Benito Cereno by Herman Melville tells the story of an American named Amasa Delano who crosses paths with the ship the San Dominick. He is under the impression that the ship is ruled by Captain Benito Cereno, but unbeknownst to him, the slaves on the ship have rebelled and are now the leaders. For the majority of the short story, Delano is almost painfully ignorant of this fact. Even when faced with obvious proof that the slaves are actually former slaves, he refuses to change his opinions of black people. To a black audience, this both an unpleasant reminder that while people view them as slow dogs, and an encouragement to rebel, as their owners would not expect it. The black people on the ship have a tremendous amount of control over its
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Their approach to controlling the white people is calculating and extremely well-planned. Babo is their leader, and acts as Cereno’s right hand man in order to keep an eye on him. He expertly controls Cereno, and ensures that Delano does not suspect anything. The black slaves in Benito Cereno are portrayed as cunning and ruthless in order to empower them as a race and incite action.
Delano rationalizes suspicious acts he views on the ship because of his low opinion of blacks. Soon after he boards the ship, he views a group of slaves, separate from the other people on the ship, polishing hatchets. The hatchet polishers “with the peculiar love in negroes of uniting industry with pastime, two and two they sideways clashed their hatchets together, like cymbals, with a barbarous din” (40). The audience is first given the terrifying imagery of these four slaves meticulously sharpening hatchets. Occasionally, they will loudly clash the weapons together, in a chilling display of their authority. The remaining whites on the ship are essentially held captive, and as Delano walks onto the deck, the blacks are reminding them that they are the ones in power in this situation. However, while the American does recognize that the sound the hatchets make is
Their approach to controlling the white people is calculating and extremely well-planned. Babo is their leader, and acts as Cereno’s right hand man in order to keep an eye on him. He expertly controls Cereno, and ensures that Delano does not suspect anything. The black slaves in Benito Cereno are portrayed as cunning and ruthless in order to empower them as a race and incite action.
Delano rationalizes suspicious acts he views on the ship because of his low opinion of blacks. Soon after he boards the ship, he views a group of slaves, separate from the other people on the ship, polishing hatchets. The hatchet polishers “with the peculiar love in negroes of uniting industry with pastime, two and two they sideways clashed their hatchets together, like cymbals, with a barbarous din” (40). The audience is first given the terrifying imagery of these four slaves meticulously sharpening hatchets. Occasionally, they will loudly clash the weapons together, in a chilling display of their authority. The remaining whites on the ship are essentially held captive, and as Delano walks onto the deck, the blacks are reminding them that they are the ones in power in this situation. However, while the American does recognize that the sound the hatchets make is