SOURCE: “The Idea of Nature in Benito Cereno,” in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 30, No. 2, Spring, 1993, pp. 161-68.

In the following essay, Martin discusses the allegorical qualities of nature depicted in “Benito Cereno.”

Although many critics have analyzed specific natural images in Melville's “Benito Cereno,” no one has yet focused exclusively on the role of nature in the novella, nor looked fully at its problematic relation to Delano. Such an examination can both reveal much about Melville's artistry and enhance our understanding of the protagonist's special kind of self-delusion. Midway through the novella, Delano performs an act that is at once typical and revelatory of his ideology: overwhelmed by fears for his life and doubts about providence, he turns to nature for reassurance:

As [Delano] saw the benign aspect of nature, taking her innocent repose in the evening, the screened sun in the quiet camp of the west...