Ò Mally's Journey Book

This novella'in which Amasa Delano, an American captain, visits a mysterious Spanish slave-ship captained by Benito Cereno--is my favorite of Melville's short works. It is not only as profound as Bartleby and Budd but also more pleasing. A first-rate adventure, it features an innocent in peril, the flash of steel, the flow of blood, surprises, astonishment, a hairbreadth escape, and a last minute rescue. Yet somehow it has never been a favorite with the average reader.

Perhaps this is because both its treatment of slavery and its attitude toward its characters is problematic, and the reader who seeks to explore these ambiguities may find the novella's points of view so nuanced and so inextricably intertwined that a definitive sense of a coherent authorial voice may elude him, leaving him uncertain about the book's themes and therefore unsatisfied.

In spite of this, I advise you to give it try, for it has many pleasures to offer, including the puzzle of a detective story (the discovery, through the innocent eyes of the visiting American, of the mystery which underlies the behavior of those aboard), the thrill of the gothic (grotesque and cryptic "servants"; old manuscripts to pore over; evocative descriptions of the ancient galleon the San Dominick, a magnificent edifice of floating decay), as well as a disturbing allegory of the abyss of self-deception and nascent evil which simmers within the cauldron of American slavery.

Besides, it's short: do yourself a favor, and read Benito Cereno two or three times. With every reading the narrative voices further clarify themselves, and the problems recede even as the ambiguities accumulate. And in spite of'perhaps because of'these nuances, the gothic chills, the mysterious puzzles, and the daring deeds all continue to delight.