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Summary
Set in 1799, Benito Cereno begins with a description of Captain Amasa Delano, a native of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and his ship, the Bachelor’s Delight. The sealer, or whaling ship, carries important cargo and is anchored near Santa Maria, an island off the coast of Chile. During their second day in the harbor, the crew spots another ship coming toward the island. Captain Delano emerges on the deck and takes note of not only the ominous grayness of the morning, but of the lack of identifying colors or flags on the strange ship as well. Despite these ominous signs, Captain Delano’s good and trusting nature prevents him from becoming alarmed, and he focuses his attention on the ship’s struggle to sail into the harbor. The new ship seems to be floating rather listlessly, and its sails are torn. Along with baskets of fish to give as a gift, Captain Delano boards a boat and sails over to investigate.
As Captain Delano and his men reach the ship, they quickly identify it as a Spanish merchant ship carrying Black slaves and take note of its poor, neglected condition. The figurehead of the ship is covered by canvas, but crudely chalked underneath are the words “SEGUID VUESTRO JEFE,” or “follow your leader.” The ship’s name, the San Dominick, also appears, although the letters are corroded and covered in seaweed. Captain Delano becomes fascinated by the mystery that the ship presents. He boards the San Dominick, and he is immediately accosted by sailors and Black slaves, all begging for water and supplies. As he looks around the ship, he begins to notice some unusual figures on board including the oakum-pickers, elderly Black men pulling apart old ropes, and the hatchet-polishers, Black men who silently shine the rusty weaponry. Captain Delano looks past these men and searches for the San Dominick’s captain, finding him by the mainmast looking rather nervous. He assures the Spanish captain that he will help them, and he orders his crew back to the Bachelor’s Delight to get more supplies.
Captain Delano continues observing the Spanish captain, Benito Cereno, and wonders at his lack of energy and authority. He is a patient and forgiving man, so he attributes the relative lack of order on board to the miserable conditions that both white and Black passengers have endured on their journey. Due to his frequent coughing fits, Cereno is constantly attended by Babo, his young Black servant. Captain Delano admires Babo’s devotion but worries that Cereno, who continues to act indifferent, does not like him. He soon realizes, however, that Cereno displays this behavior toward everyone on the ship and works up the courage to ask him about their past journeys. Cereno briefly falters, staring down at the deck. Annoyed, Delano goes to ask a sailor for the story, but Cereno abruptly speaks up. He tells Delano that the ship had left Buenos Aires six months earlier, bound for Lima. While rounding Cape Horn, they struck heavy winds, Cereno claims, and to lighten the ship they threw supplies overboard, including their containers of fresh water. While telling this story, Cereno has one of his many near-fainting spells, which makes Delano believe that Cereno is both sick and perhaps mentally troubled.
Whenever he has these spells, Babo catches his master in his arms. Cereno continues the story, brokenly: the San Dominick rounded Cape Horn, the ship became badly damaged, and many of the ship's crew became sick with scurvy and died, including every officer. The ship was then blown into the deep seas where the wind suddenly died out, leaving the ship adrift and with little water. Since then, Cereno claims he had continually attempted to reach land, but had always been prevented from doing so by bad weather or bad seamanship by the remaining sailors. He adds that the slaves' owners were "quite right" in claiming that it was safe to allow the slaves to roam free on the deck, without chains. Cereno ends by praising his servant Babo, whom he credits with keeping the slaves pacified during all the problems. Captain Delano also praises Babo, saying he envies that Cereno has such a faithful friend. He is particularly struck by the image of the pleasant, strong Black slave upholding the weak, well-dressed white captain.
