Benito Cereno Lesson Plan

The character Atufal is the only slave aboard the San Dominick in chains. What do you think Atufal represents? What effect does Atufal have upon Captain Delano?

While it’s certainly unusual—and suspicious—for a slave ship to allow the blacks to roam freely, especially when they largely outnumber the whites, Atufal is more typically enslaved in chains, with an iron collar around his neck (perhaps symbolically taking away his voice). But Atufal is not just a typical slave: he is powerful in body and status (he is a former king). From a slave owner’s perspective, Atufal represents an idealized vision of slavery: immense black power defeated and subjugated by superior white...