BENITO CERENO & LIFE IN THE IRON-MILLS
Benito Cereno
In Benito Cereno, the punishments the characters get are suitable to the crimes they committed. This is because of the various inhuman activities like slavery, lies, and cunning occurring in the entire story. Melville intends that we read the story with less prediction of what might happen next. This ensures the reader does not get disappointed. The theme assigned to it is that of cunning because the reader is not able to comprehend the outcome before finishing the text. Babo is the most cunning of the characters in Benito Cereno since he organizes a scheme, which keeps Captain Delano deceived (Melville & Pavese, 2013). The Spanish sailors were scared to do as told, and the slaves to play their parts perfectly.
The punishment to Benito Cereno is appropriate for his crimes because he received his job as a captain due to his lineage and connections, and not due to his experience. Consequently, he suffered, and ended up being pathetic, nervous, and traumatized. He could not see the impending disaster coming to his ship (Melville & Pavese, 2013). He also lacked the strength to tackle the rebellion that arose. He is also punished when he tries to hint to Delano that things were not well, but Delano could not comprehend. Lastly, Cereno died due to the horrible experiences he underwent. Therefore, receiving his job without sufficient experience leading to his punishment was appropriate.
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The punishment to Babo is appropriate for his wrongdoings. He ordered and watched Aranda’s death. He put up his bones on a bow to remind the Spaniards to be submissive to him. Additionally, he ordered the death of some passengers, staff, and crew members. He spared Cereno’s life with the aim of a safe journey, and not in good faith. He also tricks Delano by pretending to be Cereno’s loyal servant, and never allowed them privacy to talk. Subsequently, he was tried and convicted for the rebellion (Melville & Pavese, 2013). He received death according to his wrongs as he was dragged behind a mule. His head was cut and displayed in town. Therefore, he received a just reward for inflicting others with pain.
Life in the iron-mills
Davis establishes contrasts between the mill-hands and middle-class society through the characters. Contrast is seen when a group of middle-class people visits the mill at night since it is not very hot then. This implies that the two societies they live in are different as the mills are intolerably hot for inhabitation, unlike the outside. The two societies are distinct because the middle-class people have opportunities to market their talents as compared to the mill-hands people (Davis, 2014) . This is evident when one of the visitors points out the fact that despite Hugh’s ability to make sculptures, he would not be able to use his talent to take him places.
Contrast is also evident as the mill-hands society is portrayed to be poor to the extent that Deborah steals money from Mitchell, and gives it to Hugh. Since Mitchell emanates from the middle-class society, it implies they were richer than the people from the mills. After Hugh died, a Quaker woman promises to bury him in the hills with fresh air. This implies that the mills-hands society lived in a filthy environment as compared to the outsiders. The disparity is seen when the people in the mill work hard in harsh conditions, but end up earning less. It is evident as Deborah works for twelve hours, but is still poor to the extent of stealing from Mitchell. Another incidence of contrast is through Hugh's sculpture. The men visitors see the woman as healthy, yet Hugh told them she was hungry. They view the mill workers as healthy from the outside yet many of them were under emotional pain. Hugh suffers from tuberculosis, they are overworked and underpaid, and their environment is poor (Davis, 2014) . It implies the visitors come from a better environment, and the mill workers are asking from them a better working environment with good care.
The flaws indicate that the American society is self-centered, and only wants the best for itself. With good opportunities, many of them do not care for the less privileged, but keep amassing wealth for themselves. If the poor wrong the rich, they get worse punishments without putting in mind why they did that. The poor continue being poor for the sake of enriching the wealthy. America, just like the Quaker woman who promised to bury Hugh, and take Deborah after her release from prison, has the potential to eliminate poverty in society. America can provide equal opportunities to its people. People should be paid according to the amount of work they do. The novel is hopeful because the Quaker woman would bury Hugh in the fresh air, and finally take Deborah after her release. It gives hope that despite the evils that took place, there are few good people in existence.
References
Davis, R. (2014). Life in the iron mills . Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg.
Melville, H. & Pavese, C. (2013). Benito Cereno (7th ed.). Torino: Einaudi.
