I’m the Captain Now”
Power, Justice, and Tragedy in “Benito Cereno” and Captain Phillips
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13044652 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brian Danoff (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 30-53 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2161-1580 • E-ISSN: 2161-1599 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/689855 |
| OpenAlex | W2574399322 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
Melville’s “Benito Cereno” and the film Captain Phillips are both based on actual events in which black Africans unlawfully seized control of a ship led by whites; in both cases, (a kind of) order was eventually restored after Americans violently suppressed the Africans. Both the novella and the film take what at first glance might seem like a simple tale of American heroism and transform it into a story that is far more tragic and morally complex. Some readers of the novella in Melville’s day and some viewers of the film may have been tempted to interpret the respective stories solely as thrilling adventure tales that unambiguously celebrate the triumph and the goodness of American power; at the same time, both Melville and the makers of Captain Phillips lead the perceptive reader and the perceptive viewer to ask critical questions about the degree to which American power actually promotes justice
Adventure · Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Economic Justice · Literature · Novella · Order (exchange · Physics · Plot (graphics · Political science · Power (physics · Tragedy (event · History · Law · Philosophy · Race, History, and American Society
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |