Benito Cereno: Unveiling Our Preconcieved Notions

One of the things I found most intriguing about this novel was the way Melville utilized the novel and its plot to unveil preconceived stereotypes about slavery that the reader may have, including me. When I think of slaves and the transatlantic slave trade, I usually imagine the slaves placed in a subordinate position, chained up, and treated with the utmost disrespect. If they misbehaved, I would assume that the slaves would be harshly reprimanded by their owners/masters. However, in Benito Cereno the slaves are roaming about the slave trade ship, unchained. There are also instances where the slaves are hitting the Spanish soldiers and not being punished for it, such as when Delano witnesses the young sailor hit a Spanish sailor on the head with a knife. So, when the slaves are acting against this stereotype we as readers become suspicious of them, as if they must be up to something because they aren’t fitting with our preconceived notions of how slaves are supposed to behave. The reader automatically assumes something must not be right about this scene, that there must be something dubious going on when the slaves aren’t behaving as they stereotypically should.

Just because slaves are stereotyped as subordinate beings doesn’t necessarily mean this was always the case. It doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a slave trade ship in which the slaves were allowed to roam the cabin, so what makes this scene so suspicious? Is it simply the fact that the slaves are defying the stereotypes we have created for them or are their other aspects that add to the mystery of the “San Dominck.” Granted, the behavior of the slaves, regardless of whether they are behaving stereotypically or not, and the behavior of the Spanish sailors is a key element to the mystery of the novel and to the truth about what really happened to the “San Dominick”, but I just found it interesting that one of the reasons the “San Dominick” seemed so odd was the fact that these slaves were not behaving according to the way we would imagine they should be behaving and how in staging it this way, Melville is revealing stereotypes held by the reader regarding slavery.

Faith's Doubleness

Throughout “The Minister’s Black Veil,” I noticed Hawthorne’s double meaning in the word “Faith”. It was used to simultaneously represent Young Goodman Brown’s wife, whose name is Faith, as well as Brown’s Christian faith, which seems to be depleting throughout the story. It becomes evident early on that Brown seems to have a much strong faith in his wife than in his religion. He feels guilty for leaving her to go “on such an errand” as retreating into the woods to sell his soul to the devil, and he vouches to “cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven” from the moment he returns onward. Clearly, he seems to be much more faithful to his wife than to God. Furthermore, when Goodman Brown meets the ominous man in the woods and he asks why Brown was late, Brown claims that “Faith kept me back awhile.” Faith is used here to mean that his wife kept him back because she was pleading him not to leave, and also his own faith held him back because he has been struggling with whether or not he is fully ready to go through with this “errand”. Further along in the short story, Brown sees Goody Cloyse, a member of the Salem community whom he always considered to be very devout in her faith. Upon seeing her Brown’s mental turmoil over his decision to go into the woods intensifies. He wonders “is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?” Seeing Goody Cloyse on her way to the induction ceremony leads Brown to question whether he too should continue on towards the ceremony and give up his religious faith, as well as proceed to the ceremony and give up his loving wife, Faith. After his meeting with Goody Cloyse, Brown starts to rationalize that he should turn back towards his home and see the minister immediately the next day. He imagines how calm his sleep would be “in the arms of Faith!”, meaning in the arms of his wife as well as in the comfort of knowing that he remained true to his Christian beliefs.

It is not until Brown catches a glimpse of a pink ribbon (Faith’s choice of hair accessory) floating down from the sky and hears a woman’s scream that he switches over to the dark side of the devil. He grabs the ribbon and shrieks “my Faith is gone” implying that his wife has been taken by these demons of the forest and that his faith in God is not completely gone since his wife is no longer their to be his foundation. Brown arrives at the ceremony and sees familiar faces of the Salem community. His fist question in “where is Faith?” Where is his wife and where is the faith that all these people seemed to have possessed to staunchly. During the induction, the inductees stepped forward towards the altar and “the wretched man held his Faith.” The devil now has both Brown’s faith and his wife under his control.

The next morning after the ceremony in the woods, Goodman Brown sees his wife as he is walking through Salem. He cannot return her excitement to see him. He has now lost all faith that he had in his wife, his marriage, and Christianity. His faithfulness to his wife, which before had been so strong, is now lost, and that night as he awakes in the middle of the night “he shrank from the bosom of Faith.” I found Hawthorne’s parallel between Goodman Brown’s wife Faith and his religious faith to be very interesting. It’s fascinating to see the progression of Brown’s struggle with his faith in both throughout “Young Goodman Brown.”

