Captain Delano 's Disarrayed World

Equiano's Travels reveals a European mind state far removed from philosophe theory. From the outset of his narrative, Equiano's description of his short-lived childhood is filled with cultural detail giving insight into the life of his people. His words also convey his naivety, as Equiano claims to have at one time never even heard of Europeans. When he recounts the day he and his sister were kidnapped from their own yard by greedy countrymen, the reader gets a sense of the inhumanity that exists even in the earliest stages of slavery. Being torn from his sister is a similarly gut-wrenching detail that plagues the reader with a sense of guilt that refuses to leave even after the excerpt has ended. The narration between that takes the reader from the shore of Equiano's homeland to the interior of the putrid-smelling slave ship and across a seemingly endless ocean drives the point of slavery's evils home. The conditions of such enslavement stand in direct violation of the philosophe's theory of human freedom. While their beliefs deny authority, Equiano's account tells the story of a place where these laws are permanently suspended, and man is made beast before his master.

“The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave” revolves around the life of Esteban Montejo: who once set his life is the Caribbean island of Cuba; in which this story provides readers with another distinctive approach to teaching the lives of slavery. As the narration progresses through this writing, readers consequently have many opportunities to annotate how the abolition of slavery played a great role in his personal life. Evidently, whether it is intentional or unintentional, the narrator frequently mentions the ending of slavery, as he substantially detailed “…till slavery left Cuba,” (Barnet 38); “… I got to know all these people better after slavery was abolished,” (Barnet 58); and “It was after Abolition that the term ‘effeminate’ came into

“The Horrors of a Slave Ship,” describes in detail, the tragic experiences of Olaudah Equiano as a captive slave. Equiano suffered many sleepless nights; he was flogged and kidnapped multiple times. In the article, the author is trying to give the reader the feeling by giving details of the brutally floggings and desperation as many slaves suffocated to death as they were placed in an overcrowded deck. Overall, the author tries to give readers their point across of the difficulties in being a captive slave.

In this, however, it depicts the complex journey of the African slaves that struggled to become equal. In addition, Equiano’s use of imagery clearly depicts the journey of the Africans slaves, such as “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us" (45). Through the portrayal of this vivid imagery, the reader can feel the distress of the slaves in which they encountered the journey of the “Middle Passage.” He emphasizes his emotions, ideals, and thoughts through the imagery. With the uses of this vivid imagery along with high diction and intricate sentences, Equiano successfully attempts to inform the reader of the horrid journey of slave transportation. However, it is not only his unique style alone that fulfils his rhetorical purpose of depicting the appalling slave experience; in addition, his several rhetorical devices aid to do so.

One of the most interesting arguments that modern apologists makes for the practice of race-based slavery in the Americas is the fact that slavery existed in Africa during that time period and that Africans were complicit in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. What is fascinating about Olaudah Equiano's discussion of the Middle Passage is that, as a man who had been enslaved in Africa prior to being shipped as a slave to the Americas, he was in a unique position to describe slavery in Africa with his introduction to European-influenced slavery in North America. His perception was that the immense brutality of the Middle Passage foreshadowed the dehumanization of slaves in the Americas, which was more inhumane than the treatment he had received as a slave while in Africa. Furthermore, he did not suggest that this brutality was linked to the race of the traders, though that seemed to have been his initial impression, but to the nature of the Trans-Atlantic trade. Therefore, Equiano's writings suggest that shipping Africans across the ocean for slavery was part of the dehumanizing process that helped fuel the practice of slavery in America.

Moreover, while he was on the ship he describes having witnessed many cruelties of all sorts when it came to other slaves and how he wasn’t able to help them. This, in turn, led to an encounter between Equiano and a man named Mr. D----. Mr. D is presumably white as most were aboard the ships besides the slaves and he is a Christian. To Equiano’s surprise, he learns that Christianity is being practiced in a way that was perverted. This is due to, “One Mr. D---- told me that he had sold 41,000 negroes and that he once cut off a negro man’s leg for running away. I asked him if the man had died in the operation, how

Herman Melville 's Benito Cereno (1856) and Frederick Douglass 's The Heroic Slave (1852) provide social commentary on the evils, injustices and dehumanizing effects of slavery. Melville 's "Babo" and Douglass 's "Madison Washington" are similar in motive—the pursuit of liberty and destruction of slavery. The ways in which these characters are perceived, however, differ and stem directly from the author 's construction of the narrative. By examining the slave uprisings within the both texts, it is clear that Melville creates a story that depicts “Babo’s” rebellion as maliciously calculated, while Douglass paints the portrait of Madison 's resistance as rightfully deserved and necessary. Douglass 's novel is overtly an abolitionist narrative, unlike Melville’s Benito Cereno, which is quite ambiguous in its didactic message. Critic, William L. Andrews, notes that “The Heroic Slave uses the techniques of fiction to remodel the raw materials of history into a more meaningful and usable truth ” (Andrews 11). There is transparency in Douglass 's goal for the novel—to expose and unveil the atrocities of slavery (separation of families, murder of loved ones, perpetual subjectivity, etc.) and denounce preconceived notions of black inferiority. Madison Washington is a slave, but also a human being—not

