo is small, but he is guileful and intelligent. Due to Delano’ tunnel vision Babo's takes advantage of his obliviousness to thrive as a leader on the ship while still being perceived as a follower by Delano. There is no doubt that, of the characters in Benito Cereno, Babo exhibits more than anyone else, the qualities of a true leader. He is resourceful, and he plans a series of masquerades on board the San Dominick, even after Delano had spotted most of them. He is devious and bold; he has a creative, performative flair, and yet the moment Babo is revealed as a leader, his power could have vanished; except his intellect manages to stay in tact. Babo is a dark director, with Cereno writhing beneath him, and when we see them, both of these players are exquisitely masked. Babo plays the part of an officious servant splendidly, manipulating Delano's racist opinion of African servants. Delano thinks of Africans as childish, bright-color-loving, happy savages who love nothing more than to serve white people; Babo, with his jolly attire and his constant bowing and smiling, shows Delano what Delano wants to see, thus blinding him to the truth. Cereno, too, puts on a performance, though a coerced one forced by Babo.
The second lens of observation expounds on slavery, as an institution, and a paradigm. Ironically enough, Melville proposes a significant statement of his own personal take on slavery, by presenting it in the form of Captain Delano, when Delano says, "Ah, this slavery breeds ugly passions in man!" And of course he is right. The brutality of slavery
Show More

Related Documents: benito cereno Essay

Character Analysis: Benito Cereno

a rise above a struggle that aims to keep a certain people as inferiors, and for some it’s the spark that inspires authors to illustrate stories to be passed down, generation to generation, to keep the unfortunate history alive. In his novella Benito Cereno, Herman Melville uses his literary talent to question the social injustices of the 18th and 19th centuries through the portrayal of his characters. Melville illustrates the injustices of slavery and oppression, and how the oppressed eventually…

Words 143 - Pages 1

Benito Cerreno Analysis

The story Benito Cereno by Herman Melville depicts the story of Benito Cereno and his ship of slaves and the Captain Amasa Delano who finds the troubled ship, San Dominick. When Delano approaches the ship of the Captain Cereno, he notices that something is very off with this ship from the start. As the story progresses, you get a feeling of mystery as you the reader are trying to figure out the truth of what happened on the ship San Dominick along with Delano. He was trying to tell readers that Africans…

Words 640 - Pages 3

Essay about Billy Budd

Color of Skin Does Not Depict a Person 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. The new ship seems to be floating without much energy, and her sails are torn. Delano decides to send a boat over to investigate. "Rudely…

Words 767 - Pages 4

Delano Rhetorical Analysis

He is sure that all his men are accounted for as well as being on board since he is proud of them as well as his control over them. He is also not slow in telling Cereno his strengths instead of his weaknesses.it demonstrates how Americans are not cautious with information and are likely to reveal too much information. Delano acts quickly in mounting a ship to offer assistance as well as having the urge to go after…

Words 527 - Pages 3

Essay Comparing Rowlandson And Herman Melville

At first glance, you might think that authors living and writing on topics existing over 150 years apart would be so different with no chance of offering any common message. Each author lived in distinct time periods with different writing styles. Each shared different religious backgrounds and wrote for their own reasons. One had to hunt for food, while the other was able to buy food at the local store. The motivations, habits, and daily obstacles would be entirely foreign to the other had they…

Words 972 - Pages 4