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Rating:  - Two good old good ones
If I were a filmmaker with money and resources at my disposal, the first thing I would do is translate "Benito Cereno" to the screen. It's really what Spielberg should've done, but the Amistad story (upon which "Benito Cereno" is partly based) afforded him room for famous historical figures, which in turn made room for big stars. Melville's novella is a much juicier story, and the psychological drama, in the proper hands, could make for a great movie. That said, the novella is one of my absolute favorites. The mystery lies not so much in whodunit, but in what's been dun, and why they dun it. Captain Delano should see what's going on around him, but can't. His mind can't envision a scenario in which African slaves get the better of a Spanish captain. It's a good illustration of how a racist mind--in addition to oppressing others--perverts and poisons itself. And the elaborate fiction that is played out aboard the San Dominick is brilliant, sending Delano's brain into a whirlwind of confusion and speculation. I highly recommend picking up this cheap paperback Dover edition--which also has "Bartleby the Scrivener", an equally brilliant story--and reading it straight through.
Rating: - On the Hinge of Human Existence
The story of Bartleby is an interesting one. It is a very thought provoking tale. As I read many reviews of this story I have seen a lot of discussion of the main character Bartleby, with good reason. But it is also interesting to look at our story's narrator... Bartleby's employer.
From the outset he is a man intrigued by his employees. The story begins with his description of 3 employees: Turkey, Ginger Nut and Nippers. He has these 3 gentlemen as workers and seems genuinely interested in their apparent strengths and weaknesses... especially the weaknesses.
Then enters Bartleby-- the stoic worker who respectfully uses his ringing statement of defiance, "I would prefer not to."
It is fascinating to see the narrator deal with Bartleby and his passive resistance. I suppose he could have swiftly dismissed his insubordinate worker. And have ended his relationship with him quickly. But, this was not the course of action taken. He seemed to see a specific responsibility to Bartleby. He felt like he must provide some type of framework for Bartleby to exist in. Even when he discovers Bartleby living in the office, he continues to carefully support Bartleby. Why was this his approach? Our narrator seemed to sense an important role in helping his apparently marginalized worker.
I especially enjoyed the narrator's thoughts on his supposedly predestined situation. Was it his divinely ordained responsibility to deal with Bartleby? Was he serving some great role in this man's survival and possible redemption? I believe that's why he stuck it out with Bartleby for so long.
This short story is intriguing in that it should push us all to be more socially responsible. Even when the responsibility pushes us to be outside our comfort zone. In most of the instances in which the narrator felt like dealing with Bartleby harshly... he was prodded by peer pressure or driven by a fear of looking bad. Does it really matter how we look in the eyes of the world? Or does it matter more what we do, out of love for fellow man? It shouldn't matter if we look foolish or weak... especially if we are putting others first.
Bartleby teaches me, that I have a strong responsibility to my fellow human beings. If I see someone outside the bounds of what we would call "normal society", what can I do to help them? How can I show them love and respect? It's too bad when someone decides to drop out like Bartleby... Life means too much for anyone to do that.
Bartleby stood on the hinge of human existence and chose to swing out into the abyss. You may stand there one day, too. Which way will you swing?
Rating: - Emerson??
In one review, a reader says it's similar to Emerson's "Waldon Pond." Emerson didn't write "Waldon Pond." Henry David Thoreau did.
Rating: - Psychological mysteries
These two tales are very different, but both of them are deep and acute penetrations into the human psyche. The first one, "Benito Cereno" is about a mutiny on board of a ship. This ship is navigating astray, off the coast of Chile (which is NOT in Central America, as other reviewers have embarrasingly said), when Captain Delano, an American sailor, observes it. He gets near the suspicious ship, gets on board of it, and finds an extremely tense and enigmatic situation. Wonderfully, Melville chose to describe the situation only through the senses of Captain Delano. As the narrator is not omniscient, we only know what Delano knows, so we understand his confusion and amazement at the strange facts he observes. We share his vacilations, speculations and changes of opinion before the disconcerting behavior of Captain Benito Cereno. This makes the reader stay interested all through the story, like he was there being part of it. The unexpected ending will solve the mystery, but only partially.
What's best about this story, even more than the smart plot, is the author's technique. He puts the reader right in the middle of the action. Just like in life, where we have no narrator telling us what the rest of the characters are doing "meanwhile". We only know what we learn from our senses, hopefully processed through reason.
The second tale, "Bartleby the scrivener" follows a technique similar to that of "Benito Cereno", but within a very different context and plot. It's narrated in first person by a good-hearted and charitable Wall Street lawyer (I guess times have changed)who hires a young and silent man as a copyist (that is, before Xerox, the guy who made manual copies of legal documents). Bartleby sets to do his work, copying page after page, but he refuses to do anything else, with the words: "I would rather not" as an answer to every order, instruction or request to do something. Tenaciously, Bartleby resists to any action. It's a pathological portrait of indifference and apathy, taken to the extreme. As in "Benito Cereno", we receive no additional explanations or background to his behavior. We are exactly where Bartleby's boss is: confounded. We are invited to witness a unique form of behavior and attitude towards life. The naration jumps continuously from drama to humor, with great fluidity and fine irony. Haunting and intriguing, this is a masterpiece of storytelling.
Rating: - The dark side of the human psyche
Herman Melville was one of the truly great figures in 19th century American literature. "Bartleby and Benito Cereno" brings together two of his most brilliant works: a short story and a novella which both illuminate some of the darkest and most frightening byways of the human soul.
The first of the two selections, "Bartleby" (also known by its longer title, "Bartleby the Scrivener") tells the story of a very proper Wall Street lawyer whose life and business are utterly confounded by the baffling behavior of his scrivener (professional copyist), the titular Bartleby. Peopled with a Dickensian crew of colorful characters, "Bartleby" is both a Kafkaesque workplace comedy and a profoundly unsettling tragedy.
"Benito Cereno" tells the story of Amasa Delano, a Massachusetts-based merchant captain who encounters the Spanish vessel "San Dominick" off the coast of Chile. What unfolds is a disturbing blend of mystery and psychological horror as Delano boards the slave ship, whose crew has been decimated by illness, and meets her captain, Benito Cereno, and his Black servant Babo. "Benito Cereno" is one of the greatest fictional works about the era of slavery; Melville brilliantly satirizes white arrogance while exploring the complex world of 19th century race relations.
Together, "Bartleby" and "Benito Cereno" constitute a superb introduction to a writer of supreme skill. These are works of fiction whose power endures.
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