Weaks - Melville Blog

In the opening passages of Benito Cereno, Melville paints a Poe like, gothic view of the pervading seascape. Everything is gray, suggesting prevailing doom. “Everything was mute and calm; everything grey…Flights of troubled grey fowl, kith and kin with flights of troubled grey vapours [Sic]…Shadows present, foreshadowing deeper shadows to come.”

In stark contrast to the gray of the pervading seascape is Captain Delano “a singularly undistrustful [Sic] good nature, not liable…to indulge in personal alarms, any way involving the imputation of malign evil in man…[a man with] a benevolent heart…” Delano is a ship captain responsible for maintaining the discipline of a ship’s crew and Melville’s description of him makes him sound more like a Boy Scout troop leader, but a troop leader capable of action when action is called for. Throughout the story Captain Delano’s, trusting good nature is reinforced. However, in an earlier novel Moby Dick, Melville paints a completely different picture of a ship’s captain.

In Chapter 54 of Moby Dick, Melville describes the captain of the Town-Ho somewhat differently as a man that will invoke harsh penalties for minor infractions. After a fight 10 men are placed in the “hole” with little food or water. “At sunrise the captain went forward and knocking on the deck, summoned the prisoners…Water was then lowered down to them, and a couple of handfuls of biscuit were tossed after it…” My point is as one reads Benito Cereno both Captain Delano and Don Cereno become characters, by their actions, that are not believable and just contrived to make the story work. Delano with his naiveté and Cereno with every malady known to man are just not believable. They both present a somewhat comic figure.

In Captain Delano, we have a man that exhibits on minor alarm when he observes a Spanish crew severely outnumbered by Negro slaves; the slaves are unshackled and continuously sharpening hatchets. “Though occasionally the four oakum-pickers would briefly address some person or persons in the crowd below, yet the six hatchet-polishers neither spoke to others, nor breathed a whisper among themselves, but sat intent upon their task, except at intervals, when, with the peculiar love in Negroes of uniting industry with pastime, two-and-two they sideways clashed their hatchets together, like cymbals, with a barbarous din. All six, unlike the generality, had the raw aspect of unsophisticated Africans.” In a real life  situation such as the one described, red flags would be flying and Captain Delano would probably leave the San Dominick immediately.

Nevertheless, Captain Delano is only mildly alarmed by the hatchet sharpening and once again dismisses it. “As during the telling of the story, Captain Delano had once or twice started at the occasional cymbal ling of the hatchet-polishers, wondering why such an interruption should be allowed, especially in that part of the ship, and in the ears of an invalid; and, moreover, as the hatchets had anything but an attractive look, and

the handlers of them still less so…” This behavior of Captain Delano is just not believable.

If one views Captain Delano from a little different perspective perhaps, he could have possibility been deceived by the behavior of Don Cereno’s doting servant Babo and what he is witnessing could be considered strange, but acceptable behavior. Captain Delano was definitely taken with Babo as the following passage illustrates. It begins with Don Cerono responding to an inquiry of Captain Delano. ‘Yes, their owner was quite right in assuring me that no fetters would be needed with his blacks…those Negroes have always remained upon deck not thrust below… from the beginning, been freely permitted to range within given bounds at their pleasure.’ Once more the faintness returned- his mind roved but, recovering, he resumed: ‘But it is Babo here to whom, under God, I owe not only my owe preservation, but likewise to him, chiefly, the merit is due, of pacifying his more ignorant brethren, when at intervals tempted to murmurings.’ ‘Ah, master,” sighed the black, bowing his face, ‘don’t speak of me; Babo is nothing; what Babo has done was but duty.”

“Faithful fellow!’ cried Captain Delano. ‘Don Benito, I envy you such a friend; slave I cannot call him.’ As master and man stood before him, the black upholding the white, Captain Delano could not but bethink him of the beauty of that relationship which could

present such a spectacle of fidelity on the one hand and confidence on the other.”

In this passage it indeed appears Captain Delano has been assuaged by Babo’s dedication to his master. However, doubt lingers and while waiting for his ship Captain Delano replays, in his mind, some of the observations he has made since boarding the San Dominick.

“By way of keeping his mind out of mischief till the boat should arrive, he tried to occupy it with turning over and over, in a purely speculative sort of way, some lesser peculiarities of the captain and crew. Among others, four curious points recurred.

