text: Summary and Analysis Preliminary Climax - BENITO CERENO
  Francesco, a tall steward, announces lunch. Delano and Cereno sit down to fish, pumpkin, beef, and biscuit along with cider and wine; Babo stands behind Delano's chair, in full sight of Cereno's needs. Delano asks for a private conference, but Cereno replies that Babo, who has replaced the ship's missing officers, should remain. The two captains settle a price for the sails; then, shortly before two o'clock, they sit in a cushioned part of the stern while Babo cools Cereno with a feather fan.
  The resurgence of a breeze leads Delano to declare that he will pilot the San Dominick into the bay. He returns to the deck, finding Atufal guarding the threshold; he issues orders in his best Spanish, and with Babo's help, he performs what movements are necessary for piloting, then returns to Don Benito's cabin, again encountering Atufal standing outside it. Because of the slaves' diligence, Delano accuses Cereno of being a "bitter hard master," then encourages him to take heart and to share a cup of coffee aboard the
  Bachelor's Delight.
  The use of the flag of Spain as a symbol of the hypocrisy aboard the San Dominick is an ingenious touch. The colorful banner of Spain, with its upper and lower horizontal bars of red flanking a bright yellow band on which reposes an ornate ceremonial insignia, symbolizes the empire that led the early explorers in search of gold to the New World and which, by 1799, had given place to England and America as unquestioned lords of the sea. As Cereno, a pasty-faced invalid swathed in the flag's bright-hued folds, squirms beneath the hands of his effusive body servant, his discomfort escapes Delano, who makes no untoward assumptions about who is really master and who the captive. The ambiguity of these scenes remains untapped until Delano experiences his great coming to knowledge, a cataclysmic enlightenment of the carefully orchestrated dumbshow which has gone before.