"Benito Cereno"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, while Herman Melville's "Benito Cereno", published just a few years prior to the Civil War and in the midst of a fierce national debate over slavery, is based on an actual event. Captain Delano's thoughts are embellished by Melville to make the theme of the story the institution of slavery. The author points out that the racism in the novel stands out because the black slaves are portrayed in an excessively evil manner. The paper concludes that Melville's failed attempt at writing an anti-racist novel is simply a result of the inability to see blacks in any other way than inferior because Melville was simply a product of his time.

From the Paper:

"Race is one of the most significant issues of the twentieth century and when dealing with older texts it is always a tricky issue, and many have argued that the novel is one shown from an abolitionist point of view because it is relaying a message to the whites how blacks can rebel when forced into servitude. Though some passages in the story are to be taken as a mocking towards the way southern whites thought of blacks, there are passages that simply cannot be taken as anything else then an insult because it was the reality of the times."

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