Self In Herman Melville's Benito Cereno

Self is called into question as Captain Delano, of Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno, faces himself in situations unlike any he has approached before. This concept of self shapes the way in which Delano acts once aboard the San Dominick and how he tackles the obvious uneasiness that his peers face. While aboard the San Dominick, Captain Delano is required to look at himself in a completely different way than he has ever done so before and he does this through Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage. He undergoes a “transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image,” that is when he understands himself to be a part of the slave revolt (Lacan 503). Delano’s self-actualization or mirror stage occurs as he progresses from seeing Cereno
After arriving aboard the ship, Delano notices the peculiarity of Cereno and his relationships aboard his ship. Cereno’s relationship with Babo causes jealousy in Delano as he wishes to have such a “fraternal” relationship, even proclaiming that he “env[ies]” such a relationship (41,46). Delano witnesses the nature of Babo and Cereno’s connection and imagines himself in such a position as Cereno. This, in relation to Lacan’s mirror stage, is the recognition of “the desire of the other” which corresponds to Delano’s “natural maturation” (507). As Delano wishes to have the same relationship as Cereno, he recognizes that he is not the same but only similar to the other man. Whil he recognizes that he and Cereno are not the same, Delano refuses to believe that anything unnatural is happening aboard the San Dominick and so he agrees to remain clueless to the revolt within his subconscious. Cereno, as Delano’s reflection in the Lacanian sense, is giving clues to the problems aboard his ship through his “relentless and unintentional self-policing” as he attempts to help Delano decipher the mysteries that remain hidden on the San Dominick (Rebhorn 168). As Delano wishes for such a brotherly bond that Cereno has with Babo, Babo threatens Cereno with a knife to his neck under the guise of shaving him. Delano notes the “terrified aspect … presented by Don
As mentioned earlier, Cereno acts as a reflection of Delano in the simplest terms. They both hold commander positions aboard their ships and Delano capitalizes on this. As he subconsciously ignores his self and the actions that he must take as his own entity, Delano only notices the most obvious similarities between himself and Cereno. It is when he is forced to realize his own standing aboard the San Dominick and the serendipitous way that he is able to rescue Cereno, that Delano finally realizes his purpose in this situation and thus, his self. Jeannine Marie DeLombard suggests that “neither rebellion nor escape automatically [confer] independence,” and that is true in the case of Delano (36). He does not immediately realize himself as individual at Cereno’s reaction to him leaving or Babo’s jumping after him; it is only when he sees the “dagger in [Babo’s] hand” that Delano realizes that he is individual. In these actions, Delano reaches a full circle of self-actualization. He has emerged from his comfort aboard the Bachelor’s Delight and has faced the peculiar deck of the San Dominick. Delano has seen himself in Benito Cereno and envied the relationship between the captain and his slave. Yet it is not until he see the dagger set to kill that Delano realizes what he is meant to do while aboard the ship and, in this realization, he realizes that he is not just another