“Benito Cereno” is a story that has a haunting ending. The deaths of Cereno and Babo highlight the unethical system of enslavement.
The treatment of Babo and Cereno seems to be reversed when it comes to the ending. Cereno is complicit in the system of slavery, and Babo is a victim of it, though Cereno is properly buried, while Babo is brutally murdered. Additionally, Aranda the slave-holder is buried in a church, when he was an active force in this oppressive system. Babo is described as “His aspect seemed to say, since I cannot do deeds, I will not speak words” (Melville). Cereno sincerely struggles with sharing his account, and talks less and less as time continues. There is a kind of silence from both of these characters, yet their deaths are markedly different.
The downfall of Cereno is underscored through details. When Cereno is described, it is said that “...that silver-mounted sword, apparent symbol of despotic command, was not, indeed, a sword, but the ghost of one. The scabbard, artificially stiffened, was empty” (Melville). This passage emphasizes Cereno’s psychological downfall and how he is unable to shake himself from the events of what has occurred. Cereno has followed his friend Aranda down the path of oppression and then died for it, but his death was slow and he was honored after he died, unlike Babo. The sword being a symbol of “despotic command” emphasizes the corrupt and unethical nature of the system of slavery, and can be read as a critique of those holding the kind of power that Cereno and Aranda had.
Babo and Cereno are both leaders in this story in different ways. The text states that Babo’s head was positioned to appear “...across the Plaza looked towards St. Bartholomew’s church…and across the Rimac bridge looked towards the monastery…” (Melville). This emphasizes the excessive cruelty dealt to Babo, as even after his death he is still not given any respect. The positioning of his head is also significant, as even after he has passed away, he is forced to gaze upon a realm of sanctity that he is not allowed to be a part of. However, at the end, Babo is posited as the leader, as Cereno is said to have followed his leader into death. Cereno might have had legal power, but throughout the rebellion, Babo is the true leader. Babo is true leader in this story, yet he is not even treated as a person, let alone someone with power. Between the honoring of Aranda and Cereno and the subsequent dishonoring of Babo, the story is given another element of complexity. This adds to the idea that Melville is critiquing the system of slavery, emphasizing the excessive cruelty of it and how it leads to the downfall of everyone involved in it.
