The Politics of Race in "Benito Cereno"

Author(s): Howard Welsh

Source: American Literature, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Jan., 1975), pp. 556-566
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2924580
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American Literature

556

The Politicsof Race in "BenitoCereno"

WELSH

HOWARD

Universityof Southern Mississippi, Natchez

"BenitoCereno"thereis a neglectedlevelofpolitical
Thoughit is well knownthatMelvillewas conscious
!i implication.
in
of theproblemsof slaveryand race,employingthemrepeatedly
of racial conof Melville'streatment
his work,misunderstanding
flictin "BenitoCereno"has oftencausedthestoryto be condemned
on "artistic"groundswhen in factthe covertmotivesforcondemnationwere political.
Not to mentionall of the cases,even a criticof the statureof
Matthiessencould not acceptthe factthatthe blacks are not the
was one typeof liberalresponse
heroesof the story.Matthiessen's
thatMelto the work-the responseof a liberalwho understands
ville'sblacks are not morallyflawlessand who cannotmusterthe
detachmentto appreciatethe artisticmeritsof the story.Another
typeof liberalresponse,however,whichholdsthat"BenitoCereno"
is verygood "artistically,"
stillmisreadsit. Eleanor Simpsonidensaying:
tifiestheview and its-myopia,
iN

MELVILLE'S

it is clear
liberals,
of somewell-intentioned
thinking
Despitethewishful
to
Negroes comeoff
thatMelvilledid notintendBaboand hismutinous
thusallowingus to
and injustice,
as heroicfighters
againstoppression
Melvillewastesno timemakingclear
tract.
readthestory
as an antislavery
whatit is aboutthe Negroesaboardthe San Dominick thatCaptain
Delanofailsto see: it is theirmalice,theirevil.'
I

the storyis
What has thrownoffmanya readerin interpreting
way of lookingat theNegro is attacked
thatalthougha stereotyped
the stereotype
in questionis not the one usuallyunderattack:the
"Southern"one. Simpson is persuasivein buildingher case that
of the
stereotype
abolitionist
Melville'stargetwas the contemporary
even thoughgrievously
docile and frolicsome,
Negro as inherently
put upon. Withinthe storyCaDtainDelano beginslike a tVDical
1 Eleanor Simpson, "Melville and the Negro: From Typee to 'Benito Cereno,' " American
Literature, XLI (March, I969), 34.

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Notes

557

in thefaceof the evidenceaboardthe

abolitionist
in that,flying
San Domlinick,
"all his old weakness
fornegroesreturned."2
True
as
to his conditioning,
Delano enviesDon Benitosucha "friend"
Babo-"slaveI cannotcall him" (BC, p. 194). Delano is also like
in appreciating
theNegro's"greatgiftofgooda typical
abolitionist
humor";it is "as thoughGod had setthewholenegroto some

pleasanttune" (BC, p.

222).

stereotype,
As an exampleof anotheraspectof theabolitionist
an articleto
SimpsoncitesJamesFreemanClarke,who addressed
"forno race
themto makemoney,
Negroesin whichhe exhorted
in thiscountry
ThenClarke
whichmakesmoney."
willbe despised
"Ifwe
thatrevealsa latentattitude:
goeson to makea comparison
had in Bostonor New York ten orang-outangs
wortha million
. . . ."3 The same
dollarseach,theywouldvisitin thebestsociety
arisingfrom
notionappearswhenDelano thinksof "thedocility
theunaspiring
of a limitedmind,and thatsuscepticontentment
sometimes
inheringin indisputable
bilityof bland attachment
to carryintoeffect
concludes,
inferiors"-or,
as Delano elsewhere
an evil designthe blacks"weretoo stupid."Besides,he reflects,
race"(BC, p. 213).
"The whites. . . bynatureweretheshrewder
Thus,if at firstthereis to be anyevilforDelano aboardtheSan
Dominick,
thenit mustbe whiteevil.
thenaturalblackas notunswervMelvilletakespainstopicture
that
And he shows,further,
inglydisposedtowardsgentleness.
by Babo-are
blacks-orat anyratesomeof them,as exemplified
an evildesign.Babo'shead
not"toostupid"to conceiveand effect
and led
wasa "hiveofsubtlety";
notbody,had schemed
his"brain,
therevolt. . ." (BC, p. 259). PerhapsMelvilleraisedthedistinction
that,thoughthelaw recognizes
between
brainandbodyto indicate
if
theslaveas bQdyonly,as a mindless
simpleexpediency,
chattel,
power.The point
plotting
nothing
else,maygiveforceto a certain
in showingthenursingblackmother,
"likea doe,"is to prepare
forthe laterrevelation
thattheblackwomenon boardthe San
"There's
like does.Delano reflects,
Dominickare not altogether
and love. . ." (BC, p. 211).
nakednature,
now; puretenderness
2 Herman Melville, Great ShsortWorks of Herman Melville (New York, I966),
p. 223;
all subsequent refercncesto "Benito Cereno" are by title initials and pages from this edition
and follow the material cited in the text,enclosed in parentheses.
3 Simpson, p. 36.

