Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- "Benito Cereno"is a little bit like Fight Club. You know the line. The first rule of "Benito Cereno" is that you do not talk about the ending of "Benito Cereno". But since we're rule-breakers around here, let's talk about it anyway: how does Melville build suspense leading up to the "big reveal" aboard the ship?
- What's going on with the title? Benito Cereno's not exactly the kind of guy you'd associate with book titles and all that jazz. How might this book be different if it were named "Captain Delano" or "Babo"?
- Does "Benito Cereno"have a thesis about the state of humankind? In other words, is it a hopeful book, or is it purely about the results of evil actions?
- Alexandro Aranda isn't alive when the plot takes place, but how does his ghostly presence affect the other characters?
- What's up with the random court documents inserted in at the end of the book? Do they establish the narrator's authority, undermine authority, or something else altogether?
- If you were to read the court documents first and then skip to the beginning of the book, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style, does the plot still work? How would your sense of the events be different?