Talk:Benito Cereno

Novels: Short story / 19th century High‑importance

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Inspiration??[edit]

I wonder if the Amistad incident was the source of Melville's plot to some degree. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.82.127.174 (talk) 21:20, 9 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

To my knowledge, no. After four and a half years you are probably not reading this answer, but it's good to clear it up anyway. Melville was in the South Sea when the US Supreme Court ruling over the Amistad case took place in 1841.MackyBeth (talk) 15:34, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Delano is not the narrator[edit]

Editing needed: The summary of the novel is not always accurate (e.g., it refers to Delano as narrator, a mistake contradicted elsewhere in the article) and is rather poorly written. The claim that the court proceedings draw on the case of the Amistad needs to be backed by references and accompanied by appropriate cross-references, if correct; or deleted, if incorrect.86.162.134.119 (talk) 19:58, 16 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I just removed the suggestions that Delano is the narrator, but the plot summary needs other ways of improvement as well, I agree.MackyBeth (talk) 15:34, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I made a new plot summary last week, so that should be settled now.MackyBeth (talk) 14:03, 23 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Source: the real Amasa Delano[edit]

Addendum: One, book not mentioned in this article is "Delano's Voyages of Commerce and Discovery" , Berkshire House Publishers. This work was originally published as "A Narrative of Voyages and Travels in The Northern Hemisphere" in 1817 by Amasa Delano. This book is a narrative of Amasa's life at sea and may be a reason why in the above he is referenced as a narrator. I obtained this book some years ago from The Franklin Delano Library.

Specifically, I refer you to Chapter 18, page 245 where he writes of his experience in the incident with the Spanish Ship "Tryal". Perhaps reading his own account would shed more light. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gsdelano3 (talk • contribs) 19:11, 25 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Good to hear someone has the entire book. Melville drew on chapter 18, which is reprinted as an appendix in the 1987 Northwestern-Newberry edition of The Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, and also in the Scudder essay listed in Works Cited. But I don't know if a scholar has ever compared the complete book to BC to see if Melville took bits and pieces from other chapters as well.MackyBeth (talk) 15:34, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The picture at the top of the page: Delano for Melville?[edit]

Today I added a picture of Amasa Delano to the Composition section, and I also switched Melville's 1885 picture for one that is not 30 years removed from when he wrote BC. Since this entry is about the story, not the writer, I wonder whether it would be a better idea to put Delano's image on top of the page. After all, he is a character in the story and Melville is not. So I'll contemplate this for a while.MackyBeth (talk) 20:29, 9 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Slavery and racism[edit]

I am very fond of this story, but am certainly no Melville expert. Is there evidence he was an abolitionist, or had leanings that way? It would make analyzing and evaluating this work a lot easier, to know, one way or another.

From his novel Redburn you can infer that he indeed was an abolitionist. The scene where he describes how the black members of the crew are treated better in Liverpool than in the US leads Redburn to think that the US does not take its own Constitution seriously enough. I also recall having read that he and Hathorne didn't agree on the issue of slavery.MackyBeth (talk) 19:57, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Foundations of Literary Study[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 January 2023 and 11 May 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Chicken-n-beans, ER705 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Marisamasanchan (talk) 17:52, 11 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Bolivia[edit]

Under Babo's control, Cereno claims he headed toward the Bolivian coast in order to acquire more hands on deck.

Is that stated so in the novel? Bolivia was not named so until 1825. -- Error (talk) 12:57, 17 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]