Benito Cerreno Sparknotes

Delano's first description of Babo compares him to a "shepherd's dog." (p. 41) Not only did Delano compare him to something that was not human, but the assertion that Babo was a "shepherd's dog" is important to understanding Delano's obsession with hierarchy and possession. Delano must understand everything in terms of its relationships and its place in his hierarchy. Delano describes the San Dominick as "a Spanish merchantman of the first class, carrying Negro slaves, amongst other valuable freight." His first reaction to the fact that there were blacks on the San Dominick was to classify the blacks as "valuable freight." He describes the black mothers as "Unsophisticated as leopardesses; loving as doves.." (p. 63) After Captain Delano discovers that the blacks have mutinied, they are no longer dogs but wolves: "Exhausted, the blacks now fought in despair.

Although there were many hints that Melville was spinning a web of deceit in the novella, the quote that best captures the most crucial clue in the text is Captain Delano witnessing Babo attempting to stab Benito Cereno: “Glancing down at his feet, Captain Delano saw the freed hand of the servant aiming with a second dagger—a small one, before concealed in his wool—with this he

Caucasians in the southern states became the superior race and the Negroes became the inferior race, thus the labels of Master and slave evolved. Virtually all Anthropologists, Scientists, Sociologist, Psychologists, and scientists agree that there is no credible evidence that supports that one race is culturally or psychologically different from any other, or that one race is superior to another. Yet Twain, In Pudd'nhead Wilson creates the character Roxy as both races, one physically and one mentally. Though her features make her appear to white, "Her complexion was very fair, with rosy glow of vigorous health in her cheeks, her face was full of character and expression, her eyes were brown and liquid, and she had a heavy suit of fine soft hair which was also brown"(Twain 9). "To all intents and purposes Roxy was as white as anybody, but the one sixteenth of her which was black outvoted the other fifteen parts and made her a Negro" (Brand 308).

The biography theory is a theory that uses the author's life to analyze text. Luisa Valenzuela was born in Argentina to affluent parents who had connected her with many writers and a great education. Part of Valenzuela’s life in Argentina was being subjected to the censorship of the time that stopped all from speaking their mind to a certain extent to prevent the government from being overthrown. In Valenzuela’s short story the censors it is somewhat apparent that Valenzuela made Juan be who she would’ve been if she stayed in Argentina and was subjected to censorship. Censorship was an abrasive process in Argentina that both Valenzuela and her character Juan feared would attempt to silence them or make them hold back feelings.

     Francisco Pizarro was a conquistador born in Trujillo, Spain in about 1471. His father, Gonzalo Pizarro, was an infantry captain and he taught Francisco how to fight at an early age. Francisco Pizarro never learned to read and write but he was full of adventure.

A crucial part of the testimony is withheld from the excerpt, and possibly the full deposition: the slaves’ account of the revolt. The readers first learn about the peculiar situation on the San Dominick through Delano suspicions after he goes on board to help them with replenishing their food and water. He notices that Cereno is uncharacteristically passive for a captain, that there are no officers on board, and that the slaves move freely on the ship and behave inappropriately towards the crew. He attributes his suspicions to Benito Cereno as a white man of the “shrewder race” (65). Once Babo’s elaborate deception is exposed, and the San Dominick is captured, Cereno’s deposition reveals the details about the Negroes’ rebellion.

Carlos Fuentes author of The Death of Artemio Cruz has used his novel to show how Mexico has been transformed and molded into its present state through the use of his character Artemio Cruz. Fuentes uses Cruz to bring together a historical truth about the greedy capital seekers, robber barons, if you will, who after the revolution brought Mexico directly back to into the situation it was in before and during the Revolution. Fuentes wrote the novel in nineteen sixty-two, shortly after the Cuban Revolution. Fuentes is able to express his disappointment from the Mexican Revolution, the revolution by the people in his native land. The revolution seemed to change nothing for the average person in Mexico; the

Lopez criticizes both authors on how they fell prey to the assumption that “blacks” and negroes” were racial terms naturally existed back then. Which is not the case for back in the 1600’s, African and Europeans did not see themselves as “whites” or “blacks”, it wasn’t until

The Line “By his side stood a black of small stature, in whose rude face, as occasionally, like a shepherd’s dog, he mutely turned it up into” exemplifies the web of deceit the greatest in the novella. This line leads the reader into thinking that Babo is the subordinate because of his “small stature” and “rude

sympathy for the man and explicitly shows his stance on capital punishment. At the end of the essay he

devices throughout his narrative to show the reader why slavery was such a horrific time. He was very

