~ Cereno is ruined by the experience. Delano's efforts to console the Spaniard are in vain, and Don Benito retires to a monastery, where he soon dies. Babo is executed, but his head is. “Benito Cereno,” a story of atmospheric Gothic horror and gripping political resonance, represents Herman Melville’s deepest and most disturbing engagement with the horrors of New World slavery. Telling the story of a slave revolt using material from Amasa Delano's nonfiction account of the early Tryal Rebellion, "Benito Cereno" is a gripping tale that depicts a slave revolt on a Spanish ship, but its underlying message may be overlooked by readers. Written at a time when the United States was on the brink of civil war and had implemented the Fugitive Slave Act, this story reflects the horrors and,