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AmericanLiterature

558

But thisis neverthe way Melvillesees "naked nature"-as witness

as
the restof his canon. The contextrunson to, "Unsophisticated
Melville'sperception
leopardesses;loving as doves,"underscoring
of theuniversalstampof dualism.At theend of thestoryone finds
out thattheblackwomenwerenotcontentmerelyto kill Spaniards
-they wantedto torturethemto death.
takingincapacityto grasp
To returnto the matterof stupidity,
Delano scores high marks. His ship is the
realityas stupidity,
Bachelor'sDelight: recallthe use of theword bachelorto represent
"uninitiated"in "The Paradiseof Bachelors"and the ship named
the Bachelorin Moby-Dick,whose crewneverhas seen the White
Whale and does not believein it. Eleanor Simpson,notingthat
saysthat
Melvilleis parodying"certainof his fellowNortherners,"
man; in factthatis the
is a Massachusetts
"Delano, significantly,
firstthingwe are told about him."4The next fact evidentabout
menDelano is thathe is naive-not just as a speciesof abolitionist
talitybut,as to Melville,all men are who overlookthe signalfact
of the universe:evil has broad dominionhere.Delano mighthave
in whichhe found
been suspiciousat once aboutthe circumstances
the San Dominick,
goodnature,
undistrustful
. . .had he notbeena personof a singularly
and hardly
and repeatedincentives,
not liable,excepton extraordinary
theimputation
then,to indulgein personalalarms,any wayinvolving
of malignevilin man.Whether,
is capable,
in viewof whathumanity
heart,morethanordinary
alongwitha benevolent
sucha traitimplies,
maybe leftto thewise
and accuracy
ofintellectual
perception,
quickness
to determine.
(BC, pp. I82-I83)
birdwhich
describesa somnambulistic
Not muchlaterthenarrative
can be caughtbyhand at sea-the whitenoddy(BC, p. I84). Delano
speakstrulywhenhe tellsCerenoto "takea fool'sadvice. . ." (BC,
p.

200).

II

In the openingof "BenitoCereno"Melvillesketchesa leadenhued seascape.Fortunately,

so much has been writtenabout the
in thestorythatthere
roleof theadroitlymanagedcolorsymbolism
4 Ibid., p. 37.

