Melville’s novella is heavily layered with complex allegorical symbols, most notably the contrasting imagery of color, light, and shadow. The oppressive, rotting white-plastered hull of the San Dominick, the weathered Spanish flag masking underlying chaos, and the constant physical shadow that Babo casts over the broken Captain Benito Cereno all symbolize the psychological denial, moral blindness, and inescapable historical guilt haunting the institution of slavery across the Americas.