Analysis
One of Melville’s most hotly debated stories, Benito Cereno is unique among his body of work for the way in which it explicitly discusses slavery. His handling of this subject matter, an almost unavoidable one for American writers of his era, has preoccupied scholars since the story’s publication as a result of its enigmatic nature. Melville carefully avoids giving the reader a clear insight into his personal values, inviting them instead to consider the broader perspectives and biases present in the American consciousness prior to the Civil War. As a result, arguments suggesting that his attitude toward Black people and/or slavery is forgiving, patronizing, or contemptuous have all emerged in academic discourse. The most popular readings of Benito Cereno have evolved over time in accordance with the ever-shifting political climate. Regardless of the myriad interpretations that exist today, Melville’s background offers key insights into the narrative’s cultural context. Surrounded by the Transcendentalist movement in New England and exposed to diverse cultures during his time as a sailor, he had a unique perspective on the issue of slavery in the United States. Melville seems to use Benito Cereno as an opportunity to highlight American’s naïveté concerning race, emphasizing that such a construct is not as clearly defined as many believe it to be.
Another unique aspect of Benito Cereno is the way in which Melville seems to establish Captain Delano as the story’s protagonist before revealing the true conflict between Cereno and the slaves on board the San Dominick at the novel’s end. He accomplishes this effect through the use of a third-person limited narrator, only allowing the reader access to Captain Delano’s inner thoughts, and by depicting him as a particularly sympathetic character. By structuring the narrative in this way, Melville invites the reader to adopt a specific view of Black people and slavery only to completely upend that perspective in the final scenes. This transformation adds to the sense that race is an incredibly nuanced construct. While Melville drops hints about the ending throughout the first half of the story, Captain Delano’s generosity, easygoing nature, and optimistic outlook make it possible for the reader to miss these details on a first read. As a result, Benito Cereno is a story that almost demands to be read twice.
Even on a first read, however, Melville includes symbolic imagery that hints at the dark truths of the San Dominick’s journey. The opening page of the story emphasizes the peculiar mood of the morning, a mood created by the gray sky, sea, and birds as well as oddly still fog. This grayness becomes a motif throughout the story, and it works to emphasize the ambiguity that characterizes Captain Delano’s interactions with the San Dominick. For a narrative whose central premise is the tension between Black and white men, describing the environment as gray suggests that the world naturally resists clear categorization. This motif also foreshadows the story’s surprise ending as Captain Delano’s assumptions about the power dynamics on board the San Dominick turn out to be completely false. His judgement is clouded by his own biases.
Another symbol that Melville introduces early in the novel is the name of Cereno’s ship itself, the San Dominick. Scholars propose two main theories as to the significance of this name, both of which contribute to the story’s main themes and events. Some suggest that the name is an allusion to the Dominican Friars, or Black Friars. Beyond the fact that Melville explicitly compares the slaves on the ship to the Black Friars, their strong participation in the Inquisition foreshadows the violent destruction of the Spanish sailors. Other scholars argue that the name refers to the slave revolt led by Toussaint L’Ouverture in Saint Domingue in 1791. Rather than using the name of the real-life ship that inspired Benito Cereno, alluding to the Haitian Revolution allows Melville to emphasize the possibility that the slaves on board the San Dominick may succeed in their revolt.
The novel’s early scenes are also instrumental in establishing Captain Delano’s assumptions about the people on board the San Dominick as well as his perception of the racial dynamics among them. When he first gains a closer view of the incoming ship, he describes it and its passengers using religious imagery. The ship itself appears like a “whitewashed monastery,” the people on board remind him of “monks” and “Black Friars pacing the cloisters,” and the San Dominick’s neglected façade inspires a reference to “Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones.” Appealing to religion in this way suggests that Captain Delano views the oncoming ship as a peaceful vessel with a noble purpose. This assumption aligns with his good-hearted nature, a quality that Melville emphasizes throughout. Captain Delano’s optimism also informs his interpretation of the men he meets aboard the San Dominick. Despite the ominous mood that emerges through the presence of the oakum-pickers and the hatchet-polishers, Captain Delano focuses on Babo’s commitment to serving Cereno and admires him greatly. This behavior reflects Captain Delano’s belief that Black people are natural servants and innately behaved, a stereotype prominent among pro-slavery Americans of Melville’s era. Highlighting these assumptions early in the narrative allows the reader to track how the American consciousness limits understandings of race.
