The Character of Captain Delano in Benito Cereno Captain Amasa Delano is an interesting embodiment of white complacency with slavery and its perpetuation. Delano is a human metaphor for the white sentiment of the time. His deeper sensitivity to order and hierarchy makes it impossible for him to see the reality of slavery. Delano's blindness to the mutiny is a metaphor for his blindness to the moral depravity of slavery. Examining Captain Delano's views on nature, beauty, and humanity, allows us to see his often confusing system of pecking order, which cripples his ability to see mutiny and the injustice of slavery. After Delano believes that Benito Cereno has killed his faithful, brazen slave for improperly shaving him, Delano exclaims, "slavery breeds ugly passions in man." (p. 77) This is a surprising statement on Delano's part, because Delano's deepest sensibility is pro-slavery. We must understand that Delano intended the remark as an offhand comment on Benito Cereno's misunderstanding of hierarchy and how to treat those beneath him. Hierarchy is important to Delano. As the captain of a seagoing vessel, order and hierarchy are not only important, but are key to its survival and presumably to the survival of the vessel itself. If order and hierarchy were to break down, mutiny could result. The captain of a ship, more than anyone else, must have a sense of the value of hierarchy. It is important to understand that although Captain Delano has a rigid sense of hierarchy, he tempers it with an understanding of human nature: “In armies, or navies, or cities, or families, in nature itself, nothing relaxes good order more than misery. ” (p. 42) So, in this sense, Delano's observation that “slavery bree… middle of paper… lave] trades,” they “carry him to his grave.” Again and again we see Captain Delano delight in what he perceives to be the natural order of things. He proclaims the beauty of relationships of order and servitude, sees them in relation to nature and celebrates nature which, in his opinion, is part of his hierarchy. He ignores the basic humanity of slaves, classifying them among animals and commercial material: he treats them only with the amount of humanity with which he would treat an animal. Captain Delano's zeal could be described as a passion for order and hierarchy. In this light we can understand his statement that "slavery breeds ugly passions in man" as an unconscious description of his own condition. An ugly passion to continue the moral depravity of slavery. Works Cited: Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. New York: Dover, 1990.