Benito Cereno And Why I Live At The P. O

‘Benito Cereno’ and ‘Why I live at the P.O’
“Benito Cereno” is a novella by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slavery ship captained by Don Benito, published in 1855.
Often, authors of short story present a deeper meaning to their stories, different from the simple interpretations that might be accompanied by the story. This deeper meaning is meant to challenge the reader into a certain theme or point that the author seeks to indicate. One of the ways through which authors can present a different meaning to their works is through symbolism. Symbols are a representation of a different aspect or object. Through the use of symbols, authors can present a totally different aspect from that perceived by the reader.

Herman Melville’s ‘Benito Sereno’ is one story that makes use of symbolism. Melville’s story is an illustration of the evil that surrounded the slave trade. It is an illustration of how slavery can result in anger and frustration that has dire consequences. As a result of the anger that had been held by the slave for too long, they resorted to barbaric ways of ensuring that they gained their freedom. The slaves managed to orchestrate a revolution right under the eyes of the captain, taking over the control of the ship and killing the whites that had been tasked with the transportation of the slaves. ‘Benito Cereno’ makes use of symbolism in various ways. First, the author makes use of the term ‘gray’ or ‘grayness’ in various instances in the story. Secondly, the Alexandra Aranda’s remaining skeleton is also used as an important symbol throughout the story. ‘Benito Cereno’ is a story that portrays the confusion that engulfed a ship that was being captained by the protagonist by the same name. To fully bring out the confusion in the eyes of characters such as Captain Delano, the author incorporates the use of the term ‘grayness’ as a symbolism for the confusion that was apparently brought about by the institution of slavery. As early as the third paragraph of the book, the author seeks to alert the reader that something was amiss. The author indicates that “The morning was one peculiar to that cost. Everything was calm and mute; everything was grey” (Melville 2). The use of the term grey along with the rest of the sentence is used to highlight the fact that even the weather was pointing out to something being wrong. The use of gray serves to set up the mood to introduce the rest of the characters and the setting of the entire story. Grey being a color that is between white and black comes out as the dominant color in the ship that Captain Delano rushes to the rescue. Captain Cereno is often described in the story as being gray or ashen. Also, everything in the ship seems to be confusing and not straight up. For instance, it seems as though the whites are in control of the ship but it is the blacks who are giving out the instructions in the ship. This is highlighted through the role of Babo who seems to be controlling Benito Cereno all the time. Captain Cereno even points out that “But it is Babo here to whom I owe not only my life…” (Melville 13). The use of gray is a symbol for th confusion that was directly brought by slavery. The skeletons or the remains of Alexandra Aranda also serve as a symbol. The skeleton have been hung in the ship’s bow with the phrase ‘follow your leader’ written under the skeleton. This was a message that Babo wanted to pass down to the whites that they were also on their way to death just like Aranda had perished. It is a representation of the negative force of slavery. Considering that Aranda was the slave owner, the skeleton is used to indicate that the negative effects of slavery can be felt by both the slaves and their owners.
In “Why I live at the P.O.” by Eudora Welty in 1941, readers are given admittance into the world of ‘Sister’ who is the speaker and town’s postmistress in this story.

This story describes main character’s uneventful life in China Grove is interrupted by the arrival of her sister, Stella-Rondo, who has just left her husband and returned to the family home in Mississippi. Because Stella-Rondo destroyed her sister’s uneventful life and broke her relationships with everyone in this family, her sister who is speaker in this story had to move to the post office for living. Eudora Welty’s ‘Why I Live at the P.O’ makes use of symbolism as a mechanism of communicating the many themes that surround it. Welty’s story incorporates the radio and the post office as important symbols that enable the author to tie together and give meaning to the narrative presented. The radio is used to symbolize the increase in isolation. It presented the only way through which the family could be able to gain any form of knowledge or the outside world since they did not want to go back to the Post Office again. When Sister leaves with the radio, she goes away with the one form of equipment that could be used to link the family to the general world. With the radio gone, the family is thrown in further isolation. The post office is also symbol of isolation. It epitomizes the isolation faced by Sister as she vows not to go back to her family home. She vows to stay in the post office until her sister or family could come and seek to establish relationship with her. Through her words “Here I am, and here I stay” (Rubenstein & Larson 941) Sister asserts that she is going to be happy at the post office. The post office also symbolizes isolation in that it enhances the stance that the family took. Through pointing out that they will not send or receive letters anymore, the Sister’s family stamp heir isolation from Sister and the rest of the world. When Sister said that the only way that the family

could meet is if the family visited her at the post office Papa-Daddy pointed out that “You will never catch me setting foot in that post office” (Rubenstein & Larson 941).
“Benito Cereno” and “Why I live at the P.O” look like don’t have any connection, but they actually have some similarities, such as the use of symbolism. While Welty makes use of the radio and the post office to represent the form of isolation that evident in the story, Melville adopts the use of grey and the skeleton t indicate the confusion and the evil nature of the institution of slavery that existed during the period the story refers to. For the deeper meaning of these two famous books, both of them mention about something with ‘freedom’. The main character in “Why I live at the P.O.” wants to leave the family with unfair family relationship, and some readers feel that post office symbolizes freedom. According the background of the “Benito Cereno”, it also has something symbolize the freedom of black man. Also, for many years, "Benito Cereno" was viewed as a tale about the struggle of good versus evil. According to this interpretation, the blacks aboard the San Dominick represent "blackness" - i.e. moral depravity - in the abstract. At the end of the tale, when Cereno declares that "the negro" has cast its shadow upon him, he implicates the evil within human nature, whom the blacks metaphorically represent. “Why I live at the P.O.” mentioned something about the relationships between the speaker and her family. Her family members don’t trust her, but trust her ‘evil’ sister.
The themes, motifs, and symbols in these two different books, so it is interesting to find some connection between them.