Violence In Benito Cereno By Jon Krakauer

Synthesis Essay

Peace Succeeds

Violence is at that core of every civilization to date, every nation has been forged from the loss of another group. However the question has always been whether or not it's necessary to really accomplish a set goal. Most people would agree that a violent path is not always ideal and typically ends with significant losses to both sides. The question is why do we continue to use violence if we have known that the consequences are high no matter what. Why can’t we find a new way, a better way to accomplish our goals as a society? Why must all rebellions end with loss and suffering for one side? In Benito Cereno by Herman Melville, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and the poem “O captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman,

a different take on rebellions are given, some violent and others not so much. Benito Cereno takes more of a gruesome turn by discussing the ineffectiveness of violence in a rebellion long term. On the other hand, Into The Wild, provides an alternative to violence by delving deeper into the possibilities of a personal rebellion that does not require violence at all. Finally, “O Captain! My Captain!” provides insight into the damage a violent rebellion has on those affected and how devastating it can be for others who wish for better. In the end, although violence has shown to be effective in the past, a successful rebellion is better off without it, because without violence the devastation and loss can be avoided entirely and it will have a more lasting impact as well.
In the short story “Benito Cereno” by Herman Melville, a violent rebellion takes place that in the end only caused pain and suffering on both sides.

In the story, slaves revolt against their masters while at sea, and as a result many of the crew are killed and the rest live in fear on the boat while the slaves establish their power, “slain by command of the negro Babo”(Benito Cereno 108). The amount of violence depicted in this rebellion shows why it immediately had some major affect on the events that transpired. However this initial success of the rebellion was quickly quenched, as another ship came into view and a charade of sorts was needed to continue the success mentioned before. This led to a somewhat concealed rebellion that carried on until the departure of the visiting captain, and this charade worked well for the slaves without the use of any hardcore violence against the spaniards. However some acts of aggression were used to enforce the new rules, “the two blacks dashed him to the deck and jumped upon him”(73). For the most part this section of the rebellion went off without a hitch and would have continued to work had one of the spaniards not spoken out. The result of the insubordinance was more violence, “ See, master- you shook so- here’s Babo’s first blood”(86). These acts of violence unfortunately were not nearly as successful for the underdogs as they were during the initial revolt. In fact the result was worse than could be imagined with several of the

slaves dying along with the aforementioned spaniards that were killed in the initial revolt. In the end the rebellion at sea was not successful in the least as the leader, Babo, was sentenced to death and the rest of the crew did not gain the freedom they had anticipated. This rebellion was very violent and although effective at first, lead to an abrupt end with the supporters of the rebellion suffering greater loss than anticipated.
In the novel Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the main character, Chris McCandless, has his own rebellion without the use of violence and many believe he found his goal through it. McCandless rebelled against society itself and forged a new path outside of the social norms that many at the time were used to. McCandless, from Krakauer's interpretation, was able to do all of this peacefully and he managed to leave a lasting impact on those around them. According to dictionary.com, the definition of a rebellion is, “dissent from an accepted moral code or convention of behaviour, dress, etc”, which is precisely what McCandless did during his adventures. Many of the people he met remember him fondly as well, “he always had friends, and everybody liked him”(Into the Wild 107). Chris was able to rebel against an oppressive force without having to do any acts of violence, he simply and literally walked away from society. In the novel, Krakauer himself shares a tale about his own personal rebellion that he felt was very similar to that of McCandless's, “I suppose it was this inherited off-kilter ambition that kept me from admitting defeat” (150). Krakauer also managed to rebel against something, or someone in this case, that he felt oppressed by plus he managed to do it all without acting out violently against the opposing force. In fact he felt more enlightened by the experience of overcoming his inner demons during his rebellion against his father. Had he chosen a different path, a more destructive path, either to himself or to his father then things would not have worked out as well for the now rather successful author and mountaineer. Back to McCandless, throughout the story the book had to be told from the perspective of outside accounts since the main character was deceased before the book was released. However from these accounts many of the witnesses all accounted the same general thing, “he seemed to have a difficulty seeing the trees, as it were, for the forest” (63). Chris was very confident in his abilities and saw his goal as his purpose in life and because of this he was pushed to accomplish this goal for himself no matter the cost. However this overconfidence wasn’t the best for him in the circumstances he was under, “But McCandless, in his naïveté, relied on the advice from hunters he’d consulted in South Dakota” (166). On the other hand he still accomplished his goal even with his shortcomings and managed to rebel against society for his own good. McCandless's story is an example of how people can accomplish a rebellion without the use of violence and in the end, find whatever they hoped to find through the act of rebelling in the first place. Going along with McCandless’s story, the short film Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog, has a similar storyline where the main character rebels against society once again but in this case in the defense of others. Timothy Treadwell is the main character of this documentary and the film documents his protection of bears during his summers over the span of several years. Although fiery and passionate about these bears, he never performed any acts of violence against anybody in the name of his cause. Instead he remained neutral and simply performed his own rebellion against the rest of society by documenting his time in the woods with the bears he cared about so much. “I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals”(Herzog, Grizzly Man). Timothy continued rebelling until his unfortunate death while doing what he loved and what he believed he needed to do. “If I show weakness, if I retreat, I may be hurt, I may be killed. I must hold my own if I'm gonna stay within this land”(Herzog, Grizzly Man). Although the end of both of these stories was unfortunate, their individual rebellions were more successful and fulfilling than if they had acted against others in a violent manner.
“O Captain!

My Captain!” by Walt Whitman, shows the devastation that violence in a rebellion can have, and how a whole nation was shaken when a rebellion took a violent turn for the worst. The poem was written post civil war and after the death of Abraham Lincoln, and the emotional turmoil that Whitman feels over the events that transpired during the war are expressed throughout the poem. Whitman took the loss of the nation's unity and of the president very hard as he himself firmly believed in the nation, “But O heart! heart! heart!”(5). Whitman expressed the joy part of the nation felt having made it through a very violent bloody war that changed the nation forever, but he also acknowledged the loss many felt including himself. Whitman was especially adamant about the loss of President Lincoln, which was the main point of the poem, and how important he was to the nation and to himself. As said by Whitman, “our fearful trip is done”(1) refers to the conflict that was the civil war, that led to the death of Lincoln. Whitman references Lincoln’s death heavily every time he references that the captain has died, “ Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead”(7-8). The other definition of a rebellion according to dictionary.cambridge.org is as follows “violent action organized by a group of people who refuse to accept their government’s power and are willing to use force to oppose it”. Which is exactly what happened in the civil war that happened prior to the death

of the president and is also mentioned in the poem along with Lincoln’s death. This poem emphasizes the point that an act of violence on this scale, is not going to be without consequences and in this case the result was a country fighting amongst itself and the death of Abraham Lincoln.
In the end, violence will most likely remain the last resort when it comes to make changes in the world around us all. Even though the devastation has been shown to be great history has shown that it always come down to acts of violence to make changes. However if in the end if the rebels of a rebellion can make do without the use of violence then the end result can be for the better rather than for the worst. Although history has shown violence to be effective as mentioned before, it also shows that those who rebel without violence are remembered and leave a lasting impact on those sympathetic to their cause. Prominent leaders who led nonviolent revolts include people such as, Henry David Thoreau, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ghandi. All of these individuals made a lasting impact on history and those around themselves all while leading a rebellion that changed the world without using violence. These individuals proved the point that not only do rebellions not need violence, but they are better off without it and end up having a longer lasting impact because of it.