Benito Cereno: Herman Melville

This short story was based on actual events. The protagonist and narrator is the fictionalized character of Amasa Delano who actually battled against the slaves who took over the boat. The story begins with Captain Delano spotting a boat in the distance with tattered sails moving listlessly. He drops a boat and goes to investigate. One he meets up with the boat he is surprised there are so many black crew and so few white. The captain of the boat, Benito Cereno, welcomes him aboard and is a very jittery man who seems to lose his train of though. Delano sends his men back to get this boat some supplies, and spend most of the afternoon aboard with the strange crew. Cereno has a very attentive personal slave, Babo, who seems to help Cereno focus and answer Delano's questions about events that brought them to this ruin. Delano has trouble understanding a lot of the story and eventually realizes there has been mutiny and the slaves have taken over the ship and Cereno's Slave is actually the new captain of the ship and Cereno has become the slave. Delano orders his boat to attack and they take Cereno safely to shore. Once in the court the whole story comes out, but Cereno dies a few weeks after the trial finishes.