Benito Cerreno Analysis

A Slave's Desperation
Though 150 years lie between the two stories Captain Phillips and Benito Cereno, a common pattern is evident throughout both. Herman Melville’s story Benito Cereno follows a ship captain boarded upon a troubled ship, that turns out to be controlled by slaves due to a previous slave revolt. The film Captain Phillips centers around an American cargo ship that undergoes an attempted hijack attempt by a crew of Somali pirates. The slaves on Benito Cereno’s ship and the pirates attacking Captain Phillips ship, both the lowest class of their individual societies, share common motives and mindsets revealed by their violent actions. The oppressing forces placed on the lowest group within a social structure drives people to act against their desires and turn to violence in result of their desperation to break free. The slaves on board the San Dominick, Cereno's ship, were being transported by the Spanish sailors to be sold in Lima. Yet, before taken by the Spaniards, the slaves lived freely in Africa, without any interruptions from white men. These people went from living a free, self sufficient life to being captured and sold by
Both see their actions as necessary in order to escape a life controlled by the higher class. Each group’s h specific act of violence portrays the way in which their lives are not worth living in their eyes, driving their intense desperation. The lower class within any society has always been plagued by this feeling, whether it be the 1850’s or 2000’s, it will be this way. The power that the higher class has, and the oppression on the lower class forces people to act against their morals; Their need to be freed takes over their mind. When the higher class is given too much power, it results in violence and bloodshed. With or without the title, the people overpowered by a higher class will always be