Perception In Benito Cereno And The Turn Of The Screw

Benito Cereno and The Turn of the Screw: Power and Perception Limited perception and the belief of having power play vital roles in The Turn of the Screw and Benito Cereno, as it leads to realizations that come too late, and blinded visions. The Governess and Delano see things one way and refuse to accept that reality is different than the way they choose to see it. The real power lies in those who see reality the way it is and not how they perceive it to be. The perception of oneself having power makes them believe those below them are inferior and powerless, but they are not, as the “inferior” are the ones that hold the true power. In both The Turn of the Screw and Benito Cereno, those who believe they have power are blinded by their “power”

“In Babo, Melville creates a character most like himself: a secretly rebellious creator of multi-leveled plots” (Hattenhauer, 8), which is what Delano fails to see. Delano only wanted to accept his image of the slaves, and not see that the slaves were acting strange and not as slaves are expected to act or be treated. Babo, rather than being a mindless animal, was a leader of the plan that deceived Delano. Upon reviewing many ways to analyze this novella, Vamderhaar concludes that “Both ways are inaccurate, inadequate, and overly optimistic, because both overlook the humanity of the Negro with all his capacity for evil and resentment of his enslavement” (Vanderhaar, 186). One of the reasons Delano still ends up “winning’ in the end is because he has the system on his side. The system is against slaves because they agree with slavery, and rebelling was Babo’s only chance to escape. Babo, losing in the end, only loses because Delano has an unfair advantage over him. Delano would have never won against Babo and the rest of the slaves if he were not white. It is not until the very end of the novella that Delano realizes what was wrong from the start. The Governess too, does not realize that the children were against her until the end. When the Governess finally builds up the courage to confront Miles, he tells her that he and Flora arranged the plan to trick her into thinking Flora was out of her bed and see Miles walking outside at night (James, 75). Upon hearing that, the Governess recognizes that it was her who fell into a trap (75). All this time, the Governess assumes that she has power and that she could not be fooled, but in reality, the children tricked her and had power over her, being able to lead her into a trap. Delano sees that he was powerless at the moment that he recognizes Babo’s intentions, “Not captain Delano, but Don