In Herman Melville’s mysterious novella, “Benito Cereno”, Captain Amasa Delano observes, what appears to be, a distressed Spanish slave ship navigating into the harbor of St. Maria. Disregarding the opposition from his crew, Captain Delano leaves his ship, Bachelor's Delight, and approaches the foreign vessel, San Dominick, via a whaleboat. In addition to offering water and provisions to the vessel in distress, Captain Delano encounters—who appears to be in command of the vessel—Don Benito Cereno, and his “faithful” negro servant Babo. Throughout the novella, Captain Delano witnesses many suspicious behaviors from Benito Cereno, Babo, and the other slaves on board. Although Captain Delano has mixed feelings about Benito Cereno, in which he often views him as a “paper captain” who has “little of command but the name”, Captain Delano fails to latch onto his intuition of who is truly in command of the ship until it’s almost too late.

Equiano’s luck soon shifted when he was once again kidnapped and sold as a slave, this time he would have to endure the notoriously dreadful journey across the sea to America. Knowing that this was a pivotal point in his life and that he would become a gudgeon to the harshness of slavery, Equiano attempted to prepare himself for what lay ahead. However, the sight of the inhumane acts he witnessed on the African coast, while being transported, were new to Equiano and instilled fear into his consciousness.

The works of Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass are both centered on the topic of slavery. Although both texts are similar in the sense that they focus directly on the theme of slavery, the functions of each work differ drastically. The differences in the works stem from both the style of the text, and the way that this style functions in accordance with the reader. Although Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno is drawn from an actual event, Melville embellishes and alters the event in the style of prose. The prose style used by Melville invites the reader to question the story while understanding that the majority of the work is fictional. The confusion of Captain Delano is brought onto the reader, and therefore engages the reader because of the limited point of view the story is told in. Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass tells of actual events that occurred using twentieth and twenty-first century plain style. This style of writing does not ask the reader to question what he is saying, but feel his emotions as they read the narrative. Although readers may understand both works to be stories about slavery written differently in terms of style, I argue that the way the texts are written sets up the readers interpretation of them. Melville and Douglass differ because Melville’s work invites the reader to think, whereas Douglass’s work invites the reader to feel.

Simms’s “Caloya” and Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative both utilize the antagonist characters, Mingo in “Caloya” and slave owners in Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative, to demonize the sexuality of the antagonists’ races; however, “Caloya” focuses on Mingo’s race and natural tendencies to represent black men as sex hungry and natural savages, while Narrative focuses on slave owners abuse of power and greed to represent white men as cruel, sex and money addicts. Throughout “Caloya”, Simms details Mingo’s life as a slave under Colonel Gillison and follows Mingo’s quest to woo a Native American Women. In Mingo’s quest to do so, readers become aware of his high sex drive, infidelity, and cunning nature. Additionally, Simms details the extent of which Colonel

Early American Literature reflects many conflicting differences in the presentation of slavery during that time period. Through the two chosen texts, the reader is presented with two different perspectives of slavery; Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a look at a slave’s life through the eyes if a slave while Benito Cereno showcases the tale of a slave uprising from the viewpoint of the slave owner.. Benito Cereno’s work shows the stereotypical attitude towards African-American slaves and the immorality of that outlook according to Douglass’s narrative. Cereno portrays the typical white slave owner of his time, while Douglass’ narrative shows the thoughts of the slaves. The two stories together show that white Americans are oblivious to the ramifications and overall effects of slavery. These texts assist a moralistic purpose in trying to open up America’s eyes to the true nature of slavery by revealing it’s inhumanity and depicting the cruelty that was allowed.

Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno and Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl both contain varying forms of benevolence. Melville and Jacobs both focus on the master—slave relationship and how benevolence not only effects it, but likewise changes it. Jacobs and Melville, similarly, focus on the view nineteenth century American society had of benevolence toward the institution of slavery, though they explain these views in different forms. Though Jacobs never directly brings up the term ‘benevolent master’ the ideology is implied throughout Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Captain Amasa Delano is an interesting embodiment of white complacency about slavery and it's perpetuation. Delano is a human metaphor for white sentiment of the time. His deepest sensibilities of order and hierarchy make it impossible for him to see the realities of slavery. Delano's blindness to the mutiny is a metaphor for his blindness to the moral depravity of slavery. The examination of Captain Delano's views of nature, beauty, and humanity, allow us to see his often confusing system of hierarchical order which cripples his ability to see the mutiny and the injustice of slavery.

"Benito Cereno" tells the story of a slave revolt on a ship at sea. Schiffman, Adler, and Kaplan argue that Melville wrote the story as a comment on slavery. Schiffman and Adler contend that Melville's novella is a clear indictment of slavery. Kaplan takes the