Benito Cereno essays

Benito Cereno essays After reading Herman Melvilles Benito Cereno, it is clear to me that Melville views the institution of slavery as a cruel and inhumane act. Slavery is the evil of the story. The slaves on the San Dominick rebelled because they were treated cruelly. It is wrong for one person to own another and look down upon them and treat them poorly. Evil seems to breed evil, and therefore, the slaves revolted with violence. In the story there are two captains; Benito Cereno and Captain Delano. Cereno is captain of the San Dominick, and although he is the captain of the ship which holds the slaves, he is truly a good man. He too seems to be a victim of evil. The slaves rebellious behavior turned him into a very edgy and nervous man. Although he may not seem like a good guy, Cereno showed his goodness when he jumped into Delanos boat to warn him of the danger that lied ahead for his crew and himself. Delano is alo a simple, good-hearted man. He is a good captain and runs his ship well. While on the other hand it seems that Cereno does not have that much experience. That is why Delano immediately went and offered his assistance to Cereno when he saw the San Dominick aimlessly wandering about the waters. Delano does not always see things as they really are because he is a very naive person, and it is because of this trait that he does not really realize all that is happening aboard the San Dominick. At the times when he did have a suspicion about the happenings of the ship, he would just tell himself he was being silly and forget about it. After he actually realized the chaos that was happening aboard Cerenos ship, Delano sent his crew to take down the slaves, and it is he who saved Cereno and the ship. ...