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Notes

559

here.In generalthepointis that

is no needtogo intoitextensively
aboutthemoralstateofaffairs
confused
so longas Delanoremains
of thingsis
exterior
appearance
aboardtheSan Dominickso the
thetruepresence
mantledin a grayhaze. At length,discovering
of evil,Delano sortsthingsout intoclearblackand whitealong
nudgesthereaderandpointsto the
raciallines.Melvilleobligingly
foregloom:"Shadowspresent,
oftheenveloping
function
political
shadowing
deepershadowsto come"(BC, p. 182).
Delano'syouthful
between
Muchhasbeenmadeofthecontrast
vigorandidealismthatis,his"Yankee"outlook-andtheenervain Cereno'sOld Worldship.But,whatis
tionand decaydepicted
between
is generallyseen as a contrast
thiscontrast
mistaken,
the truesecondtermin the
Americaand Europe.Symbolically,
attenliesmuchcloserto home.One needspayparticular
contrast
stress
on Cereno'stoiletand itsreiterated
tionto thetext'sremarks
ofhisclass.One
a SouthAmerican
resembling
upontheSpaniard's
cereneedsalsonoticeaboutCerenosuchthingsas: "Thatstrange
seemednotuncharacteristic
too,atothertimesevinced,
moniousness,
of one playinga partabovehis real level"(BC, p. 201). There
theBourbon
targets,
Melvillehitsat one ofMarkTwain'sfavorite
But,though"lax as Don
pettygentry.
of theSouthern
affectations
he choseto
mightbe, still,whenever
Benito'sgeneralauthority
exertit,no manso savageor colossalbutmust,moreor less,bow"
(BC, p.

231).

fora slavefitnicelyas descriptives

All thesethings,
of course,
partoftheUnitedStates.And one
in theSouthern
holdingplanter
whenDelanoputshisarmon the"balusneedsnoticetheinstance
in rottenness.
crumbles
trade"of thestarboard
quarter-gallery-it
But beforethis,as Delano lookeddownintothe sea below,the
of theship"seemedthecharredruinof somesummerreflection
housein a grandgardenlongrunningto waste,"and "Though
. . " (BC,
uponthewidesea,he seemedin somefarinlandcountry
p. 212). One needsreflect
that,whileDon Benitois thepictureof
he is youngin yearsandfaresas a plantmightwhentransdebility,
likewisetransplantedto an aliensoil-or as a socialinstitution,
organnonadaptable
be
that
the
It maywell argued
might.
planted,
bloom
an exoticthatwouldnotperenially
ismwas in factslavery,
in American
soil.
In
One couldgo on indefinitely
listingdirectcorrespondences.

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560

AmericanLiterature

the matterof Atufal,a hulkingblack seeminglyharassedby the

instance.Atufal
wispy,hypersensitive
Cereno,appearsa noteworthy
be
seemsto chained,thechainpadlocked,and Cerenoholdsthekey.
The keyis "suspendedby a slendersilkencord,fromDon Benito's
neck. . . ." In his blitheignorance,Delano says:"So, Don Benitopadlock and key-significant
symbols,truly"(BC, p. 200). To get
the full importof that,one needs the aftersight
of knowingthat
Atufalwas notchainedand to recallthe stern-piece,
whichfeatures
neck of
"a dark satyrin a mask,holdinghis footon the prostrate
a writhingfigure,likewisemasked"(BC, p. I85). One of thethings
Melvilleprincipallyillustrates
in the storyis thatif one asks who
the slavesare it mustbe replied:"In what sense?"In orderforthe
Southernsystemto exist,therehad to be a slavishdependencyof
the aristocracy
to the
upon the slaves.Notice also the references
Southernanalogue, the Spaniards,being "forcedto black bread
themselves"(BC, p. I89) and to Cereno'sleaning upon Babo as
"theblackupholding
thewhite. . ." (BC, p. I94).
Delano misreadsthe relationshipbetween master and manservant,which he believesto consistin trustand amity.And he
would have been quite as wrongeven if masterand slave had not
the reversibility
of the roles
secretlyswitchedroles. Nevertheless,
When Cerenoimpointsup a truththe storyseeksto demonstrate.
personatesa masterand Babo fawninglyputs on the slave,certain
aspectsof theiroriginalrolescomeintofocus.All along it was not,
as usuallysupposed,a one-sidedaffairwherethemastermade crucial
slave; themastersthemselves
determinations
fortheunreciprocating
wereforcedto blackbread.The slavesall along made crucialdeterminationsforthemasters;each to an extentformedtheother.With
thatin mind,considerthe statement
in the splendidshavingscene
"that the negro seemed a Nubian sculptorfinishingoffa white
off"
statue-head"(BC, p. 226). The dire implications
of "finishing
in the contextshouldnotblotout the attendantsenseof "shaping."
Babo "surveyedhis master,as, in toiletat least,the creatureof his
own tastefulhands"; but,especiallyat the pointin the storywhere
thatlineoccurs-forBabo has therazorat Cereno'sthroat-,the"at
least"is ironical.And, "Shut up in theseoakenwalls,chainedto one
dull round of command,whose unconditionality
cloyedhim, like
(BC,
somehypochondriac
abbot[Cereno] movedslowlyabout."
p. i88; italicsmine).

