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Benito Cereno, Plot overview

In "Benito Cereno," the narrator is Amasa Delano, the captain of a Massachusetts whaling ship. When the

story begins, Captain Delano and his ship, the Bachelor's Delight,are anchored off an island near Chile.

hey spot another ship coming toward the island, floating rather listlessly. Delano decides to ta!e a boat

oer and inestigate.

#e and his men reach the ship, the San Dominick.Delano boards the ship, and immediately he is accosted

by both sailors and blac! slaes, all begging for water and supplies. #e sends his men bac! to his own ship

for supplies and tries to find out what happened to the San Dominick.#e meets its captain, Benito Cereno.

Cereno seems strange, ery nerous and somewhat aloof. #is behaior constantly pu$$les Delano. Cereno

is constantly attended by Babo, his young blac! serant, who helps Cereno when he has fainting spells.

Delano is a !ind man, so he persuades himself that Cereno%s behaior is a result of the troubles he has

suffered.

Cereno tells him that the ship had left Buenos Aires si& months earlier. While rounding Cape #orn, they

struc! heay winds, so to lighten the ship they threw supplies oerboard, including much of their fresh

water. While telling this story, Cereno has one of his many coughing fits, which ma!es Delano beliee that

Cereno is both sic! and perhaps mentally troubled. Cereno finishes the story, claiming that the ship spent

months on the sea with no wind, and that all the officers and most of the crew died from scury. #e

concludes by praising Babo as his faithful companion through it all.

Delano tells Cereno he will help him reach the nearest port. his briefly cheers up Cereno, but Babo draws

him aside, and when Cereno returns he is again morose. As Delano inestigates the ship, he begins to

hae suspicious feelings. #e sees a young slae hit a white cabin boy, and chides Cereno for allowing this

to happen. Cereno ma!es no effort to punish the attac!er. Delano in'uires as to the owner of the slaes(

Cereno says that they belonged to Ale&ander Aranda, a friend of Cereno%s who died of the feer.

Cereno rather rudely begins whispering with his serant. Delano beliees he is the sub)ect of their

conersation. #e wonders if Cereno is actually some low* born adenturer, mas'uerading as a ship

captain, perhaps planning to murder Delano and then ta!e his ship. But the good*natured Delano

dismisses the idea, een after Cereno as!s him some suspicious 'uestions, such as how many men hisship holds and whether they would be present on it that night.

Delano again dismisses his suspicions as silly, but he witnesses seeral strange eents, including two

blac!s pushing a sailor to the ground. Cereno always ignores these incidents or brushes them off. Delano

thin!s the +panish sailors are giing him meaningful glances. #e tries to 'uestion them, but the slaes

crowd them out. Delano 'uestions Cereno further and, when he mentions Cape #orn, Cereno responds,

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"Who spo!e of Cape #orn" Cereno corrects himself, but Delano%s suspicions are further aroused. Delano

has lunch with Cereno, and is annoyed that Cereno refuses to dismiss Babo so they can tal! in priate.

he wind returns, and Delano pilots the San Dominick to his own ship. Delano calls for a boat to be

lowered from his ship with supplies for the San Dominick.he supplies are deliered, and Delano prepares

to leae the San Dominick.-ust as he gets into his boat, Cereno leaps oer the side of the San

Dominickand falls at the captain%s feet. Babo also leaps oer, with a dagger in his hands. Delano%s men

stop Babo. Delano reali$es that Babo intended to stab Cereno, not himself.

Delano sends his men to recoer the ship. he rest of the story consists mostly of Cereno%s court

deposition, reealing the truth about the San Dominick.

he slaes had reolted, led by Babo and Atufal, !illing most of the +panish crew and ta!ing control of the

ship. hey forced Cereno to sail toward +enegal, where they planned to escape. But they needed supplies.

Babo would not let Cereno come to a port that would put the ship in iew of people, so he chose to sail to

the island of +anta Maria. #e told Babo he was planning on getting supplies, but in actuality he hoped a

passing essel would sae them. In the meantime, the slaes !illed their owner and master, Ale&andro

Aranda, and hung his corpse on the figurehead to sere as a warning to the other sailors this was coered

before Delano came to the ship/. When the Bachelor's Delightcame near, Babo gae Cereno a story to

tell, as well as the other sailors, then set up the mas'uerade of himself as a serant to Cereno, so as to

!eep an eye on him. Cereno and all the sailors were threatened with instant death if they gie anything

away. Cereno struggled between wanting to tell Delano the truth and the constant threat of Babo. 0inally,

he leapt oerboard into Delano%s boat, thus ending the charade.

At the end of the trial, Babo is e&ecuted and his head placed on a pole. Cereno falls into a deep

depression, and a few months later he dies. #e did indeed "follow his leader."