Why is Babo executed?

Why is Babo executed?

He also orders Cereno’s best friend Alexandro Aranda to be killed, before using his skeleton as the ship’s figure-head. This highlights Babo’s cruel, strategic thinking, as Babo knows that he must instill terror in the sailors to keep them from rebelling. Babo is ultimately sentenced to capital punishment in Lima.

Is Babo a hero in Benito Cereno?

Babo, the hidden protagonist in Benito Cereno is represented as an evil, a cruel murderer and a reptilian betrayer. Cinqué, the protagonist of Amistad becomes a hero and a righteous freedom fighter who wants nothing more than to return his home.

How much does Captain Delano offer for Babo?

Cereno, who is overcome by a spasm of coughing, falls into the ready hands of Babo. Delano is so impressed by the servant’s solicitude that he offers to buy him for fifty doubloons.

What happens to Babo at the end?

Babo is executed and his head is mounted on a pole, where it “met, unabashed, the gazes of the whites” (104.413). Dang: even in death, Babo remains unashamed of his drastic actions.

Does Benito Cereno commit suicide?

After sailors identify the unrelenting Babo in a Lima court, he is humiliated, gibbeted, and his body burned. His head, fixed on a pole, stares inexorably at white residents and at St. Bartholomew’s church, where Aranda’s remains were interred. Three months later, in sight of Babo’s brazen stare, Benito Cereno dies.

What has cast such a shadow upon you?

Delano proclaims, “’You are saved: what has cast such a shadow upon you? ‘” (257) and Cereno answers, “’The negro’” (257). The ambiguity of this dialogue between Delano and Cereno puts the institution of slavery in question to Cereno and to humanity.

Who is the villain or who are the villains in Melville’s Benito Cereno?

Babo, the Slave Trade Although we might suspect his motives when he has his “Oops!” moment during Benito Cereno’s shave, it’s only when he tries to stab Cereno that he cements his role as the antagonist. But c’mon—he’s trying to escape a life of slavery.

What happened in Benito Cereno?

Cereno continues the story, brokenly: the San Dominick rounded Cape Horn, but the ship was badly damaged, and many of the ship’s crew became sick with scurvy and died, including every officer. The ship was then blown into the deep seas, where the wind suddenly died out, leaving the ship adrift and with little water.

How does Delano view Benito Cereno?

Delano, after all, is thoroughly racist. His concern for Cereno’s apparent mistreatment of Babo, which prompts his condemnation of slavery, stems from his own belief that Babo is an ideal black servant- solicitous, submissive, happy, menial.

How long is Benito Cereno?

The average reader will spend 1 hours and 50 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute). Herman Melville’s intense and dramatic novella Benito Cereno depicts a revolt aboard a Spanish slavery vessel captained by the titular character.

What type of person is Captain Delano?

Captain Amasa Delano The commander of a large sealer and general merchant ship, Delano, a native of Duxbury, Massachusetts, is “incapable of satire or irony” and demonstrates a trusting, altruistic nature. Fluent in Spanish, he voices racist attitudes, but displays a hearty benevolence toward a fellow captain in need.

Why is Benito Cereno in third person?

“Benito Cereno” is narrated from a third person point of view that is limited to the perspective of Captain Amasa Delano, an American sailor from Massachusetts. Delano’s experience aboard the San Dominick is depicted through his inaccurate perceptions of the racial dynamics on board the ship.