O бoрби дoбрa и злa: црнo и бeлo у причи „Бeниto Сeрeнo“ Хермана Мелвила
On the Battle of Good and Evil: Black and White in Melville’s Benito Cereno

Summary/Abstract: According to the traditional readings, Melville’s story “Benito Cereno” presents us with the battle of good and evil, where the Africans represent the “darkness”, i.e. moral corruption in an abstract sense: the colour black represents evil, while the color white represents good, which is, allegedly, one of the reasons why readers, again, supposedly, tend to side with the whites, and to accept their view of what is, in this case, just or justifiable. Closely reading some of the aspects of Melville’s story, the paper argues that the story, at least partly, represents a critique of racism and slavery, as well as of the American “simplified way of understanding the world”, which leads to delusion and the legitimizing of the inhumane. It is further pointed out that the story subtly “busts” the myth of the happy slave, and exposes the cultural stereotype as the equivalent of racism. Racism is shown to be the foundation of slavery, which is subtly criticized by an inversion of the roles of the master and the slave. Finally, it is shown how the prominence of themes such as the conflict / paradox of power, authority and leadership, point to and highlight the significance of Melville’s criticism of racism and slavery.

• Details
• Contents