What do you think?
Rate this book
Two Slave Rebellions at Sea: "The Heroic Slave" by Frederick Douglass and "Benito Cereno" by Herman Melville
Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895), a fugitive slave who became the best-known black abolitionist orator and autobiographer, and Herman Melville (1819-1891), a fiction writer recognized for the elusiveness of his meanings, both composed stories about slave revolts at sea. In the decade just before the Civil War, during years of increasingly angry debate about slavery, Douglass in "The Heroic Slave" (1853) and Melville in "Benito Cereno" (1855) fictionalized important slave insurrections.
Of the mutiny on the Creole , on which Douglass's story is based, the editors recount what can be recovered about the slave Madison Washington, who led the revolt, and reconstruct the events before and after the uprising. The editors warn the readers that the official documents about the case are all biased against the mutineers, who were never allowed to tell their story to American officials. Addressing largely white readers in the North, Douglass, to the contrary, speaks clearly as an Slaves wanted their freedom and were justified in using violence to gain it.
“Benito Cereno" is based on Captain Amasa Delano's chapter in his Narrative of Voyages and Travels... (1817) about a slave mutiny off the coast of South America. Writing in part for a northern readership, Melville tells of a mutiny that, unlike Madison Washington's, was suppressed. Delano's account shows no sympathy for the slaves. Melville's view is hidden in ambiguities. "Benito Cereno" is one of Melville’s stories most often collected in anthologies; Douglas's "The Heroic Slave" is rarely reprinted.
Of the mutiny on the Creole , on which Douglass's story is based, the editors recount what can be recovered about the slave Madison Washington, who led the revolt, and reconstruct the events before and after the uprising. The editors warn the readers that the official documents about the case are all biased against the mutineers, who were never allowed to tell their story to American officials. Addressing largely white readers in the North, Douglass, to the contrary, speaks clearly as an Slaves wanted their freedom and were justified in using violence to gain it.
“Benito Cereno" is based on Captain Amasa Delano's chapter in his Narrative of Voyages and Travels... (1817) about a slave mutiny off the coast of South America. Writing in part for a northern readership, Melville tells of a mutiny that, unlike Madison Washington's, was suppressed. Delano's account shows no sympathy for the slaves. Melville's view is hidden in ambiguities. "Benito Cereno" is one of Melville’s stories most often collected in anthologies; Douglas's "The Heroic Slave" is rarely reprinted.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2000
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 6, 2009
Benito Cereno was definitely the better of the two. It was an intense page turner. That's impressive for something written in the 1850s.
February 8, 2009
These stories are interesting, especially "Benito Cereno." I have to read it twice for my English class and I am picking up on amazing little details the second time. Short, easy reads.
March 25, 2015
Douglass's attempt at novel writing. Published in 1853 and definitely tells the story of the time in a fictitious/natural discourse.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews