Herman Melville s Benito Cereno Essay - 1840 Words

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 â€Å"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 â€Å"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 property that can be â€Å"tied up to the limb of a tree, with [his] feet chained together† and â€Å"repeatedly whipped† (Douglass 35). In contrast, there is a disregard for black perspectiveShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Critical Essays on Benito Cereno1280 Words   |  6 Pagesof Critical Essays on Benito Cereno nbsp; It is possible to divide the critics into two camps regarding Herman Melvilles purpose in writing Benito Cereno. Joseph Schiffman, Joyce Adler, and Sidney Kaplan all argue that Melville wrote the story to make a comment on slavery. On the other hand, Sandra Zagarell and Allan Emery contend that Melville goes beyond slavery and is pointing out other flaws in mid Nineteenth century American notion. nbsp; Benito Cereno tells the story of aRead MoreSlave revolt comparrison of La Amistad and Benito Cereno1564 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Nicole C. Benito Cereno In Benito Cereno, Herman Melville wrote about how a group of Africans revolted on the ship that was taking them to South America to become slaves. The slaves revolted and killed many sailors and were trying to guide the ship back to their home country, but how often did that happen in real life? Herman Melville must have gotten his inspiration from somewhere. Around the time that Benito Cereno was written, the slave trade ship La Amistad was sailingRead MoreIrony and Racial Uniqueness in Benito Cereno1858 Words   |  8 PagesHerman Melville was born in New York in 1819 so he grew up in a time where slavery was still common and accepted, but in an area in which blacks were treated with much more respect than they were in the south. His father s relatives could be traced back to a man who was a part of the Boston Tea Party and both his mother and father had relatives who fought with the union in the Revolutionary war (Johnson). Melville had many jobs growing up, including teaching, being a bank clerk, and sailing onRead MoreRacism and Slavery in Benito Cereno, by Herman Melville1287 Words   |  6 PagesHerman Melville is known greatly in the world of literature for his enigmatic works, such as Bartleby the Scrivener, and Benito Cereà ±o. His complex plot and unique character personalities make his works both interesting and compelling. In Benito Cereà ±o, we are introduced to the narrator Captain Dela no as he and his crew encounter the ship, the San Dominick, in need of assistance. Upon climbing aboard he meets Captain Cereà ±o along with is crew and slaves, and is informed of their unfortunateRead MoreAmerican Political Thought - Benito Cereno Analysis2127 Words   |  9 PagesMarch 29, 2012 Benito Cereno in the Context of Slavery Herman Melville’s novella Benito Cereno is a story that helps to express Melville’s view on slavery. Contained within the text is an intricate story that sheds light on the ultimate underlying problems to the existence of slavery. The way that Melville builds the story in the novella through certain situations bring attention to the ideals of slavery, leadership, and American character. It is most often found that Melville is anti-slaveryRead MoreBlack Masks : Melville s Benito Cereno933 Words   |  4 PagesIn her article entitled â€Å"Black Masks: Melville’s Benito Cereno†, Jean Fagan Yellin says that â€Å"when Benito Cereno, Herman Melville’s tale of slave revolt, appeared in 1855, it made use of Negro stereotypes already standard in American fiction† (Yellin 678). Captain Amasa Delano is characterized as the typical Yankee man. Yellin elaborates on this by analyzing his self-important, authoritarian persona, observing that he is â €Å"investigating the strange ship, self-righteously expounding the doctrine ofRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Benito Cereno 1137 Words   |  5 PagesBenito Cereno is told in a third person limited point of view. The unreliable and naive Captain Delano gets in the minds of his readers. The crew was outnumbered, but yet gave the negros responsibilities that the crew should have had.   . . . six blacks; each with a rusty hatchet in his hand (Melville 40). A slave ship with whites being highly outnumbered doing their chores should had been odd. Yet e makes numerous excuses for the odd things he sees upon the ship, by doing so he convinces theRead MoreControversy Within Racism And Religion1738 Words   |  7 PagesControversy within Racism and Religion in the 17th Century Many would wonder why racism and religion rapture like a constant glare of ambiguity. Along from the 1700’s to now the 20th century, we ask ourselves why does your race and religion matter still? I would like to think that racism should not even matter based off what is now happening today. Within the essay I will discuss to the reader about three stories that to me had many similarities in comparisons; with controversy, racial segregationRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Herman Melville1589 Words   |  7 Pagesidentified it gives the reader an advanced understanding of the text. Two literary works, Benito Cereno and The Yellow Wallpaper use American stereotypes to deepen the plot, but are used in each story in a particularly different way. Literature is a good mechanism to help explore cultural stereotypes and exploit the positive and negative consequences associated with it. In Benito Cereno, the author Herman Melville encaptures a typical American sailor who is blindly tru sting of others which leads himRead MoreAnalysis Of Benito Cereno And The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1675 Words   |  7 Pagesreader an advanced understanding of the text. Two literary works, Benito Cereno by Herman Melville and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman use stereotypes as a literary technique to deepen the plot, but are used in each story in a particularly different way. Literature is a good mechanism to help explore cultural stereotypes and exploit the positive and negative consequences associated with them. In Benito Cereno, Melville encaptures a typical American sailor who is blindly trusting of