So far in this English course we have been reading and discussing two books, “Benito Cereno” and “At the Mountain of Madness”. Both Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno (1855) and H.P. Lovecrafts’s At the Mountains of Madness (1931) surprise the reader with horrific events the come about as the story progresses. This being the topic of the essay the similarities and differences will be drawn from these two books. “Benito Cereno” is the story of deception which leads into the conflict of the book. After numerous hints and suspicious behavior on the ship the truth is revealed. There are many horrific events that takes place in the story. An occurrence when a small black boy hit a white cabin boy on the head with a knife, and no action was …show more content…
When Delano descends to his boat to return to the Bachelor's Delight, Don Benito suddenly leaps into the whale-boat. Babo, with the intent on killing his master, lunges after him with a dagger revealing that Don Benito is a prisoner and that the situation aboard the San Dominick are an elaborate charade perpetrated by the slaves to make him believe that Don Benito is still in charge. “At the Mountain of Madness” details the events of a disastrous expedition to the Antarctic continent in September 1930, and what was found there by a group of explorers led by the narrator, Dr. William Dyer of Miskatonic University. Throughout the story, Dyer details a series of previously untold events in the hope of deterring another group of explorers who wish to return to the continent. The horror in this story begins in with the discovery of Lake's camp being devastated. Every other human and dog has been strangled and one dog and one human seem to found, with all of their major organs placed outside their bodies. Further along the story, they discover the missing sleds, the rest of the missing equipment and Gedney and the missing dog. Gedney and the dog were frozen with damaged areas patched up with adhesive.
A sense of ominous foreboding permeates the woeful passage from "Three Dirges." The conflict is immediately apparant: "Don Lazaro, you've got five boys in Comitan teaching the campesinos how to read. That's subversive. That's communist. So tonight, you have to kill them." Don Lazaro, the mayor of the war torn village, San Martin Comitan, seems to have no choice but to carry out this heartless command. His response is indicative of a desperate man searching for answers, yet already resigned to carrying out the task at hand. "What can I say? --you tell me!" cries an anguished Don Lazaro to the villagers. Is he pleading for their understanding, or asking for a miraculous solution that would alter the path that lay before him? It is this uncertainty that, when coupled with melancholy foreshadowing, leaves the reader at a suspenseful crossroad; suspecting that events are transpiring, but doubtful as to the outcome.
Once on board the San Dominick, to step in and save it from “distress,” the American mariner Amasa Delano “assured [Cereno and the pitiful Spanish crew and black slaves] of his [American] sympathies...with...all the...pumpkins on [Delano’s ship]...and a dozen bottles of..cider.” Diplomatically, Delano made inroads with the San Dominick’s Spanish and African passengers to find out information about the ship’s cargo and destination. Through such inquiries, Delano sought to incorporate both Spaniards and slaves into the American calculus of “cleaning up” the Spanish “messes” left after Haiti and the Napoleonic Wars. Out of fear for potential chaos, Delano acted hospitably to quell the possibility of another Spanish or slave mutiny. Seeing that the white European captain had capitulated to the slaves onboard, Delano seized his liberty to take charge of the ship as a leading white man, reconfiguring patriarchy as an opportunistic American
Another interesting aspect the reader might recognize in these stories is the theme of acceptance and integration to something either known or unknown to them. Most of these stories deal with having to change who they are or what they would become like Nilsa, the boy, and others, they have all had to choose what they wanted for there life and accept the fact that if they did not take serious measures they would not be integrated into society prosperously.
In both novels, the characters represent certain kinds of individuals in today's society. They encounterjealousy, as well as many other conflicts within themselves, and human nature. Ultimately, these two novels deliver the inner conflicts of our society.
Good and evil are part of human nature and an individual can have different perspectives and interpretations of both. Herman Melville’s “Benito Cereno” attempts to portray the everlasting struggle between recognizing the evil versus the good through the characterization of the narrator, Captain Delano. He uses Delano, an innocent and optimistic person, as the narrator of this story to portray the average American who is culturally conditioned to believe that slaves can only be depicted in a nonresistant and unassertive role. They can only be seen as loyal and obedient servants to their masters. But soon he realizes that he underestimated their power.
Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, Spanish and Portuguese exploration can easily be described as vast. With continuing curiosity, a sense of adventure, and a desire to save souls, expeditions lead to the New World in the Americas and eastward to Asia. However, it can be argued that no one of importance tried to stop the atrocities that were coinciding with the exploration of foreign territories. This is because the Spanish and Portuguese claimed that they were advancing humanity, but in reality, they were doing everything out of selfishness.
Llewella and Belle were trying to get to the Hydra Jungle to collect the nine heads of the hydra, Norbert, on the Black Sea. The wind was going crazy, blowing their ship all over the place. There was a huge gust of wind, then their ship crashed on the shore of the Hydra Jungle.
Carefully read the following three novels. Then synthesize information from all three of the sources and incorporate it into coherent, well-developed analysis identifying and explaining the connection between the novels through the common themes that conveys a set of values to the reader.
Insane. What comes to mind when someone is thought to be insane? Many may think that an insane person is anyone who is in a mental hospital. This is not always true though, as being “insane” is defined as, “being in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction, seriously mentally ill”(Define Google). In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the theme of insane is shown throughout the book, while at the same time, it points out that not all are insane.
What lead to the evaporation of the lost empires that once rule Latin America. The presents of the Spanish and European people lead to the desecration of Aztecs, Inca And Maya people around the 15 century, bringing an end to Mesoamerica’s last great native civilizations. The Aztecs were located in Mexico region, the Maya’s were located in Guatemala, and the Inca’s were in the Andes. When the spanish arrived they saw that the native people did not get along with each other do to different points of view in the belief system (sacrifices). That is one of the ways the spanish and europeans were able to conquer a land so massive in surface area and population.
Herman Melville fills “Benito Cereno” with a perspective of classical America and uses a full spectrum of literary devices to criticize Captain Delano’s representation of 19th Century America. Melville indicates a plenty of detail, mostly visual and reflecting, to prepare for the fantastic revelation of Don Benito's confinement and the proved ignorance of Captain Delano. The rhetorical questions, imagery, and metaphors in “Benito Cereno” are crucial to the comparing of Captain Delano to the 19th Century America.
one analyzes the characters from the standpoint of the way in which the violent nature of the two
The first similarity is that elderly people are left out of the society. In the novel, the elderly cannot have a family. They live in the House of the Old because they are separated from the society. All the people are getting older and weaker without exception, so it is hard for them to live without family. Nonetheless, the society isolates the elderly. “The Old were sitting quietly, some visiting and talking with one another, others doing handwork and simple crafts. A few were asleep” (p. 28). Likewise, in the modern society, elderly people are lonely. Some avoid taking care of their parents suffering from disease like Alzheimer. The elderly are apt to be easily depressed, and this depression can be triggered by the deaths of their spouses, relatives, and friends or by financial worries. Therefore, old people need constant care and their family’s affection. However, due to hectic lifestyle of current society, many elderly people live alone or in care center without their family.
Spain was once of the powerful nations in Europe. However, by the 20th century it was poor and backwards country where corruption was experienced on a commonly basis. After losing its overseas possessions Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico and Philippines during the Spanish-American War Spain was in a state of political tension due extreme measures of wealth, poverty and clearly social tensions. Essentially Spain was a deeply divided country during this time although it was a constitutional monarchy during 1920. During this year King Alfonso XIII remained as the royal figurehead however, Miguel Primo de Rivera was the dictator. The tension was between the right-wing Nationalists and left-wing Republican parties. The nationalist’s party was made up of monarchists, landowners, employers, the Roman Catholic Church and the army. The Republicans consisted of the workers, trade unions, socialists, and peasants. The nationalists were described as traditionalists and fascists, while the republicans were socialists and communists. The real political tension started occurring post 1930 when growing opposition to Miguel Primo de Rivera right-wing government started growing rapidly and leading to his resignation. Miguel Primo de Rivera was not able to solve Spain’s financial disaster from the result of the Great Depression, where unemployment rates increased drastically and Rivera never provided any solutions. Miguel was so unsuccessful throughout his dictatorship even the army refused to support his dictatorship. This then concluded in republican receiving the majority of the election votes, throwing out King Alfonso XIII the following year. The abdication of the King was the turning point; where Spain was now considered the Republic of Spa...
In these two books two families living in different places and times , yet they share many characteristics with one another. Beginning with the odd relationships with their family members.