Herman Melville Benito Cereno (1855)

2. Herman MelvilleBenito Cereno (1855)

10. Point of View • A novella about perspective and ideology • Why must we see thru Delano’s eyes? • Why not see Babo’s point of view? • critical tendency to see BC as ironic • Blacks become masters; whites become slaves failure to read BC as critique of ideology

11. Amasa Delano • literalist, lacks irony • vacillates between mistrust & reassurance 2721 • "singularly undistrustful good nature" 2695 • paternalist attitude towards Blacks • humanist understanding of slavery • belief in Providence • condescension towards Spain & Catholicism • Disability narrative

12. San Dominick • microcosm of mastery/slavery • model of decadent, European aristocracy • compared to Dominican monastery • as "whitewashed monastery" or palace 2696 • the figurehead (Columbus / Aranda) • "follow your leader" on side of ship 2697 • the stern piece 2697 • medieval quality of captain's quarters

13. Contrasts and Similitudes • contrasts • black and white, master / slave • valorization of one pole over other • difference between master and slave • similitudes • contrasts are illusions • each layer of reality like another • similarity of names • Cereno, Delano, Babo • sea / land comparisons • role reversals: • power unmasked as fiction • slaves become masters, masters become slaves

14. Master Slave dialectic • the shaving scene 2725 • Christian imagery used to regularize strangeness • blacks as “natural” servants • delight in color staging of master /slave relations • function of inversion? • enacts Delano's attempt to normalize unreality • confuses open/closed spaces • confuses freedom/slavery

15. Repetition • Repetition undermines appearance of difference • stern piece repeated in fight scene 2738 • violent acts of Blacks echoed by whites • Delano wrenches knife from Babo • later Delano wrenches knife from sailor named "Barlo" 2750 • deposition described as "key to fit lock" • but key to Atufal's chains is meaningless • canvas hiding skeleton of Aranda2745 • replaces Columbus (hope) • hides either "refurbishing" or "decay" • skeleton is white but could belong to Black • Delano speaks of embalming former friend • Cereno knows Aranda is already embalmed

16. Deposition • "the key to fit the lock" 2750 (Atufal's chains & Cereno’s key) official version "to shed light" yet problematizes truth • clears up superficial clues • Atufal's chains, attack on Spanish boy • whispered conversations bet. Cereno/Babo • identity of sparkling object (jewel) • reasons for deckhand wearing lace • exposes Spanish ruthlessness at end • its length • reaction to by critics • gives weight to official sanction • why doesn't Melville paraphrase?

17. Conclusion • Conclusion • A. yes, deposition sets "all to rights" • B. yes, Delano is not changed • C. but we have seen limits of humanist tolerance • 1. Blacks as Newfoundland dogs • 2. Spaniards as despotic, effete rulers • D. we repeat AD’s experience • 1. from obscurity to clarity • 2. to understand limits of progressive myth • a. e.g. that the deposition clarifies all • 3. we must learn to see not only what Delano sees • a. but how he sees • 4. misrecognition based on self-centered world view