Benito Cereno a New Deception: Comparing Benito Thesis

Benito Cereno

A New Deception: Comparing Benito Cereno to the Modern World

Although Benito Cereno is presented as the captain of the ship, it is actually Babo, the slave, who is in control of the situation. Babo represents in Melville's Benito Cereno, a man driven to rebellion against a system of slavery; Cereno represents a man caught in the middle of a slave trade, experiencing for the first time what it is like to have lost one's freedom. In the end, Babo is executed for leading a mutiny, and Cereno dies shortly thereafter from mysterious effects that might be interpreted as a defeated spirit. The deception of the novella is this: that Captain Delano, who comes to the assistance of the San Dominick, is led to believe that the true ruler of the ship is Cereno, who is actually the slave of Babo. This paper will explore the deception at the heart of Benito Cereno and show how it relates to our contemporary world, which is increasingly more and more totalitarian in that it views all the subjects of the world as potential terrorists who must be controlled and herded around like cattle -- or like Cereno -- even as it tells them that they are the true captains of the democratic State.To understand the deception of which Delano is finally relieved, one must examine the relationship between slave and captain -- that is, Babo and Cereno. Babo is the ever-attendant, ever-surveying, ever-watchful slave, who has led a slave revolt on board the San Dominick. Cereno, powerless to overcome Babo and his men, allows Babo to let him steer for shore so that they may replenish their stores before returning to Africa. In so doing, Cereno is able to hail Delano of the Bachelor's Delight. Delano boards and at first is willing to help -- but as he finds the relationship of crew and slaves to be somewhat odd, he begins to question Cereno. Cereno, of course, is under no condition to be able to answer honestly -- because of the threat….....