Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass were authors that wrote on similar subjects sometimes, but they had very different viewpoints on the morality of slavery. Since Douglass was a slave himself for most of his life, his viewpoint is a little more relevant than that of Melville, a white man. For instance, Douglass could describe situations that only and slave could imagine such as this one: "I suffered much from hunger, but much more from cold. In hottest summer and coldest winter, I was kept almost naked--no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees. I had no bed" (16). This point of view g

After seeing how slaves were treated and how they had to live, one can begin to separate different kinds of people that have the same situation. Slaves, and all other humans for that matter, can fall into two different groups. They could either fight for their beliefs and themselves, or they could just stay in the terrible life that they have and not do anything to better themselves and their way of life. Many slaves in the 19th century chose just to be content with being a slave their whole life and decided that to fight would be useless. Others, like Frederick Douglass and the slaves in Benito Cereno, chose to better themselves and fight for their freedom and a better way of life.

The uprising of the slaves and oppressed people hopefully now can be understood better. History has shown many of these rebellions and also escapes of the slaves and human nature provides a person with an instinct to flee or fight to better their lives. This idea can also be applied to everyone in the present time. When hard times hit people, they have a choice to either get through trying to better themselves or to just go through the motions and not living up to the challenge.

Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs". MELUS. Vol. 22, Issue 4. 1997.

Drake, Kimberly. "Rewriting the American Self: Race, Gender, and Identity in the

"The Negro placed a rug under Don Benito's feet, and a cushion behind his back, and then stood behind, not his master's chair, but Captain Delano's. At first, this a little surprised the latter. But it was soon evident that, in taking his position, the black was still true to his master; since by facing him he could the more readily anticipate his slightest want." (79)

In Melville's Benito Cereno, slaves are in a different location than on the plantations of the South, but their status is the same and they are treated in a similar way. Even though the slaves had rebelled and taken over the ship of Don Benito, the slaves still covered themselves by pretending to be like normal when Delano was on the ship. Babo followed Don Benito around and was his servant for all needs. Melville shows this when they are all at a meal:

"They find less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep; for when their day's work in the field is done, the most of them having their washing, mending, and cooking to do, and having few or none of the ordinary facilities for doing either of these, very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in preparing for the field the coming day; and when this is done, old and young, male and female, married and single, drop down side by side, on one common bed,--the cold, damp floor,--each covering himself or herself with their miserable blankets; and here they sleep till they are summoned to the field b

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1892
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)