After I finished reading “Benito Cerino” by author Herman Melville, I can conclude that the main character of “Benito Cereno” is not Captain Delano;  his character does not change in the course of the story, other than his awakening to the true relationship of Cereno and the slaves. Rather, the protagonist is Cereno himself, who falls under “the shadow of the Negro” in the course of the tale, eventually leading to his death. Cereno plays a significant role in saving his fellows Spanish, who survived the disease and the repression of the slaves. Melville is not condemning slavery in his novel but depicts the subtle relationship between the various characters. The negative or positive of the story is depending on the reader’s perspectives; There are three main characters in this novel,  the white captive Cereno, the white commander Delano and the black slave Gbagbo. From Babo’s perspective, the novella positively depicts enslavement because it is from the perspective of Spaniard or white; the opinion is opposite Babo. in the end, Cereno and all the sailors were threatened with instant death if they give anything away. Cereno struggled between wanting to tell Delano the truth and the constant threat of Babo. Finally, he leaped overboard into Delano’s boat. Slavery is part of our human history; even in today’s world, slavery still exists but in a different form. Slavery is not based only on race but also on social status, religion. The characters in the story reflect all the things React differently. The reader could empathize with Babo and other slaves, but the Darkside of human history can never change. I think Melville is exploring intriguing of the relationship between blacks and whites through his novel.

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