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Erika Lloyd

Dr. Laura Thomason

Intro to Literary Criticism

March 2, 2010

Didactic Intimacy: How Herman Melville¶s ³Benito Cereno´ uses Relationships to Explore

Cultural Domination

Herman Melville¶s ³Benito Cereno´, at first confuses and distracts the reader. The story

is written in Melville¶s classic style, with extensive didactic paragraphs full of imagery and

symbolism. On further readings of ³Benito Cereno,´ the reader understands the story¶s hidden

plot elements and his reasoning for the imagery. The story displays many different character and

situational archetypes. There are two common responses from critics and readers on the hidden

elements of the characters. One response is that ³Benito Cereno´ speaks of racism and supports

slavery, the other response is that the story speaks of abolitionism and is in fact, against racism.

This essay will discuss how the story of ³Benito Cereno´ is not about slavery, but uses slavery as

a moral guideline. From this point on, when the essay refers to ³moral guidelines,´ the essay is

referring to a set of normative standards of behavior, specifically the modern standards and

negative connotations slavery has on any culture.Slavery is not a complete or sufficient

interpretation of the text. Instead, one should focus on the idea of slavery as a moral guideline for

interpreting the text of Benito Cereno.

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Since the idea of slavery is not a sufficient issue for interpretation of the text, the reader

needs to look at ³Benito Cereno´ as a moral issue, and use slavery as a basis to establish a moral

guideline. Josephine Donovan, in her essay entitled ³Beyond the Net: Feminist Criticism as a

Moral Criticism´ explains her viewpoints on literature as a moral center for the reader. Donovan

believes that the actions of the characters are didactic in nature and that the characters serve to

develop a moral understanding which is universal in nature. Donovan claims that ³most literature

we call great expresses«universal, fundamental human experiences´ (Donovan 228). Although

Donovan speaks from both a moral and a feminist viewpoint, the reader should note her

viewpoint on ³great´ literature because it sets up a basis for the reader to understand Melville¶s

work. ³Benito Cereno´ expresses the ³human experiences´ of the time period in a detailed and

descriptive way, which masks the characters and saves Melville from creating a moral exposition

on slavery, so that Melville can instead write on a more universal human morality. Melville

creates an intentionally ambiguous situation, in which the reader is forced to read the situation as

morally ambiguous in order to understand the issues he describes. Therefore, if the reader keeps

an objective viewpoint, leaving slavery out of the equation, the reader comes to a deeper

understanding of ³Benito Cereno´ and humanity. Melville accomplishes this viewpoint by

developing clear relationships between the reader, the protagonist, and himself. The relationships

between the author, the reader, and the protagonist, and the way in which Melville masks his

characters, bring the reader to an intimate level in which to judge humanity.

Allen Emery, in his essay ³The Topicality of Depravity in µBenito Cereno¶´ explains this

phenomenon of masking characters when he writes: ³Melville¶s masks serve, then, to make the

4

 symbolic of a worldwide oppression (indicative of a global depravity)- with

American slavery as a non-µpeculiar¶ illustration´ (Emery 250). While Melville certainly speaks
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symbolically of a ³worldwide oppression,´ and uses the characters in a moral sense, the reader

could argue that Melville did not directly address the issue of slavery, but that Melville used

slavery as a moral center to explore a different viewpoint. Rosalie Feltenstein, in her essay

³Melville¶s µBenito Cereno¶ agrees when she writes that ³slavery is not the issue here; the focus

is upon evil in action in a certain situation´ (254). As Feltenstein suggests, slavery is not the

issue in ³Benito Cereno,´ the issue is how the reader uses slavery as a moral guideline to judge

cultures, and in effect, the ³evil in action´ in everyday issues. Melville¶s usage of slavery serves

to develop a comprehension for the exchange of culture in the global power structure, with an

emphasis on change in the negative American attitude and humanity¶s cultural acceptance. In a

sense, Melville suggests that the reader focus more on the intimate level, such as the weighing of

evil in situations in the reader¶s mind, than on the global level of slavery, in order to solve global

issues.

So how does Melville bring the reader to the intimate level and force the reader to weigh

cultural issues? One could suggest that Melville brings the reader to the intimate level by making

his characters universally relatable, or characters that any reader can relate to; when the reader

finds a character that is similar to their own personality or culture, the reader relates to that

character and begins to make decisions in the story based on a cultural, or character¶s standpoint.

