Malicious Babo of Benito Cereno by Melville Essay -- Benito Cereno

Malicious Babo Benito Cereno is a short novel written by Melville, with a surprise ending. At least it was quite a surprise that Babo, the negro servant of Cereno, ends up being the one in charge of the ship. Babo fought for his freedom, which is good, but Babo went above and beyond the means necessary to get his freedom. Along with that he has much more serious problems with himself. Here are some ways to see it. There are two ways to look at what Babo did. When he was fighting for his freedom he was either fighting for his life or for his quality of life. Babo was fighting for a cause that is unjustifiable after the actions that he committed. Babo was fighting for his quality of life and what Babo did to improve his quality of life was terrible and with malicious intent. Yet, there is always another side to an argument so first I will show the way Babo could be seen as a symbol of good. These concepts, life versus quality of life and how Babo is seen as both good and evil, I will clarify in the paragraphs that follow. Babo could be considered a good leader Babo could also be considered a genius Another good quality of Babo is his will to live Fighting for your life is when you are in danger of losing your life. Babo was never in danger of losing his life before he took over Cerenos' ship. Babo didn't like the situation that he was in. So yes, do something about being a slave but there is no need to kill anyone. Babo could have remained on the ship, been sold into slavery and then reposes his freedom much like how Fredrick Douglass attained his. Fredrick Douglass got out of slavery without a single life lost. If Babo had done what he was told to do, Babos' head wouldn't be on a stick right now. Babo would b... ... to steal his ship. Another trait of Babo is that he is a selfish human being. He tries to get what he wants all the time. Babo forces his way of thinking onto his fellow slaves by telling them what to do. If you put these qualities together in one person you will get something bad. Actually to be specific you will get an unethical, dictating liar that rules in such a way that he will get the most personal gain. In conclusion, Babos' actions can speak for themselves. He took fighting for his life over the top, to the point where he became a malicious, gruesome, savage beast that fought to improve his life without taking into consideration the lives of others. He was willing to stop at nothing to get what he wanted. This included murdering and stealing his way to the top where he thought nobody would be able to stop him. I think Babo is where he needs to be.