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Notes

56I

III

by
problemis symbolized
knotof theslavery
The inextricable
knot.A Spanishsailor,secretly
thatverything-aninextricable
tossesDelano
thescalyeyedDelanooftheirplight,
trying
toapprise
ofwhich"he had neverseenin an American
a knot,theintricacy
ship,or indeedanyother."Delano askswhatit is for.The sailor
"Forsomeoneelsetoundo. . ." (BC,p.214). Delanostands
replies,
suspicious
"knotinhand,andknotinhead"untiloneoftheNegroes,
wouldnot
ofthematter,
begstheknot- "forofcoursethestranger
withit" (BC,pp.214, 215).
caretobetroubled
mustbe dealt
theirmotivation
Butiftheblacksarenotparagons,
to slaveryis plain,
with.ThoughMelville'spersonalopposition
and Babbalanjaof
in Mardi,Melvillewasno abolitionist;
especially
that
a remedialwar
Melville,
says
for
Mardi,oftena spokesman
wouldbe a greater
itself.
As fortheself-righteous
evilthanslavery
railers
oftheNorthofVivenza:
holdhiscrossupon
lethimcrosshimself-but
Whosois freefromcrime,
clayand wax are all
his lips.Thathe is notbad,is notof him.Potter's
man
moulded
The soildecidestheman.And,erebirth,
byhandsinvisible.
willsnottobebornhereorthere.

North,South,East,and West,
And as forthewholeof"Vivenza,"
rhetoric,
"all evilscannotbe doneaway.For
despiteherconfident
in oneplace,
andchecked
evilis thechronic
maladyoftheuniverse;
in another."5
breaksforth
strikes
an abolitionist
In The Confidence-Man
thetitlecharacter
withPitch,he infers
stancein oneof hismasquerades.
Conversing
that,thoughPitchlivesin a slavestate,he is withoutslavesentiments.Pitchrepliesthatindeedhe doesnothaveslavesentiments
hastheveryairof a slave,and thenPitch
butthathisinterlocutor
is. "MyMaster?"queriestheConfidenceaskshimwhohismaster
Man. Pitchanswers:"Aye,forcomefromMaineor Georgia,you
wherethebestbreedsareto
anda slave-pen,
comefroma slave-state,
Abobe boughtup at anypricefroma livelihood
tothePresidency.
ofslaveforslave."6
thefellow-feeling
yegods,butexpresses
litionism,
to
relative
through
thought
Another
matter
perhapsnotsufficiently
B Herman Melville, Mardi, and a Voyage Thither (New York, I963), II, 25I; II, 244.
6 Herman Melville, The Confidence-Man: His Masqtterade (New York, I964), pp.
I20.

