After apprehending Babo and taking control of the San Dominick, Captain Delano accompanies Captain Cereno back to Chile, where he makes his official report to the Chilean authorities and Babo is executed. Though he is now safe from danger, Cereno is unable to move on with his life as a result of his experiences, and he remains in a state of morbid reflection. In an attempt to lift Cerano's spirits, Delano personifies various natural elements:
"[T]he past is passed; why moralize upon it? Forget it. See, yon bright sun has forgotten it all, and the blue sea, and the blue sky; these have turned over new leaves.”
“Because they have no memory,” he dejectedly replied; “because they are not human.”
“But these mild trades that now fan your cheek, do they not come with a human-like healing to you? Warm friends, steadfast friends are the trades.”
“With their steadfastness they but waft me to my tomb, señor,” was the foreboding response.
Delano attempts to convince Cereno that “the past is passed” and he must move on from his depressed state. The sun, the sea, and the sky, Delano claims, have “forgotten it all,” and Cereno must attempt to do likewise. Cereno, however, rejects Delano’s personification, arguing that they “have no memory...because they are not human.” Delano again attempts to personify these natural elements, arguing that the winds that “fan” Cereno’s cheek “come with a human-like feeling” and are “warm friends” to sailors, attributing human affection and friendliness to the wind. Again, Cereno pushes back both against this act of personification and Delano’s attempt to cheer him up, noting that the winds do nothing but direct him towards his “tomb.”