The first culture that is introduced into ³Benito Cereno´ is the American, or the New World,

archetype. Delano represents the American attitude and mentality, becoming a basic archetype

for an American sailor. Since Melville¶s audience is the American public, naturally, as the

narrator and protagonist of the story, Delano¶s character is the first character that the reader

relates to.
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Through the relationship between the reader and protagonist, the story is able to advance

and remain ambiguous until the very end when the issues with Babo become known. Melville

showcases Delano¶s naïve and forgiving character when Delano first sees the 4

,

which the reader adopts and develops into his or her own viewpoint. Melville writes that the 4



 gave off a ³purely fanciful resemblance which now, for a moment, almost led Captain

Delano to think that nothing less than a ship-load of monks was before him´ (Melville 490). This

quotation is important because it is ironic; the ship and crew Delano sees is neither saintly nor

holy, but a mutinous crew on board a covered ship. The reader naturally ³sees´ what Delano sees

because the relationship is intimate. Delano, the American, sees nothing because he is naïve and

lets his better nature fool him out of jumping to the logical conclusion that the ship is neither safe

nor harmonious. The reader is expected to fall into the same naiveté, because the reader has a

good relationship with the protagonist of the story. On several other occasions, Delano¶s naïveté

both condemns and saves him from the situation aboard the 4

. This factor seems to

suggest that the reader is just as responsible as Delano for the situation aboard the 4

,

even more so because as a reader, the relationship between the plot and elements of the story are

closer and more easily accessible than for Delano. Furthermore, Melville suggests that the reader

is responsible for the cultural issues aboard the 4

, which the reader relates back to

life and humanity. In this case, Melville establishes an indirect relationship through Delano with

the reader and is able to attack moral issues in general, instead of just one particular issue.

Melville¶s descriptions of the interactions between Delano and Babo, the slave, show the

New World¶s mindset toward other cultures. The most interesting instance of this interaction

between the characters is when Babo finishes shaving Cereno¶s face. Delano comments that

³Don Benito bore all, much less uneasily, at least, than he had done the razoring; indeed, he sat
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so pale and rigid now, that the negro seemed a Nubian sculptor finishing off a white statue-head´

and that ³the servant for a moment surveyed his master, as, in toilet at least, the creature of his

own tasteful hands´ (Melville 512). Delano views, what the reader later discovers are threats by

Babo against Cereno, as a normal interaction between the two men. When he does seem to notice

Cereno¶s unease, sitting ³pale and rigid,´ he figures it is his own presence in the room. Just like

Delano, the reader dismisses the instance and assumes it is normal behavior. In a sense, the

reader makes excuses for the moral implications of the story, and makes excuses for his or her

own ignorance.

While the protagonist, an archetypical American, views other cultures as inferior,

Melville seems to point out that the other developing cultures, such as Babo¶s culture, are in fact

superior due to the American naïveté and the unconscious way other cultures are overlooked and

excused by America. Melville implies that the New World, through Delano, has gained power

over the Old World, or Cereno, and at the same time is naïve and often blind to the developing

world, which Melville shows through his portrayal of Babo. The reader is drawn into this power

struggle, because the reader develops a clear relationship with the protagonist, Delano. On an

intimate level, the reader dismisses the instances, and refuses to take a side on the issue. On the

global level, the reader is like Delano and is symbolic of the American attitude at dismissing

other cultures and refusing to pick a moral side.

Throughout the story, Melville¶s characters display jealousy and envy over one another,

indicative of their respective cultures. Jason Richards, in his essay ³Melville¶s International

Burlesque: Whiteface, Blackface, and µBenito Cereno¶,´ suggests that the inverted structure of

³Benito Cereno´ resembles minstrelsy theater, through Melville¶s use of blackface and whiteface

on the characters of Cereno, Delano, and Babo. For the scope of this essay, Richards¶ argument
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towards the similarities between ³Benito Cereno´ and minstrelsy theater will be ignored.

However, his claims towards the performance of ³whiteface´ and cultural envy are insightful.

Richards claims that ³Babo¶s use of Cereno¶s body reveals cross-racial desire, the same desire

that formed at least one piston in the motor of blackface minstrelsy´ (Richards 77). This point is

crucial to understanding how the portrayal of slavery in ³Benito Cereno´ demonstrates a cultural

power struggle. When Babo performs ³whiteface,´ according to Richards, he dominates Cereno

and in turn, shows the domination of one culture over the other. As archetypes for their

respective cultures, any power struggles among the characters can be seen as indicative of a

global power shift. Therefore, when Babo dominates Cereno, and reveals, according to Richards,

a ³cross-racial desire´ the reader sees not only the issue of slavery, but also the desire for power

and the inversion of the previously established order. The reader can see this domination of Babo

over Cereno when Cereno and Delano are talking at the end of the story. Delano asks what has

³cast such a shadow upon you´ and Cereno replies ³the negro´ (Melville 528). Delano continues

to describe Cereno, and says that:

