Themes In Benito Cereno

For instance, “... Luis smiled. He had large teeth inside a large head. He had a strange shape too-bony and muscular at the same time. His arms, his legs, his whole body were like thick rope.” (Bloor, page 163). Furthermore, “I’m looking at it right now. I guess they meant well, but they did a lousy job. I see the cracks, like the lines of age on face. I can see the globs of glue, like tears that will not fall. I can see chips and missing flakes in the gold edging where the circle has been broken.” (Bloor, page 276). The two quotes show the great extent the author goes to, to construct an image into your

One of the literary elements that Melville uses that convey the narrator's attitude towards Bartleby is diction. The author's diction in this short story is very descriptive and is also slightly comical. One of the ways this is used is when the author gently mocks the narrator by having him expose his flaws through his own words. For example, when the narrator talks of John Jacob Astor, a well respected man who complemented him, we

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.

Captain Delano is shown as a bit of dense character for his inability to see the truth of what happened on the San Dominick. When he meets Babo he is amused at how well he takes care of his master, Captain Cereno, he stays along side him linked by the arm. He even thinks to himself how great it is to have such slave that appears to be more of a friend or companion than a manservant ( Nixon 369). While aboard there are many things that Captain Delano sees which rise his suspicion, however he chooses to disregard or forget them as the story progresses. He sees a young slave boy hitting another young Spanish boy, to which he tells Captain Cereño hoping to get him to do something about the situation, but Captain Cereño dismisses the incident.(9, left column) In return Captain Delano also dismisses the incident and continues on with Captain Cereño. He gives all his trust to Captain Cereno, because to his belief and understanding

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

Crónica de una muerte anunciada by García Márquez centres on the death of Santiago Nasar, murdered by two brothers in an act of revenge for their sister’s modesty. Set in Colombia, the novella takes on a semi-journalistic style of narration as its narrator attempts to discover the truth behind what really took place before Santiago’s death. The choppy, nonlinear structure of the story explores the differing accounts of various members in the community, almost all of whom had foreknowledge of the brothers’ plans before Santiago’s death, bringing into question the ideals and the true nature of a community as they did nothing to prevent it.

Captain Delano is a benevolent racist. He does not hate blacks people or the slaves; he rather likes them. However, he likes them for absolutely degrading reasons. He thinks of Babo, for instance, to be a childish slave of limited intelligence. Melville writes that Delano takes to blacks "not philanthropically, but genially, just as other men to Newfoundland dogs.

Characterisation is important in any short story as it helps to make the story that little bit more appealing, because it’s a short story, it is important to get the characterisation right as we don’t have hundreds of pages to learn about the character, in fact we only really have a page or two, maybe even less depending on the story, we might only have paragraphs to learn about the character. When looking at characterisation in the short story, you have too keep in mind, which character catches your eye? Is it the main character? Is it a supporting character? Why do they appeal to you? How does the author of the short story portray and reveal the character? The idea of characterisation is literally an act of describing certain characteristics,

Herman Melville was born in New York in 1819 so he grew up in a time where slavery was still common and accepted, but in an area in which blacks were treated with much more respect than they were in the south. His father 's relatives could be traced back to a man who was a part of the Boston Tea Party and both his mother and father had relatives who fought with the union in the Revolutionary war (Johnson). Melville had many jobs growing up, including teaching, being a bank clerk, and sailing on a whaling ship, which is what jump started his writing career (Johnson). Many of the stories that Melville writes take place out on the sea and tend to be quite adventurous and unexpected, much like Benito Cereno. This style is more than likely

Certain events are elaborated upon which further developed Equiano's character. Among them are the encounters that the author had aboard Captain Pascal's ship. As mentioned before, Equiano's life differed greatly from the typical slaves. Due to the fact that he spent most of his time traveling across the Atlantic, he and every other man, regardless of race, was under direct and clear orders. All had a function to fulfill aboard ship, and if a free man or a slave failed in his assigned task, they would be penalized. Furthermore, due to the fact that ships usually consisted of all-male groups, the sailors all shared the rough life of having to prove their masculinity and deal with everyday competition of strength and courage. Equiano was quick to learn this and before long he was called upon deck and paired with

     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.

In Benito Cereno, which was written by Melville in 1855, New England captain Amasa Delano comes

For example, after a family has arrived on an unfamiliar environment through a rocket, n the text, it states, “The wind blew, whining. At any moment the Martian air might draw his soul from him, as marrow comes from a white bone.” This means that a party of humans had reached some environment that was unfamiliar because in the text we learn that the humans had emerged from a “rocket” that came from Earth and that they were currently in a “Martian” setting. Further into the text, when the family is told that they cannot return to their home, it states, “For a long time there was only the sound of the wind in the late afternoon. Alone, thought Bittering. Only a thousand of us here. No way back. No way. No way.” This text means that the humans who had approached Mars as their new home would be forever lost there, and this is because in the text we learn that “atom bombs hit New York,” causing all the “space rockets” to explode. This text also means that the silence that was roaming the family was due to the fact that they were speechless because in the text we learn how that their old and favored home was gone. This is important because it shows how the author chose to mention that the wind was whining, how the martian air was threatening, and only the sound of the wind because he wanted to lay out the mood of “foreboding” for the readers. Many of the decisions that the author made involving the mood were to include several minor details that add to the reader’s feelings and signal some upcoming events in the

Unlike Dillard’s use of long sentences to create large amounts of description, Woolf uses short sentences to express her emotion. Beautiful adjectives and verbs, such as fluttering, flood Woolf’s writing, compared to Dillard’s gruesome verbs, such as sputtering, and jerked. Adjectives such as insignificant set up a depressing, emotional, and pensive tone. Using shorter sentences, such as, “The struggle was over,” (Woolf, “The Death of the Moth,”) and, “What he could do he did,” (Woolf, “The Death of the Moth.”) allows the reader to think and reflect about it. In Dillard’s writing, the reader often can imagine what they are reading from her blunt descriptions. In Woolf’s piece, readers reflect more on the meaning and the impact of the piece through the use of short sentences.

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago demonstrates the traits of the code hero. The Hemingway’s code hero covers the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a misfortune life. Throughout the novel, Santiago shows a contrast between opposite attitudes and values which associate his behavior with the guidelines of the code. In this case, the depiction of conflicting values, such as dignity despite humility, perseverance despite despair, and victory despite defeat are aspects that help to describe and understand the role of Santiago in the novel, and reflect the reason why this character is perfectly suited to the heroic conduct established by Hemingway.