1. Luke Borsare
ENGL 2130
02/25/13
The Shadow of Self-Reliance
A key pillar of the transcendental philosophy espoused by Ralph Waldo Emerson is that
man is inherently good, and that if a man ignores the pressures of society at large and refuses to
conform and instead chooses to live self-reliantly, he will shed the perverted self created by
society and return to his pure, uncorrupted form. In Benito Cereno, Herman Melville lampoons
this idea through the main character, Amasa Delano, American captain of the chaste whaling
vessel the Bachelor’s Delight. Captain Delano embodies the notion of childlike innocence so
admired by Emerson, which quickly loses its luster when faced with the near calamity
engendered by having the mindset and worldview of a child when paired with actual
responsibility.
In Self-Reliance, Emerson writes,
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine
providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of
events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius
of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their
heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now
men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors
and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides,

2. redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and
the Dark” (Emerson 534).
Emerson seems to suggest in this passage that by endeavoring to be trustworthy at the core, a
man may transcend the evil to which conformity leads to, and instead embody the Godliness that
one may find through providence. In Benito Cereno, not only does Delano strive to be
trustworthy, he assumes that the same nature lies at the heart of all other men. Time and time
again, Delano ignores all evidence of what has actually transpired on the San Dominick. He
ignores all instinct and intuition, and instead attempts to rationalize the chaos around him
through the lens of universal truth.
This tendency to broadly characterize blinds Delano to the truth regarding Babo, and the
true nature of those on board the distressed ship. Midway through the story Delano observes,
“The whites, too, by nature, were the shrewder race. A man with some evil design, would
not he be likely to speak well of that stupidity which was blind to his depravity, and
malign that intelligence from which it might not be hidden? Not unlikely, perhaps. But if
the whites had dark secrets concerning Don Benito, could then Don Benito be any way in
complicity with the blacks? But they were too stupid” (1141).
Despite Delano taking to “[...] Negroes, not philanthropically, but genially, just as other men to
Newfoundland dogs.” (1148), his affection for “the blacks” is by its very nature deeply
patronizing. Delano, in this respect, is probably very similar in nature to the original audience for
Benito Cereno. During Melville’s time it is highly likely that most people, including those who
called themselves abolitionists, ascribed to slaves the characteristics Delano ascribes to them in
the novel, which are of a dumb and docile nature. These preconceived notions of race prevent

3. Delano from ascertaining the realities of the slave revolt that has recently taken place on the San
Dominick, despite the evidence being thrown in his face (literally and figuratively).
Through his condescension towards the Spaniards and Slaves, Delano mirrors the
condescension and irony at the heart of transcendentalism. Delano seems to think that he knows
what is best for everyone else in the story, yet is obviously unable to care for himself or those in
his care. He constantly imagines Benito Cereno as being an incompetent captain filled with
malaise, and Babo as a good-natured African who feels nothing but love towards his master,
while in reality Cereno is trying to save his life and Babo is plotting the demise of him and his
crew. This ignorance of reality combined with delusions of grandeur matches neatly with what
what Melville thought about Emerson and his attitude towards evil and the true nature of the
world.
While one initially has to admire Captain Delano’s proclivity to trust and his
unsuspicious nature, it becomes difficult to view his character without skepticism precisely
because his guilelessness quite often crosses the line into naiveté. Through pairing Delano with
the calculating, manipulative nature of Babo, and setting the story in the horrible, disgusting
conditions that followed the revolt onboard the San Dominick, Melville effectively contrasts the
wholly Emersonian Amasa Delano with what Melville believes to be the realities of human
nature, as opposed to the highly idealized views of nature put forth by Emerson and other
transcendentalists.
At the end of the novella, Delano continues to misread his circumstances up to the point
Babo tries to kill Benito Cereno. It is only then that Delano faces reality, and fully realizes all of
the signs he had missed. After Delano reflects on his mistakes, Cereno suggests that Delano was
redeemed by finally knowing the truth:

4. “ [...] your last act was to clutch for a villain, not only an innocent man, but the most
pitiable of all men. To such degree may malign machinations and deceptions impose. So
far may even the best men err, in judging the conduct of one with the recesses of whose
condition he is not acquainted. But you were forced to it; and you were in time
undeceived. Would that, in both respects, it was so ever, and with all men"(1173).
Cereno holds that the only honorable way to live is by facing the truth without singularly
adhering to any philosophy or morality which seeks to define what makes a man good or pure.
Melville uses Benito Cereno to parody the irony of transcendentalism. That is to say, that
through creating our own reality, we will come to understand our actual reality.
Amasa Delano may have been redeemed at the end of Benito Cereno, but a man has no
such guarantee, nor should he carry the illusion of such a guarantee. All actions have
consequences, and by choosing to believe only that which is convenient or palatable we do
ourselves no favors. That mindset leads only to arrogance, danger, and destruction. It is only
through maintaining an outlook specific to every situation that we face, rather than strictly
adhering to any universal dogmas, that we can preserve our own integrity and the integrity of
that which we hold dear. By holding to his simplistic beliefs and filtering all new information
through those beliefs, Delano nearly leads to the death of himself, his crew, and Benito Cereno.
It is only when Delano sees Babo’s true self that he is able to shed his false preconceptions and
see reality in all of its beautiful imperfection. By sentimentalizing reality, we blind ourselves to
the unpleasantness present in the world, but without that unpleasantness, we lose all opportunity
for growth and redemption. Contrary to what Emerson may say, glory and redemption don’t
come through believing it will come. Many factors are at play in life, and there are no
guarantees. We can’t wish anything into being, nor can we become great by just “being

5. ourselves”. The best we can do is to take opportunity as it comes, and maintain no illusions about
reality.

6. ourselves”. The best we can do is to take opportunity as it comes, and maintain no illusions about
reality.