The dress, so precise and costly, worn by him on the day whose events have been
narrated, had not willingly been put on. And that silver-mounted sword, apparent symbol
of despotic command, was not, indeed a sword, but the ghost of one. The scabbard,
artificially stiffened, was empty. Melville 528

When Delano describes the garb of Captain Cereno, he shows what the domination of Babo has

done to Cereno. Cereno¶s eerie response ³the negro,´ shows that Cereno is haunted by the

memories of Babo and the domination aboard the 4

. The sword is told to the reader

by Delano as a ³symbol of despotic command.´ Despotic denotes having the characteristics of a

despot, or one who wields command in the way of a tyrant. Therefore, the sword is symbolic of

the loss of Cereno¶s tyrannical command, either his command or Babo¶s command. The sword

also is ³artificially stiffened´ which denotes a man made stiffening, in that Babo has forced
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himself upon Cereno and asserted command. Now, however, the reader notices that the scabbard

is ³empty´ instead of being full of tyranny. Furthermore, the situation connotes a situation in

which Cereno is jealous and envious of the command Babo had, and it becomes so obvious that

it bothers Cereno, that Delano even comments on this change in power. Since the reader relates

to Delano, the reader sees the power shift and reacts according to the way Delano would react.

The reader, it appears, is supposed to neglect the issue of slavery and focus on the issue of

cultural domination, since the last instance of direction from Delano points the reader towards

cultural issues. However, the reader is still in the intimate sphere of interpretation, being guided

and directed by the protagonist, Delano. In this way, Melville effectively draws the reader¶s

attention away from slavery and creates an ambiguous situation in which he can focus on issues

of power and cultural domination. The intimate sphere has not been forgotten by the reader and

the relationships among the characters and between the reader, protagonist and author continues

to develop.

The relationships among the crew are also important in the study of cultural domination

within ³Benito Cereno.´ In the case of Babo and Cereno, Melville seems to suggest that Cereno,

as a possible archetype of Spanish culture, was not naïve, but merely overwhelmed by the

negligence in which he dealt with Babo and the crew, or the African culture. When Cereno tells

his story at the end of the story, he states that ³all the negroes slept upon deck, as is customary in

this navigation, and none wore fetters because the owner, his friend Aranda, told him that they

were all tractable´ (Melville 522). The interesting part of his story is that Aranda, an archetype of

Spanish culture, called the African culture ³tractable.´ Tractable denotes a person or thing that is

easy to control or influence. When Cereno and Aranda describe the African culture as ³tractable´

it shows their negligence, and fall from global power, as archetypes of the Old World. Melville
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points out through this description that, unlike the New World, Cereno and Aranda, as

archetypes for the Old World culture, were more negligent than naïve toward the developing

culture, which led to the Old World¶s demise. Melville suggests that the reader establish a moral

center through the comprehension of other cultures and the acceptance of new ideas. When

Melville utilizes archetypes, he shows the reader the moral implications and impending demise

of a culture which does not apprehend the value of another culture, and places the reader at an

intimate level with the characters of the story. It is this intimacy that allows the reader to judge

the actions of the characters in the play and allows the reader to relate real-life situations to the

characters in the story.

In fact, Melville suggests that apprehension of the New World, the Old World, and the

developing world is the correct way to create a moral center when at the end he proclaims ³the

Deposition have [sic] served as the key to fit into the lock of the complications which proceeded

it, then, as a vault whose door has been flung back, the San Dominick¶s hull lies open today´

(Melville 527). A deposition denotes not only a testimony, but a removal of a person from

power. If the reader visualizes this statement as a proclamation of Cereno¶s fall from power, the

reader sees that the fall from power was due to the lack of comprehension Cereno has for another

culture. The hull would serve as a metaphor for the impacts of cultural differences and cultural

relationships on humanity, and the issues, according to Melville, are still ³open today.´ Melville

centers the reader on a moral apprehension of culture, and justifies his moral center, or the

intimacy between the reader and the situation, when he utilizes archetypes of major world

powers. In the words of Emery, Melville creates ³a worldwide oppression (indicative of a global

depravity),´ the depravity of the lack of apprehension for other cultures (Emery 250). The

oppression, or slavery, creates in the reader a level of indecisiveness that the reader has to solve
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by coming to an intimate relationship with the protagonist and the author. The issues when

processed in an intimate setting by the reader, allow the reader to see and allow changes in

humanity¶s negative behavior, such as cultural domination and slavery. Furthermore, the ³hull´

of the issue cracks wide open, allowing the reader to delve deeper into the present issue and

come to a logical, moral conclusion because of the intimacy Melville seems to create throughout

the story.

