Themes and Message in Benito Cereno by Herman Melville

With an intense mix of ambiguity and power, author Herman Melville provides the novella, Benito Cereno, in which Captain Amasa Delano, a friendly captain from America notices a ship coming from the distance clearing from a gray fog. Deciding to sail over and find out what is going on, Captain Delano decides to come aboard the foreign ship. Aboard the ship, the situation is weird and Sailors and African slaves try to intercept him to tell him their tale of suffering. Captain Delano is eventually introduced to Benito Cereno, the leader of the San Dominick. Benito describes what happened and tries to explain why his slaves are no longer chained. The whole scenario is baffling to the naive Captain Delano. Delano eventually begins to question what is really going on as the whole situation is odd, especially as two of the main slaves, Babo and Atufal, seem to be very content in serving their master. When finally deciding to bail from the ship, Benito tries making his escape in which Babo jumps after him, revealing that Babo was trying to attack Benito Cereno. Captain Delano in the end had foiled the slave revolt and their plan to escape to freedom. Herman Melville utilizes ambiguity and enigmas to introduce symbolism, the central theme of grayness, and an allusion to a historical figure to portray the message of slavery and ambiguity throughout the novella.

Melville incorporates essential features that intensify the uncertainty and vagueness of the connection between master and slave. When Captain Delano was aboard the San Dominick, Babo was waiting for Benito Cereno, and made a motion as if he was waiting for his master to come sit down. Babo instructed Benito to sit down so he could shave him. All the while, Captain Delano is watching the scene go down. Even though Benito is pretending to be satisfied and unsuspecting of Babo’s position, not only with shaving, but also with who is being held captive, Cereno’s body almost gives him away when his body continues to shake uncontrollably. Babo tries to play it off and makes a comment endearing his shakiness and trustworthiness as he has not cut him before. The entire scene captivates Captain Delano and does not have him suspect anything out of the ordinary. While shaving Captain Delano, Babo accidentally cuts Benito Cereno. “...just then the razor drew blood, spots of which stained the creamy lather under the throat; immediately the black barber drew back his steel, and remaining in his professional attitude, back to Captain Delano, and face to Don Benito, held up the trickling razor, saying with sort of a half humorous sorrow, “See, master— here’s Babo’s first blood” (Melville, 1557). The razor in this scene becomes a symbolic representation of control and power. When evaluating the relationship between Babo and Don Benito. This scene reveals how much power Babo has as he, the “slave”, has his “master” by the throat. Physically, Babo’s power develops with the “accidental” cut upon his master's neck while shaving him.

The central theme of grayness throughout the novella becomes apparent. “The sky seemed a gray surtout. Flights of troubled gray fowl, kith and kin with flights of troubled gray vapors among which they were mixed, skimmed low and fitfully over the waters, as swallows over meadows before storms. Shadows present, foreshadowing deeper shadows to come” (Melville, 1526). The setting is described in the beginning, providing an image of everything being mute, calm and grey. The in-depth description sets the atmosphere and mood for the story. Benito Cereno begins to reveal a series of black and white elements which tie perfectly into the state of mind of grayness. Melville continues on to describe Benito’s exterior as a colorless gray. The San Dominick also seems to come into sight out of a dusty fog before Captain Delano’s ship. The central theme of grayness is apparent all the way through to the end as nothing is clear throughout and nothing seems to add up, making Delano even more baffled. Near the end, Captain Delano is able to comprehend the truth of what is happening and the foggy grayness disappears within his own mind.

Melville provides an allusion of Christopher Columbus. When Captain Delano comes onto the San Dominick, Babo showed him a skeleton, which was substituted for the ships head figure of Christopher Colon. Christopher Columbus’s spanish name was Christobal Colon, who was the discoverer of the New World. 'that the negro Babo asked him whose skeleton that was, and whether, from its whiteness, he should not think it a white's; that, upon discovering his face, the negro Babo, coming close, said words to this effect: 'Keep faith with the blacks from here to Senegal or you shall in spirit, as now in body, follow your leader' (Melville). To Captain Delano, the allusion of Christopher Columbus, indicates that the San Dominick symbolizes “The New World.” Christopher Columbus represents the establishment of slave trades and its beginnings in America, the relation being that the San Dominick was transporting captives. Before the statue aboard the ship was replaced by the remains of Arada, it symbolized the intact experience of the ignorant Captain Delano. Instead, the contemporary understanding for Delano is a new discovery. Throughout the novella, the reader can see how gullible Captain Delano is. Eventually, Captain Delano uncovers the truth that the slaves were actually the ones taking dominance over the ship and that they are actually quite knowledgeable and underestimated. The replacement of Columbus’s statue to the skeleton of Arada also alludes to the discovery being hidden by the captives, while the original meaning is warped by Arada and the new saying, “Follow your Leader.”

As the novella, Benito Cereno had some troubling and enigmatic situations, the presense of dehumanizing slavery and revolt is widely present throughout. While incorporating ambiguity and power, Melville incorporates symbolism, the central theme of grayness, and an allusion to a historical figure to portray the message of slavery throughout the novella.