Herman Melvilles short novels - Book Report/Review Example

Should men go out to work to earn money or do any thing just to earn money? This is a question that one may contemplate upon after reading Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener.” This story affirms the society’s dictate on individuals of what is considered proper behaviour and function of every person, particularly the males. The following points are evident in the text: 1. Men are expected to work in order to provide for their own selves and their families; 2. It is expected for men to have their own properties (real and personal) as a status symbol and as a social construct; 3.

Bartleby is an "other" or a "deviant" because he refuses to write and he lives differently and against others' expectations. In Benito Cereno the author covers a number of interesting points such as: 1. Delano is shown as a generous, kind and rational being; he dismisses his doubts, fear and suspicion and rationalises that Benito and the people around him are only acting strangely as a result of their exposure to extreme physical difficulties on sea; 2. Benito is a master of disguise. Despite his fear of death under his captors' hands, he still finds a way to save the life of his new-found friend; 3.

Babo is a wise and brutal black man who is also a good "actor" and schemer as he skilfully manipulates Benito and even Delano to believe and follow his plot; 4. In the overall picture, the American and Spaniard captains are the imperial capitalists who accumulate as much fortune as they could at the expense of the black slaves' labour.; and 5. Blacks are perceived by the whites as ignorant, unintelligent and yet skilful in performing their tasks and are good-natured amidst their inferiority.

Strange Signs The appearance of the ship St. Dominick at the harbour of St. Maria where Captain Amasa Delano's ship is docked brings about strange effects on the captain. Aside from its unfriendly arrival and lack of courtesy, it shows no identification. To Captain Delano's surprise, the stranger, viewed through the glass, showed no colours; though to do so upon entering a haven, however uninhabited in its shores, where but a single other ship might be lying, was the custom among peaceful seamen of all nations (chap. 1, par. 4).

Despite the oddness of the situation, Delano's good nature overcomes his surprise. He is described as a man who does not easily judge or become suspicious of others. Considering the lawlessness and loneliness of the spot, and the sort of stories, at that day, associated with those seas, Captain Delano's surprise might have deepened into some uneasiness had he not been a person of a singularly undistrustful good nature, not liable, except on extraordinary and repeated excitement, and hardly then, to indulge in personal alarms, any way involving the imputation of malign evil in man.

Whether, in view of what humanity is capable, such a trait implies, along with a benevolent heart, more than ordinary quickness and accuracy of intellectual perception, may be left to the wise to determine (chap. 1, par. 4). Delano's good nature is put into action when he finally decides to go and see for himself how he may be of help the ship in distress in spite of his men's disapproval. Surmising, at last, that it might be a ship in distress, Captain Delano ordered his whale-boat to be dropped, and, much to the wary opposition of his mate, prepared to board her, and, at the least, pilot her in.

Presuming that the stranger might have been long off soundings, the good captain put several baskets of the fish, for presents, into his boat, and so pulled away. From her continuing too near the sunken reef, deeming her in danger, calling to his men, he made all haste to apprise those on board of their situation. But, some time ere the boat came up, the wind, light though it was, having shifted, had headed the vessel off, as well as partly broken the vapours from about her (chap. 1, par.7). In the foregoing responses and reactions, Delano seems to represent any white man depicted as a donor and benefactor rather than a tyrant.

It is not uncommon in those days to see vessels, owned by some rich white men filled with valuable goods and slaves, travelling from coast to coast. However, in plain view, the former majesty of the rich man's ship has been reduced. Upon a still nigher approach, this appearance was modified, and the true character of the vessel was plain -- a Spanish