Mercy Otis Warren: A Female Voice

I had read other pieces of literature written by Mercy Otis Warren, so I was aware of the fact that the author of “The Group” was a woman living during the time of the Revolution. However, had I not known this I probably would have assumed the author was a man, simply because of the time period in which the play was written there weren’t very many female authors. Yet, one particular part in the play stands out as a big indication that a woman was writing this piece, and it’s when Warren begins talking about the wives of the gentlemen. Judge Meagre suggests to Simple Sappling that the group should give aid to their fellow Tories, and Sappling offers to let his house serve as a barracks for the troops. Sylla, surprised by Sappling’s offer, asks “Hast thou no wife who asks thy tender care, to guard her from Belona’s hardy sons? Who when not toiling in the hostile field, are faithful votaries to the Cyprian Queen. Or is her soul of such materials made indelicate, and thoughtless of her fame: so void of either sentiment or sense, as makes her a companion fit fir thee!” (13). In this one quote and the way Warren addresses women in general in the following lines of the play, it becomes quite clear to me that the play was written by a woman. Sylla’s concern with how Sappling’s decision to give up their home to the war will affect Silvia strikes me as a woman’s point of view. Dick, the Publican, claims that he pities Silvia, which provides further indication that the author is a female.

Some of Warren’s other characters slander women, but I think that even the slandering provides clues as to the author's gender. Sappling and Hateall slander their wives in a way that is very stereotypical of men, which indicates to me that a woman probably wrote these lines because women would certainly know these stereotypes the best. Sappling claims “if she [Silvia] complains or murmurs at the plan, let her solicit charity abroad” (13), insinuating that if Silvia didn’t approve of his decision, she could seek pity somewhere else. Hateall states that the only reason he married his wife Kate was “to secure her dowry” (13). The language and the tone of these two stereotypical male comments, indicates to me that the author of the play must be a woman. I found it very interesting that simply by her wording and tone in just a few lines of the play, Warren gives herself away as a female author.

Benjamin Franklin: the Oprah of his time

In many respects, Oprah is like the modern day Benjamin Franklin. When she speaks, people listen. If a product or an idea is associated with her name, it becomes an instant success. Franklin’s overwhelming influence on society, not only during his lifetime but also in the decades following his death, becomes quite clear in Part 3 of his Autobiography. Franklin was probably one of the first people in the colonies to promote the education of women. He realized that women who were uneducated and suddenly widowed were at a strong disadvantage, thus Franklin felt that by educating young women, they would be well prepared “to continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, with establish’d correspondence, till a son is grown up fit to undertake and go on with it” (97-98). Although this is the only time he mentions this suggestion, this idea coming from someone who is so influential among his peers is a huge step in the educating of women. Furthermore, when France joined forces with Spain in a war against Britain, Franklin saw the need for defense in the colonies. So, he wrote a pamphlet entitled “Plain Truth” in an attempt to persuade the Quaker Assembly to pass a militia law in order to build up a defense system in the colonies. The pamphlet was just a simple call for volunteers to form a militia to defend the colonies if the need should arise. To Franklin’s surprise the pamphlet had a huge effect with 1200 people at the first meeting and a total of 10,000 subscribers to the pamphlet. Clearly, Franklin’s word is nothing to be taken lightly. As previously stated, when Franklin spoke, everyone listened. The influence that Franklin held over everyone he came in contact with, I think is very impressive.
Franklin’s influence is further illustrated in part 3 when he mentions the establishment of a hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Thomas Bond was responsible for the idea of the hospital, but when he tried to spread the idea to the people we says he was “often ask'd by those to whom I propose subscribing, Have you consulted Franklin upon this business? And what does he think of it? And when I tell them that I have not (supposing it rather out of your line), they do not subscribe, but say they will consider of it” (121-122). Therefore, Bond had to approach Franklin to get his approval of the idea before it could be set in motion. Once Franklin subscribed to the idea and rallied a few more people to subscribe, the hospital proposal spread like wildfire, which further proves that if something was associated with Benjamin Franklin, it was often a huge success. Reverend Gilbert Tennent also comes to Franklin for his magic touch. Tennent wanted to raise money for a new meeting house, but needed Franklin’s help in procuring a subscription. Franklin shared with Tennet his advice for raising money, which Tennet followed and quickly raised the necessary money to build the meeting house. The examples of Franklin’s influence continue throughout part 3, from his work in paving the roads of Philadelphia and London, to his influential role in the French and Indian War. Franklin’s peers look to him for leadership. In reading Autobiography, I had become very fascinated with Franklin’s innate charisma, confidence, and leadership that allowed him to have such a strong impact on society. He may not have been quite as rich or owned quite as many luxuries as Oprah, but he certainly shares in her ability to make an impact everyone whom she comes in contact with.