First, the affair of the Spanish lad assailed with a knife by the slave boy; an act winked at by Don Benito. Second, the tyranny in Don Benito’s treatment of Atufal, the black; as if a child should lead a bull of the Nile by the ring in his nose. Third, the trampling of the sailor by the two Negroes; a piece of insolence passed over without so much as a reprimand. Fourth, the cringing submission to their master of all the ship’s underlings,

mostly blacks; as if by the least inadvertence they feared to draw down his despotic displeasure. Coupling these points, they seemed somewhat contradictory. But what then, thought Captain Delano, glancing toward his now nearing boat,- what then? Why, this Don Benito is a very capricious commander.”

After careful consideration of many of the strange happenings aboard the San Dominick Captain Delano just shrugs them off and attributes them as the result of a fickle commander or as Melville writes a “very capricious commander.” Melville, by throughout the story reiterating, how kind and generous a man Captain Delano is gives some plausibility to the possibility that indeed there could be a man as naïve as Captain Delano. In painting Captain Delano as naïve, Melville is also painting the average American in the same manner as Captain Delano is the only American character in the story.

Captain Delano’s ship arrives and after he is lowered into the boat “that on shoving off, the deponent [Don Benito] sprang from the gunwale, into the boat, and fell into it,

he knows not how, God guarding him.” the, “San Dominick’ was [then] retaken.”

The retaking of the “San Dominick” leads to the deposition and the deposition leads to the conclusion that Babo is evil and must be executed.  There is no doubt that Babo is evil, but his evil should be viewed as necessary and appropriate. His evil is learned, learned from white men such as Don Alexandro Aranda who by Babo’s orders, paid the ultimate price for his evil, his life.

An interesting side note. During the disposition, Melville exhibits his Puritan influence and the Puritan belief in predestination with the following passage, “True, true,’ cried Captain Delano, starting, “you saved my life, Don Benito, more than I yours; saved it, too, against my knowledge and will.” “Nay, my friend,” rejoined the Spaniard, courteous even to the point of religion, “God charmed your life, but you saved mine. To think of some things you did- those smilings and chattings, rash pointings and gesturings. For less than these, they slew my mate, Raneds; but you had the Prince of Heaven’s safe conduct through all ambuscades.” “Yes, all is owing to Providence…”

During the deposition Don Benito’s health never fully returns. Many times assistance to him is needed and his mood is always melancholy.  When questioned by Captain Delano about his melancholy mood in spite of, “yon bright sun has forgotten it all, and the blue sea, and the blue sky; these have turned over new leaves.” “Because they have

no memory,” he [Don Benito] dejectedly replied; “because they are not human.”

Take into account this story is set in 1799 and published in 1855 and for a white man to be portrayed as appearing to morn the death of a black man is not something that was openly written. Don Benito also refuses to face Babo during the entire deposition and further re-enforces his admiration of Babo when he answers another of Captain Delano’s queries, [Captain Delano says,]“But these mild trades that now fan your cheek, Don Benito, do they not come with a human-like healing to you? Warm friends, steadfast friends are the trades.” “With their steadfastness they but waft me to my tomb, Senor,’ was the foreboding response. ‘You are saved, Don Benito,’ cried Captain Delano, more and more astonished and pained; ‘you are saved; what has cast such a shadow upon you?”

“The Negro.’ There was silence, while the moody man sat, slowly and unconsciously gathering his mantle about him, as if it were a pall. There was no more conversation that day.”

Don Benito did not recover following the execution of Babo and died, “three months after being dismissed by the court, Benito Cereno, borne on the bier, did, indeed, follow his leader.”

In addition to Melville’s revealing portrait of the relationship between Babo and Benito Cereno, Melville also allows the reader to determine for himself the tragic hero in this story. For this author, the tragic hero is not Benito Cereno, but indeed Babo for Benito Cereno had the free will to choose not to Captain a slave ship.

And, Babo had no choice and although forced to commit acts of atrocity, his motivation was pure, what he sought was freedom and he was willing to kill or die in its pursuit. In this story, set in 1799, the black man is portrayed as an equal to or superior to whites, not only in intelligence, but also in humankind. Babo was a man first and a Negro second and no man should be placed in bondage at the hands of another. Babo was not innocent of evil, but his evil was justifiable. Again, Benito Cereno is more that an indictment of slavery, it is a story that grants humanity to blacks at a time when they were viewed by many as just property.  Babo is the tragic hero of Benito Cereno.