The story opens in the early morning of August 1799, off the coast of Chile, aboard an American sealing ship called the Bachelor's Delight and under the command of Captain Amasa Delano. Melville describes Delano as a benevolent optimist who has a "singularly undistrustful good nature" and does not like to believe that man is capable of evil. However, Delano is also described as a blunt thinker and a s

Delano and Cereno escaped to the Bachelor's Delight with Babo as a prisoner. On board the ship, Delano finally learned about the revolt. The revolt of the slaves was led by Babo and their objective was to get back to their homeland, Senegal. The slaves violently killed many of the Spanish sailors, and after killing Alexandro Aranda, they hung his skeleton at the front of the ship. The slaves used the skeleton to warn the sailors that they would "follow their leader" if the sailors did not follow orders. After Delano heard Cereno's story, Delano offered to give his sailors part of the Spanish cargo if they gained control of the San Dominick. The sailors boarded the Spanish ship, and killed most of the slaves.

The oddness of the day continued when Delano spotted a ship without a flag, which usually indicated that it was a pirate ship. However, based upon how the ship was badly navigating the waters along the coast, Delano presumed that it was a ship in distress. As a result, he decided to take the whale boat to investigate and help those on board.

Delano was finally greeted by the Spanish captain of the ship, Benito Cereno, who was accompanied by his small, black servant named Babo. Delano thought Cereno was reserved and rude, but believed Cereno's bad health and weakness to be the reason for his poor behavior. Delano also thought Babo was weak and unintelligent due to his size and appearance, and that he acted like a

After the attack, the American sailors brought the captured slaves to the Bachelor's Delight and shackled them to the deck. During the voyage to Lima, Peru, the sailors stabbed, killed and poked some of the slaves with knives as revenge for the revolt. At the court trial held when they arrived in Lima, Cereno testified at his deposition and explained what had occurred during the revolt. Many of the slaves were found guilty, including Babo who had never spoken again after his capture, even at his execution.

Following the trial, Delano and Cereno had a final conversation together. Cereno was disappointed with Delano because he could not comprehend Cereno's signs warning of him of danger on the ship. Delano told Cereno to forget about what happened that day because he had already forgotten about his own errors. Thus, Delano forgot and did not learn from the experience. Delano also asked Cereno what was casting a shadow on him, and Cereno replied that it was the Negro. Cereno left Lima to become a monk and died three months later.

"shepherd's dog" next to his master. Upon seeing the condition of the people on the boat and the illness of Cereno, Delano offered to stay on board while his crew returned with food and water.

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Approximate Word count = 1889
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)