Benito Cereno
Benito Cereno: Frederick Busch; [Captain Delano]
In this criticism of Benito Cereno, Frederick Busch begins by making a direct reference to the excessive use of the color 'gray' about the environment. "The sea is 'gray,' the swells 'lead,' the sky 'gray'; the 'gray' fowl fly through 'troubled gray vapors,' and the scene is summarized by 'shadows present, foreshadowing shadows to come.' So the reader is alerted that he will have to read this world and interpret the grays." With this statement, he ponders the shadowy presence surrounding most of the story that is so dark as to overtake the beginning of this story from the first view of San Dominick on the horizon. This becomes apparent to move attentive readers as well, and thus foreshadows a hint of darkness wafting about the ship.
Busch also states that "from the start, Melville wants us to know that Delano misreads the world." This is proven when Delano is referred to as possessing a "singularly undistrustful good-nature," and he thinks of the San Dominick as a ship filled with "black friars pacing the cloisters." These statements explain that Captain Delano tends to be a bit naive when encountered with others from the world around him; Delano is also a bit naive to the occurrences in the region of the world from which Benito Cereno and his ship full of 'slaves' have come (i.e. slavery and how that system works).
It is stated by Busch, later in this review, "Delano, maddeningly, scarily, cannot overcome his racism and innocence and see past the virtual tableaux vivants arranged for his benefit by the rebel slaves under Babo. The clues that strike us at once are misinterpreted in multiples of Delano." I completely agree with this statement, as I found myself muttering disgruntled terms to the character played by Captain Delano in this story, trying to tell him something was wrong here.
This criticism makes the point, "slavery becomes the emblem of an...
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