Benito Cereno

It's difficult to tell whether Melville is pro or anti-slavery from Benito Cereno. At first it seemed as if he was anti-slavery because the slaves on the ship were allowed to roam free under Cereno's command and they were portrayed as smart and strong. One scene in particular, when Cereno faints and Babo catches him, seems to make a stark contrast between the strong African and the frail, weak white man. When I read the scene I thought that Melville was romanticizing the slaves and making them seem strong in contrast to Cereno to show that they weren't at all inferior. The scene where the black child hits the white child on the head with a knife, however, seems to steer Melville's opinion the other way. After reading the end and realizing that the slaves had taken over the ship, Melville's views still baffle me. On the one hand, he does portray the African slaves as strong and competent, which is a lot more than can be said for other authors of the time period. The Spanish sailors are constantly shown to be the weaker of the two races on board with the exception of Delano. Delano is more of a neutral character so that the issue of slavery can be viewed more objectively. It can also be read as pro-slavery, however, depicting slaves as dangerous people not to be trusted. I think overall it isn't mean to be for or against slavery, but to just show that slaves are people who are intelligent and stronger than the white people of the day gave them credit for and only rebelled because they were treated unfairly.