Benito Cereno

Harbison”: “They then began to flog me with their wiping sticks, and to order me along. Thus what I intended as the means of my escape was the means of accelerating my departure in the hands of the savages” (“Captives Among the Indians”). While “Benito Cereno” also details violence, it again increases the intensity to ensure the reader understands how serious it was. This mistreatment of the slaves consequently…

Going Through the Storm: The Influence of African American Art in History is collection of essay that trace the roots of African American History through art. Sterling Stuckey traces the legacy of African American art from its roots in slavery, to classical Black Nationalism, to poetry, to gospel-singing movements of the 1960s. Going through the Storm breathes over the spectrum of African American culture presenting a new look at the history of African American in the form of art. Hence the…

novella may seem too serendipitous upon first glance, it nonetheless exposes Douglass’s adamant view against the wretched condition of slaves through the fervent actions of abolitionist, Mr. Listwell. In contrast, within Herman Melville’s novella “Benito Cereno,” the author…

Sentimental writers in the 18th century focused on moving people’s emotions through their work. Authors focused on scenes of ultimate despair or tender bonds to get their point across the pages. Some authors used the lack of sentiment in their novels as well to relay a life devoid of strong emotion. Bleak House by Charles Dickens is famous for its sentimental quality through the all-encompassing list of characters and detailed imagery. He is able to aptly tune into his reader's emotions using a…

25). This story is not his most well known novel but is still a valued piece. He also wrote some poetry with his best known being “Benito Cereno”. Herman Melville received a large amount of criticism from his writing. Melville faced some much criticism that it and failure led him into depression ending his literary career. His work was not greatly appreciated until after his death. Melville…

Another brilliant author was brought about in the 19th century during the Romantic Era where he used a mesmerizing Gothic tone to illustrate his famous themes of love and death. Edgar Allan Poe was a short story writer and a poet who was known to be one of first critics to primarily focus on the style effects and structure in the literary movement during this time period (“Edgar Allan Poe”). The American Literature pieces The Gold-Bug and Other Tales and The Raven and Other Favorite Poems…

Frobisher to discover Ewing’s adventures, and it allows Mitchell to make direct commentary from an additional perspective and to write the foreshadowing of Dr. Goose’s murder attempt: “Ewing puts me in mind of Melville’s bumbler Cpt. Delano in ‘Benito Cereno,’ blind to all conspirators—he hasn’t spotted his trusty Dr. Henry Goose [sic] is a vampire, fueling his hypochondria in order to poison him, slowly, for his money” (64). The discovery of the letters Frobisher sent to Sixsmith by Rey “when…

Captain Delano embodies this mindset in “Benito Cereno” as he candidly describes the people aboard the San Dominick: “All six, unlike the generality, had the raw aspect of unsophisticated Africans” (Melville 1359). Even more powerful is Delano’s comparing an African slave to an ugly dog: “By his side…