In Self Reliance, Emerson elucidates that if people in society live an honest, and open minded life they will no longer enable preconceptions of different races to hoard their mind. Society by living truly will soon see truly, and people will no longer see one another for race or ethnicity, but for who they truly are. Emerson’s use of short sentences emphasizes the simplicity of the idea of living truly and being able to see truly. It allows him to be direct and to the point to indicate that this is not a hard thing to live by, and can be achieved with ease as long as one credits themselves to be able to do so. Emerson’s use of the repetition of “truly” manifests the significance of the word, and displays it is the focal point of the greater meaning he is trying to convey, which is being able to live truly and see truly. Benito Cereno, a short story written by Herman Melville, was originally published in 1885, a time blacks were mistreated. During this time period blacks were kept as slaves and were beaten, branded, whipped, and abused by their owners. Blacks acquired no freedom or rights, and were not allowed an education, for fear they would gain knowledge that would enable them to rebel. They were viewed as inferior to whites and worthless, and these preconceived notions about blacks in what drives Babo in Benito Cereno to attempt to make a change. Babo is tired of being “unheard and unseen” (Yellin 688) and wants to allay and eradicate the stereotypes of blacks. He wishes to alter the position of the people who are of the same race as him, and no longer wants blacks or slaves to be treated poorly and with no respect, but as if they are leaders that contain great power and dignity. Due to the preconceptions that are apparent in society, Babo must to strike a balance between portraying himself as a devoted slave to Captain Delano and masking his true self as the leader of the insurgence, suggesting he is unsuccessful in his attempts to defy slavery.

Within the novella, Benito Cereno, we see a web of deceit grow and turn very deadly as we observe captain Delano spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the true character of the supposed captain of the San Dominick, Don Benito. Captain Delano spots the San Dominick and upon closer view sees the ships pour state and goes to investigate if there are people aboard the ship in need. On the ship there is only a handful of Spaniards and a large amount of African slaves, who roam freely, unchained, among the ship. Captain Delano immediately assumes some accident must have happened for there to be this much disorder on the ship. Upon meeting Don Benito, and his “trusty servant” it is confirmed that indeed the ship lost most of its crew due to scurvy and disease. As captain Delano spends more time on the ship he can not help but feel there's something amiss about the whole situation and that can be seen during the scene where he watches as Don Benito is getting shaved by Babo. “ Here an involuntary expression came over the Spaniard, similar to that just before on the deck, ... just then the razor drew blood, spots of which stained the creamy lather under the throat; immediately the black barber drew back his steel, and remaining in his professional attitude...held up the trickling razor, saying, with a sort of half humorous sorrow, “See, master,you shook so- here’s Babo’s first blood.” (43) This sentence alone definitely gives of the impression that there is more than meets

On the larger level, the real accounts of Alexander Selkirk were penned down by Defoe in Robinson Crusoe in the eighteenth century. He provided a fictional name Robinson Crusoe to Selkirk. On the other hand Coetzee, in twentieth century consigns the counter narrative to the original text. Within the text, Coetzee is the real author who frames Susan as the narrator narrating her accounts to Foe. Susan Barton, the female protagonist of the novel is a participant narrator who is intradiegetic, homodiegetic and autodiegetic narrator. In part one, she narrates her story of the island in the form of a memoir and the intended narratee is Mr. Foe and within part one, the role of narrator and narratee is interchangeable between Susan and Cruso. The part two materializes in an epistolary form, wherein she narrates her story through letters to Mr. Foe that suggest an extended monologue. She urges him to write down her story as she doubts her own skill of writing it. In part three, she gives a detailed version of her own story to Foe in person; similarly we the readers are synonymous with Friday. She tells her story till the third part and Coetzee, the real author emerges in the fourth part whereas the other characters appear

Among the writers of the nineteenth century American fiction, Herman Melville stands out prominently and holds a prestigious position. He is known as the most eminent figure in the world of American literature. His popularity is due to his extra-ordinary writings which are the outcome of the actual incidents which he faced in his life. Herman Melville is a great novelist that the American literature has ever produced. This paper reveals how Billy, the idol of goodness is sandwiched between two evil forces. One opposing is society and the other is a person like master – at – arms, Claggart. Billy, a happy – go – lucky man suffers miserably and ends in destruction. Billy is a good man and stays good till end when he utters “God bless Captain Vere”1 with dying breath. Claggart is evil and remains the same despite the occasional look on his face “the