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I I9-

562

AmericanLiterature

is that,althoughhisroleof BlackGuineaserves
theConfidence-Man
of blacks,theremay be additional
to pointup inhumanetreatment
importto the factthatBlack Guinea is the guise forsome sortof
fiend.In anotherrole,as agentfortheWidow and OrphanAsylum
is ironicallyidentified
among the Seminoles,the Confidence-Man
In "BenitoCereno,"when the Negroesare seen
withWilberforce.7
"withmasktornaway"theyare in a bloodfrenzy(BC, p. 239).
blacks
of themurderous
Melville'saccountingforthemotivation
is seenwell enoughin the story.A black man, like a whiteor any
in Melville's
otherkindofman,is,qua man,a deeplyflawedcreature
pointofview.And ofcourseslavesresentbeingslaves.Delano's most
observationsquotedremarkis one of hisfewintelligent
frequently
"Ah, thisslaverybreedsuglypassionsin man" (BC, p. 227). More
oftenthannot,however,thatremarkhas beentakenout of context:
it is notkeptin mindthat,thoughCerenohas supposedlydone the
thingthatelicitsDelano's remark,it is at thatmomentunknownto
Delano that Babo is the real culprit.Though slaverybreedsugly
passionsin the masteras well as the slave,the focusof the story
restson theuglypassionsbredin theslave.
Delano, however,keepsheedlesslywalkingamong the ominous
"Good
to himself,
Negroes-severalarepolishinghatchets-thinking
as a signofpatient
fellows!"The hatchetpolishingDelano construes
industry-but,then,Delano is even somewhatcharitableto Span"Spaniardsareall an odd set;theveryword
iards(i.e.,Southerners):
Guy-Fawkishtwangto it. And
Spaniardhas a curious,conspirator,
yet,I dare say,Spaniardsin the main are as good folksas any in
(BC, p. 217). This brandof "tolerance,"
Duxbury,Massachusetts"
Delano muses
has racial as well as regionalapplications.
moreover,
thattheturbanedmulattoFrancesco-"theking of kind heartsand
politefellows"-hasbeenimprovedby his strainof whiteblood:
to us white-skins,
indeed,and not verycreditable
For it werestrange,
should,farfromimif a littleof our bloodmixedwiththeAfrican's,
acid
of pouringvitriolic
quality,havethesad effect
provingthelatter's
butnotthewholesomeness.
thehue,perhaps,
intoblackbroth;improving
(BC, p. 228)
Francescowantsto poisonDelano.
7 Elizabeth S. Foster, "Introduction," The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (New York,
p. iv.

I954),

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Notes

563

IV

implicaas a pattern
ofpolitical
In theoveralldesignofthestory
likethe
tion,I thinkthatwhatMelvillehadin mindwassomething
is conThe slaveowner,Aranda,whosechalkyskeleton
following.
remainwarning
tothe
as an unspoken
cealedunderthefigurehead
havingin thefirstinstanceadoptedtherepressive
ing Spaniards,
requisite
tothe
ofslavery,
failedtokeepup therepression
institution
masterand gave
Becausehe was a generous
natureof thesystem.
in somebenighted
theslavesfreedom
ofthedeck(he wasobviously
what the mannerof Delano), the massacreoccurred.Aranda's
was
atthetimethestory
envisioning,
represents
Melville's
generosity
freeing
of theslavesby the
a voluntary,
notwar-induced
written,
wouldnotendwiththeabolition
South.Buthesawthattheproblem
oftheblackswhenthe
oftheinstitution,
presence
forthecontinued
to
weregonewouldbe a danger.In the"Supplement"
restraints
of
Melville
spoke
Battle-Pieces
positionas
. . .the unprecedented
positionof the Southerners-their
slavesin theirmidst,for
manumitted
regardsthemillionsof ignorant
whom some of us now claim the suffrage.... In one pointof view the

thenegrobe bound
of thetworacesin theSouth-whether
coexistence
or free-seems(even as it did to AbrahamLincoln)8 a graveevil.
butnotwhollyof
of thereproach,
has riddedthecountry
Emancipation
thecalamity.9

Oncehe hasfinally
Delanocomesto theaid of
seenthetruth,
theSpaniards.
Aftera gorybattletheblacksarequelled.Attacking
in response
theblacks,eventhoughtheirsavagerebellion
occurred
to theirsavagemistreatment,
seemednaturalto Delano; for"who
8 For example, in an address of October i6, I854, Lincoln said that his own first
However, he
impulse would be "to free all the slaves, and send them to Liberia ...."
went on to say that was at present a practical impossibility,though he entertained "high
hope" for it "in the long run." He continued thus:
What then? Free them all, and keep them among us as underlings? Is it quite
certain that this betters their condition? I think I would not hold one in slavery,
at any rate; yet the point is not clear enough for me to denounce people upon. What
next? Free them, and make them politically and socially, our equals? My own
feelings will not admit of this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the
great mass of white people will not. Whether this feeling accords with justice and
sound judgment, is not the sole question, if indeed, it is any part of it. A universal
feeling, whether well or ill-founded, can not be safely disregarded. We can not,
then, make them equals. (Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham
Lincoln, New Brunswick, N. J.,I953, II, 255-256.)
9 Herman Melville, Poems by Herman Melville (New York, I963), p. I87.

