Benito Cereno is an 1855 short story by the American novelist, essayist, and poet Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891). His enigmatic writings are often inspired by his experiences at sea, where his character's unique personality and the complexity of the plot make his works compelling and interesting. The short story is a parable of slavery written at the start of the American Civil War, about the black community's desire for freedom. Benito Cereno depicts Captain Amassa Delano's discovery of a wayward slave ship. He investigates, with the intention of helping the crew, both African slaves and Spanish sailors, who find themselves without food or water. He observes strange behavior, particularly from the ship's captain, Benito Cereno, but does not understand what happened. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essaySlavery is the major theme of the novel. “On approaching still closer, this appearance was altered, and the true character of the ship was evident: a first-class Spanish merchant ship; transporting black slaves, among other valuable goods, from one colonial port to another” (Melville, Benito Cereno 4). In the quote “As master and man stood before him, black supporting white, Captain Delano could only think of the beauty of this relationship,” we see Delano's ignorance in all its force. He considers as natural the strangely intimate relationship between Benito Cereno, the captain of the "San Dominick", and his servant Babo. Since he is so invested in the false premise that slavery is natural and right, he fails to realize that Babo is the leader of the slave rebellion aboard the ship and controls Cereno. Even though Babo always accompanies Benito Cereno, preventing him and Captain Delano from having a moment of privacy or even when he asks (at Babo's insistence) how many weapons are on board the "Bachelor's Delight ". Delano sees nothing wrong with slavery, and nothing interesting about the slaves, to the point that he misses several clues aboard the slave ship "San Dominick" indicating that the slaves revolted and took control. He sees slaves whipping a sailor; Cereno is never left alone by Babo; Delano offers to buy Babo, but Cereno refuses. Melville wrote the story as the abolitionist movement was gaining momentum in the United States. There is no clear stance on slavery or abolition in the novella, leading readers to infer that she lobbied for both. Delano's eventual realization of the plot and his capture of Babo might suggest a pro-slavery point of view. However, at the end of the short story, we learn that Cereno dies of some sort of sadness after Babo's trial and execution. “A few months later, dragged to the gallows at the tail of a mule, the black man met a speechless end. The body was reduced to ashes; but for several days, the leader, this hive of subtlety, fixed on a post in the square, shamelessly met the gaze of the whites; and on the other side of the square he looked towards the church of Saint-Barthélemy”. In the novel, we can see represented the harsh situation of slaves at that time due to the superiority of the white population. The theme of human bondage was something so normal that, as we can see in the aptitude of Captain Delano, the idea that there was a revolt on the part of the slaves, or that they were causing any problem, was unthinkable. The mentality of superiority on the part of the slave traders was at the root of this revolt, despite the evidenceobvious. They were so used to treating slaves as something for profit that they did not stop to think that, like them, they are also humans with feelings, intelligence and memory. “Ah, I thought so. Because it would be strange, and dishonorable for us, white skins, if a little of our blood mixed with that of the African, far from improving the quality of the latter, had the sad effect of pouring vitriolic acid in black broth; improve color, perhaps, but not healthiness. In addition to criticism of the slavery situation established in America at the start of the Civil War in the 19th century, there are different interpretations of the real meaning of the novel. In Schiffman's interpretation, although Melville did not play a notable role in the anti-slavery movement, Benito Cereno shows how "involved in the plight of black people" he was. Because the story is interpreted as "the suspense and horror" are all interpreted through the vision of Captain Delano and it is always he who represents the Negroes and evaluates their movements, "Melville himself does not take sides , although the reader's sympathies are weighed in favor of the whites and against the cruelty and ferocity of the blacks. Delano, revealing his blindness, is a mirror that reflects the prejudices of certain New Englanders of a certain type; a dramatic device. Furthermore, it is "important to recognize that Melville was willing to develop" the theme of revolt, "which underlines what we know today to be true, namely that blacks, far from being content and docile under slavery, engaged in frequent revolts. The author, instead of pitting readers against Negroes (especially in Babo) with thoughts of hatred or rejection, creates a complex story with mixed feelings and emotions. In which we sympathize with Don Benito's situation and appreciate the spirit and soul of Babo (the incarnate image of evil), admiring his role as a born leader, simply following his own rules; highlighting the determination of the slaves aboard the “San Dominick”. Delano's narrative was a skeleton of actual reality where the events described do not reveal the author's judgments about the events; the bare plot does not provide its interpretation. The illustration of revolt in the short story could be considered something positive and healthy at that time because it indirectly brings new literary thoughts at a time when the dominant trend was pro-slavery. It shows an anti-slavery intention, trying to make readers open their eyes and look beyond what is used in their cultural concerns of the time, making them think and create their own opinion on the current situation of slaves; without establishing both Babo as the hero or Cereno as the villain. It is worth noting Melvilles' narrative technique, which attempted to expand a current, specific context to external abstractions, excluding judgment about the concrete. Through the actions of the characters, we can see how the scales tip one way or the other, depending on how events develop over the course of the short story. For example, “On the way, the two captains were preceded by the mulatto who, turning as he advanced, with smiles and continuous salutes, ushered them in. » In this quote we see how, despite Captain Delano's sense of superiority. , he actually looks absolutely disarmed by all these greetings and all these smiles; he doesn't really know that he's just an idiot to the people who treat him like an important man. “Good guys,” Captain Delano thought, “a little training would make them good sailors.” Since Delano is so used to being a powerful man, he.(1990): 33-47.