However, some would argue that Melville seems to argue other viewpoints, and that this

interpretation of the reader¶s intimacy and cultural domination may not be precise. However,

Brook Thomas offers an interesting viewpoint on Herman Melville in his essay ³The Legal

Fictions of Herman Melville and Lemuel Shaw´ that counteracts this opinion. Thomas claims

that Melville¶s and Shaw¶s works are a ³demonstration of their relationship to the dominant

ideology of their times, especially their capacity to allow us to see the contradictions in that

ideology, contradictions that they themselves cannot avoid´ (Thomas 463). The ³ideology´ of

the time of both Shaw and Melville was not only the issue of slavery, but also the worldwide acts

of imperialism, and the change in the global balance of power during the transition from the Old

World to the New World, something that Shaw and Melville could not avoid or ignore.

Therefore, even if Melville attempts to draw the reader towards the issue of slavery, he could not

have escaped the implications of the global change, or the ideology, that was happening at the

time. Thomas reminds the reader in his essay that ³political and social issues´ such as slavery in

Benito Cereno, ³are deflected by translating them into psychological ones´ and that the issues

³too often neglect questions raised by a writer¶s individual situation´ (Thomas 463). While

Thomas focused on the legal aspect of the ³writer¶s individual situation´ and the implications of

Melville¶s actions regarding slavery, he also views the political and social implications of
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³Benito Cereno.´ One could take Thomas¶s logic a step further, and say that the main issue in

Melville¶s time was not only the ³global oppression´ of slavery, but also the struggle among the

Old and New World powers. After a ³global oppression´ is established, the reader then,

according to Donovan, establishes a moral center in the story based on the oppression, which to

Emery is ³indicative of a global depravity.´ Depravity denotes a moral corruption, or a wicked or

morally corrupt act, such as slavery, which Emery says is necessary for Melville¶s masks to point

out in order to for Melville to symbolically exploit the ³worldwide oppression.´ Donovan states

that ³the work of great artists helps us to u [sic] reality in all its conflicting diversity and

therefore to make choices that are truly responsible to the real contexts in which they are made´

(Donovan 233). In this quotation, Donovan argues that a ³great artist´ writes in a way that

makes people confront reality, or the ³individual situation,´ and make a responsible moral

choice. Donovan therefore agrees that Melville¶s usage of archetypes allows the reader to see the

³conflicting diversity,´ or the conflicts between the American, Captain Delano, and the other

cultures in ³Benito Cereno,´ and guides the reader into intimate situations in order to make

responsible moral choices on this exchange of culture, based on the conflict, slavery.

Melville does not pass judgment on the racial situations in the story; however, he does

paint a vivid reality from which the reader can draw ³responsible choices´ about cultural

differences and issues. Melville accomplishes the establishment of a moral direction through the

reader¶s intimacy and relationships with the author and protagonist. Melville¶s work¶s use of

character archetypes, symbolizes the shifting power relations of the cultures of the Old World,

the New World, and the developing world while guiding the reader into an intimate sphere of

interpretation. This intimate sphere allows the reader to establish a clear, level moral guideline

when dealing with other issues outside the text. In this way, Melville¶s work becomes didactic
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and teaches the reader to solve issues, not by ignoring them as Cereno and Delano do in ³Benito

Cereno,´ but by establishing an intimate relationship with the issues and coming to clear, logical

conclusions. The only issue with Melville¶s work is his lack of direction. Even though he appears

to instruct the reader in the right direction, the direction and intent remain unclear to the reader,

and are left to the reader¶s ³moral compass.´ If the reader views ³Benito Cereno´ as didactic in

nature the reader¶s intimacy with the issues in ³Benito Cereno´ incites change and cultural moral

purging in the reader. If other works could produce the amount of heated debate and level of

intimacy with the situation that Melville produces with ³Benito Cereno,´ the interpretation of

texts would be more useful to the modern culture, and allow readers to develop a better

understanding of humanity.
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Works Cited

Donovan, Josephine. "Beyond the Net: Feminist Criticism as a Moral Criticism." á

u


á u  . Comp. Donald Keesey. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003÷

228-233.

Emery, Allen. "The Topicality of Depravity in "Benito Cereno"." á

u

á u. Comp.

Donald Keesey. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 250.

Feltenstein, Rosalie. ³Melville¶s µBenito Cereno¶.´  
   . 19.3 (1947): 245-55.

Melville, Herman. "Benito Cereno." á

u

á u. Comp. Donald Keesey. New York,

New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 489-529.

Richards, Jason. ³Melville¶s International Burlesque: Whiteface, Blackface, and µBenito

Cereno¶.´ American Transcendental Quarterly. 21.2 (2007): 73-91.

Thomas, Brook. "The Legal Fictions of Herman Melville and Lemuel Shaw." á

u


á u. Comp. Donald Keesey. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 463.