Irony and Racial Uniqueness in Benito Cereno

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819 to Allan and Maria Melvill. Maria added the “e” after Allan died. Allan was a high end importer and merchant. When he died, it impacted Herman’s family greatly. Herman’s older brother decided to take over the fur trade and Herman became a clerk at a bank to help make ends meet. (“Herman Melville”, 2015).

His captors complexions, hair and language were different than any he had heard. Equiano saw many black people chained together. He fainted from the over powering horror and anguish. The black slave traders sold him. He was given liquor, which made him sick. Then the slave traders abandoned him and left the ship. When the white men offered him food, he refused and they beat him severely. The conditions on board were horrible. People died from the stench and filth. The white people described their land to Equiano and told him he would work there. The passage was suffocating and he prayed for death but could not escape.

“The Cask of Amontillado” is a unique story in many ways. There are many literary elements present throughout this story. One of these literary elements is irony. Irony can influence the portrayal of a character in a story. Irony can also add intrigue and excitement to the plot of the story. In Edgar Allen Poe’s story, he uses the literary element of irony to add to the plot and influence how the characters are portrayed throughout his story.

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.

“The Book of Negroes is a master piece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail, necessary for imagining the real beyond the traces left by history.” I completely agree with The Globe and Mail’s interpretation of this story. One could almost see the desolate conditions of the slave boats and feel the pain of every person brought into slavery. Lawrence Hill created a compelling story that depicts the hard ships, emotional turmoil and bravery when he wrote The Book of Negroes.

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.

Herman Melville had an interesting life, that came with many troubles and challenges. He was born on August 1st, 1819 to Allen and Maria Melvill of New York (Maxwell, D.E.S.). His family was a well-respected one, then their import business fell through and they moved to Albany, New York. Their finances were desperate. During this time they changed the spelling of their last name and added an e, to be spelled, Melville (Maxwell, D.E.S.). In 1835 Melville was already beginning to write, and while he was discovering writing, his family went bankrupt and moved to Lansingburgh.

This could also be viewed as the repetition of a common occurrence in the book: the degradation of black people. Delano calls Babo a, “poor fellow”; this is somewhat demeaning, as it is an expression of pity. Pity, although it can derive from good intentions, ultimately derives from the belief that another is in an inferior state than the person that pities them. However, this shows that Delano feels sorry for Babo, indicating that he sees that slavery as a bad institution.

The slaves including Douglass were treated cruelly. They starved and even had to steal and beg for food. This can be shown when Mr.Covey would “break” him making him more like a beast of burden than a human being. He says turning him like a "beast-like stupor", treated like an animal and even becoming one. However, one day Douglass he looks out onto the Chesapeake Bay and acknowledges the ships. This is important because the imagery of the white ships would lead him to be ambitious to escape and be free. He contrast the ships are free to go anywhere as he can not. It symbolizes the freedom from slavery to Douglass. He is angry for them being free, as he is becoming an animal. The Chesapeake Bay would inspire him to plan an escape. In the progress, now knowing to read and write plans to escape slavery by writing fake permissions to travel to Baltimore in canoes. This is also important because it shows Douglass’s life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. Other example, when he gets in a fight with Covey which would be a turning point for his life as a slave. At this moment, Douglass becomes psychologically

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.

After reading the story of Benito Cereno a main idea that is apparent would be natural slavery. In the story, Captain Delano discovers a ship that would appear to be ran by Benito Cereno. However, Cereno was not in charge due to the slave revolt against his ship. With assuming that the Africans on the ship were slaves, Delano was fooled multiply times into believing Cereno was in charge. This exploits the idea of natural slavery. With Delano already assuming the African’s on the ship were slaves, he is justifying the idea that he naturally thought they were slaves.

In "Benito Cereno," Captain Delano's extreme naivete and desensitization towards slavery greatly affect his perceptions while aboard the San Dominick. Delano's racial stereotypes, views of master and slave relationships, and benevolent racism mask the true reality of what was occurring on board despite his constant uneasiness and skepticism. At a time when slave revolts were not

Captain Delano is shown as a bit of dense character for his inability to see the truth of what happened on the San Dominick. When he meets Babo he is amused at how well he takes care of his master, Captain Cereno, he stays along side him linked by the arm. He even thinks to himself how great it is to have such slave that appears to be more of a friend or companion than a manservant ( Nixon 369). While aboard there are many things that Captain Delano sees which rise his suspicion, however he chooses to disregard or forget them as the story progresses. He sees a young slave boy hitting another young Spanish boy, to which he tells Captain Cereño hoping to get him to do something about the situation, but Captain Cereño dismisses the incident.(9, left column) In return Captain Delano also dismisses the incident and continues on with Captain Cereño. He gives all his trust to Captain Cereno, because to his belief and understanding

"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

Progress is key to living life, but if one is advancing through life with the motivation of revenge, then, in actuality, he or she is truly regressing. Revenge is an extremely corruptive trait. It causes people to do uncharacteristic things that normally would not be done. The perception of right and wrong is blurred and one takes inadvertent actions that may cost friendships, possessions, and even lives. Revenge is often a major motivating factor in the characters that are in the works written during the Dark Romanticism period. One of the most celebrated and influential American authors in history, Herman Melville, was born on August 1, 1819; his reputation was not quite