The American literature is a reflection of the socio-political developments in the different stages of the history of the country, and especially slavery is a crucial topic in it. Many works dealing with slavery have been published in the 19th, 20th and 21st century, and some of them have sparked debates that are not only on literary issues. Two of these are Herman Melville’s (1819-1891) Benito Cereno (1855) and Mark Twain’s (1835-1910, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). These two novels are often seen as major works in American literary history, and their authors are among the country’s most celebrated. Both books have in common that their stories play in the time before the abolition of slavery. Benito Cereno deals with a slave revolt on a ship, while Huckleberry Finn depicts the adventures of its eponymous hero and a runaway slave, Jim. Another feature the novels share is the fact that both have been charged to contain racist and pro-slavery attitudes. This paper will evaluate and analyze these assertions in order to show that they are false because they are based on misunderstandings. It aims to provide a profound delineation of the racial attitudes in the two novels.
The assumption here is that neither Melville nor Twain wrote racist novels. This shall be proven with the help of a close analysis of the narrative perspectives and literary devices used in the books. Both of the stories, as will be shown later, are told by narrators that are far from being easy to grasp without a deeper examination of their character and function. A comprehensive insight into these appears to be beneficial for a better understanding of both of the novels.
The present paper will begin with an exploration of the individual attitudes of the two authors. Although the knowledge of writers’ opinions can never be used as the sole key to a literary work’s interpretation, it can still be helpful to gain an insight into his ideas about the world he or she depicts in his or her fiction. After this, the two novels will be dealt with separately. In a first step, the assertions about each one’s racism will be delineated. Then, the narrative perspectives and other literary techniques will be thoroughly analyzed. In a last step, the novels’ racism will be evaluated with the help of the insights gained about the techniques used. It shall be shown that in the light of this, neither Benito Cereno nor Huckleberry Finn are racist books.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Racial Attitudes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Herman Melville
2.3 Mark Twain
3. Analysis of Benito Cereno
3.1 Racist Attitudes in Benito Cereno
3.2 Narrative Perspective in Benito Cereno
3.3 Benito Cereno as an Exploration of the White Racist Mind
4. Analysis of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
4.1 Huckleberry Finn as a Racist Novel
4.2 Literary Techniques in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
4.3 Huckleberry Finn as an Indictment of Slavery and Racism
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the racial attitudes portrayed in Herman Melville’s "Benito Cereno" and Mark Twain’s "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". It challenges the common assertion that both novels are inherently racist by demonstrating that such views stem from misunderstandings of narrative perspective and literary irony. The primary objective is to prove that both authors used their protagonists’ limited, prejudiced viewpoints as a deliberate strategy to expose and critique the horrors of slavery and the hollowness of racist ideologies.
- Deconstruction of racist tropes through unreliable narration.
- Exploration of authorial intent versus character perspective.
- Analysis of the "evasion chapters" as social allegory in Twain's work.
- Critique of Northern complicity in the antebellum slave system.
Excerpt from the Book
3.3 Benito Cereno as an Exploration of the White Racist Mind
Benito Cereno is nowadays one of Melville’s most widely read and taught texts, most likely because of its intricate plot and because it addresses the politics of slavery and race in antebellum America, a topic that is still of great interest. The novel implicates its readers in the racist world views of captain Delano by concealing the shifts from authorial voice to his voice. This limited vision makes Delano’s account of things seem probable, so that his opinion is not questioned. But when all the deception is revealed, the readers can take a new look at his behavior, and the captain looks quite different then. Like Aranda, he cannot perceive that the slaves want to be free. The textual references to his blindness have been given above, but only by spotting the omniscient narrator’s comments on Delano’s racist attitude as well can one find the anti-slavery message of Melville’s novel.
In the passage in which the captain is musing about the qualities of the blacks as ‘natural valets’, it is revealed that his sympathy towards them is not philanthropical, but merely genial. This exposes that he does not see them as real people, his affection towards them is like towards “Newfoundland dogs” (BC, p. 71), submissive companions. The favorable connotations of the adverb “genially” (BC, p. 71), however, obscure Delano’s failure to see the humanity of blacks. His opinion that they are “too stupid” (BC, p. 63) to take part in an elaborate plot to deceive him is proven wrong through the course of the action. By exposing Delano’s inadequacies, the narrator actually shows that it is him who is ‘too stupid’ here, and not the blacks. In this light, the assertion that the blacks are being depicted as unintelligent cannot be upheld. It is only Delano’s view that shows them like this, but the omniscient narrator’s comments on them are quite different. Babo’s head is described as a “hive of subtlety” and his “brain […] had schemed and led the revolt” (BC, p. 102).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the thesis that neither Melville nor Twain wrote racist novels and explains the intent to analyze narrative perspectives as a means to uncover anti-slavery messages.
2. The Racial Attitudes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain: Investigates the biographical and intellectual backgrounds of both authors, highlighting the complexities and frequent contradictions in their views on slavery and race.
3. Analysis of Benito Cereno: Analyzes the novel’s depiction of slavery, the reliability of Captain Delano as a narrator, and how Melville uses the "white racist mind" as the true focal point of his critique.
4. Analysis of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Addresses the controversial use of the term 'nigger' and explores how Twain employs an unreliable narrator to satirize the moral failures of the antebellum South.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes that both works use irony and narrative distance to condemn slavery and humanize enslaved characters, ultimately presenting strong anti-racist indictments.
6. Bibliography: Lists the primary and secondary sources used to support the literary analysis of both novels.
Keywords
Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Benito Cereno, Huckleberry Finn, Slavery, Racism, Anti-Racism, Narrative Perspective, Irony, Antebellum America, Unreliable Narrator, White Supremacy, Literature, Literary Criticism, Abolitionism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core argument of this academic work?
The work argues that "Benito Cereno" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" are not racist novels, but rather sophisticated satires. It posits that the racism present in the texts is attributed to characters and their limited, unreliable perceptions, not to the authors' own worldviews.
Which authors are being compared in this analysis?
The study compares Herman Melville and Mark Twain, focusing specifically on their respective novels "Benito Cereno" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".
What is the primary goal of the author?
The goal is to demonstrate that by analyzing the narrative techniques—specifically the use of internal focalization and irony—one can see that both authors were actively criticizing the racist mentalities of their time.
What scientific method is applied here?
The author employs a close reading method of literary criticism, focusing on narrative theory, perspective structure, and historical context to interpret the satirical intent behind character dialogue and plot events.
What is the thematic focus of the main body of the text?
The analysis focuses on the discrepancy between what the narrators (Delano and Huck) observe and what the readers are intended to understand, exposing the "hollowness" and hypocrisy of pro-slavery viewpoints.
Which keywords best describe the scope of this research?
The research is best characterized by themes of literary irony, narrative perspective, slavery in antebellum America, and the deconstruction of racial stereotypes in American literature.
How does the author interpret Captain Delano's character in "Benito Cereno"?
Delano is interpreted as a "blind" narrator whose "undistrustful good nature" and inherent white supremacy prevent him from realizing the true nature of the slave revolt, thereby making his perspective a tool for Melville's social critique.
What is the significance of the "evasion chapters" in Huckleberry Finn?
These chapters are analyzed as an allegorical satire on the post-Reconstruction era, representing the failure of the United States to grant true equality and civil rights to newly freed African Americans.
- Citation du texte
- Ole Wagner (Auteur), 2008, Racial attitudes in Melville’s 'Benito Cereno' and Twain’s 'Huckleberry Finn', Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/130687
