Melville

 We are going to study an excerpt taken from the short story « Benito Cereno’, written by Herman Melville and first published in 1855. This passage appears as a climax in the tense relation between the three main characters, each of them performing his part in a play that could be called a Tragi-comedy due to the ironical undertone pervading the excerpt and to its overall tragic significance. They are situated in the same room, ‘in camera’, Captain Delano being a witness, Benito Cereno the victim and Babo the oppressor. Firstly we will see how captain Delano with all the key elements in hand, utterly fails both to reconstruct the truth and to see through false appearances. Then, we will focus on Babo’s supposed submission to his white master.
Captain Delano consciously assumes the role of a witness « curiously eyeing them », and he’s also supposed to be investigating in order to understand what is going on, on board the San Dominick. Yet, we will see that he cannot unravel the mystery nor can he look at the Spanish and Black relationship as an inversion of the conqueror and conquered relationship.
Delano has a tendency to see everything is the best light, even when Babo holds the shaving knife up in a threatening gesture towards Cereno, the menacing gesture is associated with the professional skills of a barber. Babo’s posture can be seen as a symbol that captain Delano fails to interpret correctly due to his conception of Black people as being genuine and innocent. By a symbolization process Babo’s posture becomes eloquent of the very situation on the boat discarded by Delano as a mere ‘antic conceit’ of which ‘the best regulated mind is not always free’. Furthermore, while in the beginning of the novel, the ship was surrounded by grayness, there is now a clear opposition between black and white when Benito’s « ghastliness » is set in contrast with the « sootiness of the negro’s body » the black figure standing for an executor and the white one for the fainting victim. Thus, for a moment, appearances did betray a token revealing the nature of the relationship between the two. But Amasa’s mind, though aroused by that peculiar symbolism between white and black, would not let his intuitions take control of his reasoning. Which is representative of his inability to understand what crucial details mean.
He seems to escape puzzlement by regarding appearances as a way to understand reality, though there is such a gap between what is happening and his own beliefs that this state of mind leads him to complete misconception. When he should have seen the role inversion as to who is master and who is slave, his preconceptions prompt him to think of his suspicions as moments of weakness that not occur in « the best regulated mind ». That expression shows how what he thinks of himself runs counter to the fact that he is made blind by his own trusting nature and ingenuity. So, whihtout knowing it, Delano holds for a second the explication of the San Dominick’s mystery but could not see the truth in it.
It is also the case when he’s talking about his doubts on the improbable time-scheme of Benito Cereno’s narrative. He is about to make plain that the Spanish captain’s story cannot be entirely true, and there are events that he did not account for. He concisely puts him in front of his incoherences only to tell him that it does not lead him to distrust his account of the journey, « had any other gentleman told me such a story, I should have been half disposed to a little incredulity ». And if he had not believed him, it would have been partially and only « a little ». His honesty leaning on ingenuity impedes him to seize another opportunity of discovering the truth.
His lightness of tone and cheerfulness seem quite out of place in that context, Cereno being closer than ever to the threatening blade of Babo. He does not assume a grave manner but remains light-hearted and ‘amused’; he looks at the scene as a good way to entertain himself by learning a little about « the mode of shaving among the Spaniards ». This seems to be the attitude he adopts when he is dealing with Black slaves, viewing them as genuine human beings reduced to such characteristics as the « love of bright colors and fine shows ». Indeed, he cannot conceive them as masters when he thinks of them as faithful companions.
Alluding to the Spanish banner being used like « a piece of bunting », he does it « with a smile » without thinking that Cereno might be aware that this symbol of Spain’s past supremacy over the seas was possibly being hypocritically used by Babo.
These features of the American Captain are probably linked to his patronizing approach towards Cereno. According to his standards, the Spanish captain is proven to be a weak man and he cannot see the warning and the threat lying behind the shedding of his blood by Babo. Delano hesitates between different interpretations of Cereno’s behavior. In his mind this episode dismisses the supposition that he is a pirate after his life and boat. In the sentence beginning line 72, we can notice that the revelation of the cut made by Babo is delayed by suppositions on its cause. It could be attributed to a movement of the boat, of Captain Cereno or of Babo’s hand. This blurs what happened since there is a clear ambiguity as to what the cause of the cut is. This can lead to a dual interpretation of the servant’s reaction immediately after. Though Delano does not seek to interpret this event any further, and only retains Cereno’s « terrified aspect » and immediately draws negative conclusions against him. Again, he discards his doubts, even mocking himself for being feeble, with a touch of irony « Well, well, he looks like a murderer, doesn’t he? ». The tragedy of the situation escapes Delano whose ironic remarks take on an ambiguous meaning under the light of the true significance of the events on the San Dominick: « More like as if himself were to be done for. »
The terms used by Delano to describe Cereno are « Poor fellow » and « unstrung sick man ». This allows us to understand his view on him as an unworthy captain and the fact that he is pitying him. He is led to think by his « terrified aspect » that he cannot « endure the sight of one little drop of his own » blood, by retrospectively, we will learn that a large amount of blood was spilled during the slaves’ violent uprising. Delano’s delusion of superiority is fatal to his understanding, and does not allow him to grasp the ambiguity of the situation.
Babo on the other part, is in control during most of the excerpt and holds both Cereno and Delano under his power. His most striking feature is his capacity to perfectly embody the role off Cereno’s fond servant.
The terms used to qualify him are « expertly »; « professionally »; « gently »; « professional’ and « half humorous sorrow ». He behaves with careful but emphatic irony to whom knows his designs and shows many times that he can patiently be a very good actor and manipulator. To the Spanish Captain he is a terrifying figure of oppression, whereas for the the American Captain he symbolizes the innocence and servility of the Black slave. There are many instances of menace throughout the passage, each of them accompanied with signs of amiability and immediately followed by such reactions as nervous or faint shudders on the part of Captain Cereno. When he approaches the razor near Benito’s throat it is only after having pushed his head « gently further back into the crotch of the chair ». And after having voluntarily slightly wounded him, he talks with a « sort of humorous sorrow » thus mocking Delano’s unawareness of the situation and further terrifying his Spanish prisoner. In fact, only the latter is able to understand his allusions, for instance, « And yet master knows I never yet have drawn blood », which is true but can be understood as very threatening owing to the fact that most of the crew had been cut to pieces and thrown into the sea under his command. It is also him that decides when the two captains can talk, though he himself remains comparatively silent. And Cereno is in such a state of submission and « agitation » that he does not speak a word during the whole excerpt. So, this episode resembles more a torture scene that a shaving scene for Benito Cereno.
To conclude, we can say that Amasa Delano remains a passive observer of the tragic but almost unnoticed, situation happening before his eyes and cannot take the pace required to interpret it despite his constant search for meaning, while Benito Cereno under Babo’s dominion is in the shed incapacity of communicating with him. One Captain standing for American self-reliance and expansion while the other one may represent the exhaustion of the Spanish empire over the sea.