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564

American Literature

fromhisvery
as toapostatize
everheardofa whitesofara renegade
?" (BC, p. 213).
itwithnegroes
inagainst
byleaguing
almost,
species
bythe
oftheblacksin reprisal
Delanoprevents
a,generalmassacre
thatin theSouthgenoperhapssuggesting
Spaniards,
remaining
If thatwas whatMelvillehad in mindcideis a nearpossibility.
rigoragainsttheSouth,
thatNorthern
thewarhewouldworry
after
of
in
Clarel
(IV, v.,49), might
speaks
he
after
strife"
the"misrule
couldcite
hatredofracetowardrace"10-he
"exterminating
provoke
had spokenofthe"deeprootedprejudices
Jefferson
goodauthority.
by the
recollections,
the"tenthousand
entertained
by thewhites,"
which
"distinctions
blacks,of the injuriestheyhave sustained,"
whichwillprobably
naturehasmade;andmanyotherconvulsions,
In
ofouroroftheotherrace."11
neverendbutin theextermination
byCereno.
is donefor;anditis represented
a civilization
anyevent,
merelyhastensthe
The bloodyuprisingof the blacks,however,
workingof a decadencelongsincebegun,of whichAranda'sinNotlongbefore
symptom.
oftheslaveswasbuta terminal
dulgence
Cereno'sdeath,Delanoinsists
to Cereno,". . . youaresaved:what
has castsucha shadowuponyou?"Cereno'sansweris nottheex"Thenegro"(BC, p. 258).
pected"Babo,"butrather
V

Perhapseventsof ourowntimemaybe takento haveverified

scene:
duringtheshaving
in Babo'sstatement
theprophecy
inherent
"Andyetmaster
knowsI neveryethavedrawnblood,thoughit's
true,if masterwill shakeso, I maysomeof thesetimes."Even
thatin the
thevagary,
couldhardly"resist
Delano,fora moment,
andin thewhitea manat theblock.But
blackhe sawa headsman,
in a
and vanishing
appearing
thiswas one of thoseanticconceits,
mindis notalways
thebestregulated
breath,
fromwhichperhaps,
"The
thatcomprehensive
free"(BC, p. 224). Shortly
before
uttering
in MardiwhenMelville
expressed
Cerenoechoessentiments
negro,"
"Easyitis tostandafarandrail,"but
wroteoftheslavery
problem:
Arandaas well
remedy"-including
"notonemanknowsa present
CerenosaysofDelano's
as Delano.The "knot"isindeedinextricable.
10Poems, p. i87.
11 Matthew T. Mellon, Early American Views on Negro Slavery (New York, 1969),
p. I04.

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Notes

565

with
violently
whichled tohisgrappling
byappearances,
deception
CerenowhenCerenoleapedforhis lifeintoDelano'shousehold
boat:
. . . yourlast act was to clutchfora monster,not onlyan innocentman,

butthemostpitiableof all men.To suchdegreemaymalignmachinaimpose.So farmayeventhebestmanerr,in judging

tionsanddeceptions
he is notactheconductof one withtherecessesof whosecondition
quainted.(BC, p. 258)
...."
And
Delano trulyrepliesto thisspeech,"You generalize
mighthavecostme my
saysthat"acuteness
Delanoalso correctly
is
though,
to happenhistorically,
life."Closerto whatwas actually
mighthaveendedunhappily
that"myinterferences
hisrecognition

enough"(BC, pp. 258, 257).

