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Patterns of Resistance, Continued (Part Two of Three)© Emily Woodward
Sep 17, 1999
Like Billy Budd, Benito Cereno focuses on a case of active resistance against a perverse state of affairs. In the story, a wily slave, Babo, rebels against the "unnaturalness" of his subservience to Benito Cereno. The Spaniard, whose intellect does not approach Babo's own, has derived his power from his aristocratic station. The system in which power is conferred on the basis of race and class is as much a perversion of natural law as is the Mutiny Act. Realizing this, Babo
has affected his own mutiny. He has assumed his natural position over the Spaniard and his crew. In so doing, however, he has placed himself and his fellow blacks in a hopeless situation. Amid treacherous weather and a shortage of provisions, they are unable to reach a safe haven in
Senegal. They cannot continue long in their present condition;
however, contact with another ship puts them at risk of exposure. As the leader of the revolt, Babo is faced with certain death if the mutiny is discovered. Thus, it would seem that his fate is sealed when the ship crosses paths with the Bachelor s Delight. However, instead of making an attempt to escape - only to meet death later upon the high seas - or allowing himself to be revealed, Babo engineers an elaborate
scheme of self- preservation. His act of resistance, while ultimately unsuccessful, is more effectual than Billy Budd s. This is because, unlike the handsome, inarticulate sailor, the black understands his opponent. On one level, he is able to manipulate Benito Cereno by playing on his weak mind and character. The Spaniard, lacking the intellect and the will to affect his own resistance, is made to act as a puppet for Babo. The extent to which the black intimidates Cereno into
submission is evident in the shaving scene (214-216):
Setting down his basin, the negro searched among the razors, as for the sharpest, and having found it, gave it an additional edge by expertly strapping it on the...skin of his open palm...Not unaffected by the close sight of the gleaming steel, Don Benito nervously shuddered; his usual ghastliness was heightened by the lather....the black barber drew back his steel, and...held up the trickling razor, saying...'See, master - you shook so - here's Babo's first blood.' No sword drawn before James the First of England...could have produced a more terrified aspect than was now presented by Don Benito.
In this scene, the true relationship between the slave and his "master" manifests itself to Captain Delano. He sees "in the black...a headsman, and in the white a man at the block" (214). Delano's sudden epiphany, like that of Captain Vere, is almost immediately dimmed; indeed, the narrator describes it as "appearing and vanishing in a breath" (214).
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