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Literary Devices
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Freemasons:
The mystery on board the San Dominick slave ship grows as Delano witnesses the unaccountable unease of the sailors on board. Reflecting upon the tense atmosphere of secrecy and conspiracy on the ship in the course of describing a young Spanish sailor, the narrator alludes to the Freemasons, a fraternal organization:
In act of stooping over to spring inboard to the deck, his voluminous, unconfined frock, or shirt, of coarse woollen, much spotted with tar, opened out far down the chest, revealing a soiled under garment of what seemed the finest linen, edged, about the neck, with a narrow blue ribbon, sadly faded and worn. At this moment the young sailor’s eye was again fixed on the whisperers, and Captain Delano thought he observed a lurking significance in it, as if silent signs of some Freemason sort had that instant been interchanged.
Explanation and Analysis—Castilian Rothschild:
As Delano becomes increasingly suspicious of the situation aboard the San Dominick, he begins to question the story reported to him by Captain Cereno. Reflecting on the mystery of the Spanish captain’s identity, Delano alludes to the Rothschild family, the richest family in the world in the 19th century:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Benito Cereno—Don Benito Cereno—a sounding name. One, too, at that period, not unknown, in the surname, to supercargoes and sea captains trading along the Spanish Main, as belonging to one of the most enterprising and extensive mercantile families in all those provinces; several members of it having titles; a sort of Castilian Rothschild, with a noble brother, or cousin, in every great trading town of South America. The alleged Don Benito was in early manhood, about twenty-nine or thirty. To assume a sort of roving cadetship in the maritime affairs of such a house, what more likely scheme for a young knave of talent and spirit?
Explanation and Analysis—Catholicism:
A prominent motif in Benito Cereno is the use of language and imagery drawn from Catholicism and, more specifically, from monasteries and monks. In the predominantly Protestant New England of Melville’s time, these references to Catholicism would highlight the exotic nature of Spain’s colonies in Latin America. These many references to Catholicism also reflect the influence of gothic literature on Melville’s novella, as many gothic novels are set in Catholic environments such as ruined churches and old monasteries. When Captain Delano first observes the Spanish Captain Cereno, he uses language associated with Catholicism:
Unlock with LitCharts A+His mind appeared unstrung, if not still more seriously affected. Shut up in these oaken walls, chained to one dull round of command, whose unconditionality cloyed him, like some hypochondriac abbot he moved slowly about, at times suddenly pausing, starting, or staring, biting his lip, biting his finger-nail, flushing, paling, twitching his beard, with other symptoms of an absent or moody mind.
