I would like to shake the hand of the classmate who in class said, “well, the name of the book is ‘Two Slave Rebellions at Sea’, so I knew something was up the whole time.” This is an astute point, and on a second reading, a viable point. Herman Melville gives us everything we need to undo “The Knot” (pg 77). In fact, every crucial plot point is indicated through a specific action, and every event is heavily foreshadowed. With the benefit of hindsight, we now can unravel Melville’s code to elucidate the true state of the San Dominick, previously “wimpled by the low, creeping clouds” of our and Captain Delano’s presuppositions. A poignant consistency is Benito Cereno’s inclination to faint or be overwhelmed by a coughing spell or sudden, inexplicable loss of speech at every suggestion of details pertinent to the mutiny. Cereno “seemed at no pains to disguise” (57) his gloomy disdain, and it seems that he uses these fits strategically to hint to Delano of his situation. Babo scolds him like clockwork for letting appearances slip – see page 60 as he chides “master will soon be himself.”
The plot is saturated with double edged words, but also with very specific symbols. Had I known for the entire plot that jumping into Delano’s ship would have meant the San Dominick’s redemption, I might have thought a little more of the narrative of Delano’s connection with his own ship. It is easy to disregard text in this book as trivial, but (unlike Arthur Gordon Pym,) Herman Melville uses nothing in his novella without a purpose. On pages 77-79, Delano worries excessively about keeping his boat in sight. When it is present, he experiences a rationalizing sort of calm that gives him strength to at least watch the charade unfold. When his boat disappears from view behind the cliff, Delano experiences panic that ultimately leads him to get the heck out of there, and take Don Benito with him.
It may take a third reading to codify the patterns Herman Melville used to hint at the plot. I wish I had just figured it out the first time!
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I wholeheartedly agree with Nyssa's post and also recognized the repetitious nature of Benito Cereno's actions during the second reading. It is difficult to ascertain how Delano was so obtuse and unable to figure out Don Benito's obvious cry for help. I suppose given the battered state of the ship, Amasa Delano might be hesitant to judge Don Benito's behavior as unusual, but when he was ONLY man on the ship constantly fainting and trembling, I think many would be suspicious of those who remained in good health. Like Nyssa previously stated, Herman Melville hands us the plot and all the clues on a silver platter... it just takes a second or third reading to truly understand and appreciate them.
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