During almostthe entiretimeof the storyDelano "is operated
pain
upon by certaingeneralnotionswhich,while disconnecting
and abashmentfromvirtue,invariablylink themwith vice" (BC,
Mardi,Melville
p. 2IO). Afterthe Civil War, as in the antebellum
would stillbe concernedto say thatthe Southwas "less fortunate,
But proceedingfromfeelingsof
not lessrighteousthanwe . . .*."
the Yankee Delano thinks:"There was a differself-righteousness,
ence betweenthe idea of Don Benito's [i.e., the South's] darkly
CaptainDelano's fate,and CaptainDelano's [i.e.,the
preordaining
of theNorth]lightlyarranging
North's,or ofcertainrepresentatives
after
Don Benito's"(BC, p. 207). The wastedCerenoexpiresshortly
theexecutionof Babo,and hisdeathgivesanothermeaningto Babo's
scrawl-Follow your Leader-beneath the shroudedskeletonof
theimpliedthreatto
Aranda.Now Babo's slogan,Vtsidessuggesting
theremainingwhites,callsup Cereno'sfatedfollowingof his friend
Aranda-in body,spirit,and, in termsof the politicalimplications,
form.That is, Cereno,the emblemof the civilizationof the slaVcto
holdingSouth,followsAranda,the emblemof the slave-holder,
death.
Afterthe war, Melvillesaid regardingthe South as "the fated
of slavery-"totreatof humanactionsis to deal wholly
inheritors"
the greatpretender,
withsecondcauses.""13In The Confidence-Man
disguisedas theNegrocripple,BlackGuinea,wailsto a drover,"Oh
12 Poems,

p. I85-

13 Ibid., pp. I85, I84-

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American Literature

566

sar,I am derdog widoutmassa.""Dogs withoutmastersfarehard,"

repliesthedrover,who goes on to ask him wherehe sleepsat night.
"On der floorof der good baker'soven,sar." The droveranswers,
"In an oven?whose,pray?Whatbaker,I shouldliketo know,bakes
suchblack breadin his oven,alongsideof his nice whiterolls,too.

Who is that too charitablebaker,pray?"14 A man called Malcolm X

was one day to employan oven analogyin answeringa latterday

speciesof Delano, who had protested
to him that,afterall, we are
all "Americans."Malcolm X's subjectivereply to that subjective
judgmentsuggeststhathumansubjectivity,
whichcausedsuchdifficultyin interpreting
the eventsaboard the San Dominick,shall
remaina sourceofmuchhumandisorder:"A catcan havekittensin
theoven,butthatdon'tmake 'em biscuits."

Paintingand Europe in The American

SUSAN P. WARD
Durham,NorthCarolina

CRITICISM

OF

The American
hasconcentrated
on suchissuesas its

place in thedevelopment
of theinternational
novel,1theextent
to which it is romanticratherthan realistic,2
or the validityand
consistency
of its characters.3
No one has treatedas significant
the
relationbetweenits themesand its structure.
This omissionis surprisingin lightof the attentionformreceivesin the criticismof
otherJamesnovels,forno one ofhisearlynovelsbetterillustrates
the
author'sabilityto so interrelate
the parts of his storythat their
separatemeaningswhen joined take on a fullersignificance.
The
Americanexemplifies
thisunityespeciallywell as its themeof estheticappreciation
illuminatesJames'sconstruction
of theplot.The
14The Confidence-Man,
p. I6.
1 Oscar Cargill, "The First InternationalNovel," PMLA, LXXIII (Sept., I958), 4I8-425.
2 Two examples are: George Knox, "Romance and Fable in James' American," Anglia,
LXXXIII (Autumn, I965), 308-323;
and M. F. Schulz, "The Bellegardes' Feud With

ChristopherNewman," American Literature, XXVII (March, I955), 42-55.

3 For instance: Isadore Traschen, "James's Revision of the Love Affairin The American,"
New England Quar-terly,XXIX (March, I956), 43-62; and F. C. Watkins, "Christopher
Newman's Final Instinct," Nineteenth Centuty Fiction, XII (June, 1957), 85-88.

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