Studies in Short Fiction, March 22nd, 1993
Herman Melville's 'Benito Cereno' reveals the author's disgust with Emersonian transcendentalism through the self-delusions of the protagonist. Cereno personifies nature, seeing it as a benevolent force that acts deliberately for the good of humanity. Melville makes it apparent that such idealism offers no practical use in a world that is as much evil as good, and will likely be a burden. Cereno is Melville's strongest example of his contempt for the American idealist.
Although many critics have analyzed specific natural images in Melville's Benito Cereno, no one has yet focused exclusively o...
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