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  • Essay / The image of Captain Delano in the book 'Benito Cereno'

    Benito Cereno is a story written by Herman Melville that follows the events of Captain Delano. While his trading ship is at anchor, he sees a mysterious ship without a flag that seems in danger and decides to offer his help. He discovers that this mysterious ship is a Spanish slave ship under the command of Captain Cereno. They are in a disastrous state because they experienced a scurvy epidemic, then a storm, which caused them to lose rations of food, water and crew members. The plot twist at the end of the story is that the ship's slaves revolted and killed most of the crew, thus taking command of the ship. Captain Delano's perception of the unnatural situation was influenced by the false illusions created by the slave Babo to hide the truth, demonstrating how eager the mind is to satisfy social constructs to avoid cognitive conflict. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Throughout the story, Captain Delano judges everything and everyone by his perception of a normal standard. He believes that black people lack intelligence, which is why he constantly overlooks the slave ship's anomalies. He has his own idea of ​​what a captain should be and even blames the captain for the sad state of the ship. “In nature itself, nothing relaxes good order more than poverty. However, Captain Delano was not without thinking that if Benito Cereno had been a man of greater energy, mismanagement would hardly have resulted in the present situation. If it was his own ship, he would have thought of better ideas to support the crew and not have to rely on slaves to pilot the ship. He recognizes Captain Cereno as a disappointment for allowing hardship to dismantle the hierarchy of authority. Captain Delano's emphasis on hierarchy and convention prevents him from understanding the true situation aboard the ship. He pays more attention to Captain Cereno's mood swings and disposition than to the warning signs of impending danger. He notices that the white people on the slave ship are a little suspicious when giving him clues and are mistreated by the slaves, but he dismisses any stupid explanations. “It was Don Benito’s reserve that displeased him; but the same reserve was manifested towards everyone, except his personal attendant.” A captain should be concerned about everything that happens on his boat, but Babo was the only one who received the captain's attention. This too, Captain Delano interprets in his own way to adapt it to his own moral perception of the situation. Benevolent and optimistic by nature, Captain Delano lacks foresight and misjudges what he sees. "As master and man stood before him, black supporting white, Captain Delano could only think of the beauty of this relationship which could present such a spectacle of loyalty on one side and trust on the other. 'other". He trusts himself as a morally correct man and captain, thus analyzes the relationship between Captain Cereno and Babo from a friendly point of view. Despite the obvious indication that Captain Cereno was frightened and following Babo's signals, this is considered kindness on the part of a slave and compassion towards his master. This slightly allays Captain Delano's suspicions about the conditions aboard the ship and prevents him from realizing that Babo is the real one responsible. It took a dramatic episode for Captain Delano to finally open his eyes and see reality as it was..