Delano’s Trust
In class we discussed Delano’s trust in others, and how he may trust people a little too much. From the very beginning of the story, we are told through the description of the setting that something does not seem right. The ocean is calm but unsettled, and one cannot distinguish where the sea ends and the sky begins. As Delano boards the San Dominick, he has absolutely no idea what is going on because everything seems out of order. He looks past almost every little detail shoved in his face that something might be wrong. He instead makes things worse for Cerano by ignoring his hints and looking for the bright side of every situation. Everything “appeared” to be in order, but even from the narrator’s descriptions through Delano’s eyes, we see that there is no certainty in his observations. What made Delano so oblivious? It is safe to believe that he did not think that a slave revolt could happen because he didnt believe the slaves were smart enough to hide it from him, but why was Delano unable to trust his own suspicions when he was so willing to trust everyone else?
From the start Delano is weary and part of him knows that something is wrong. His problem is that he consistently second guesses himself and squashes all of his doubts. It’s unrealistic to say that Delano should have known that he was seeing a slave rebellion. Yes clues were thrown in his face, but nothing was spelled out and this would have been a rather abnormal thing to see. Delano’s unwavering trust is aided by his racism that does not allow him to assume that the slaves might be up to anything. His trust and subsequent lack of understanding also comes from his trust in Cereno as a sailor. He is too trusting of Cereno’s honor and second guesses himself every time he doubts Cereno’s story.