Billy Budd Essay

One thing the book talks about is keeping childhood innocence. Mostly through the characters of the story the novel also shows how easily experience can change people and cause them to lose their youthful traits. Dallys rough youth has made him tough and fearsome, and he seems not to care about anything. But Dally has a soft spot too caring for Johnny.

     This excerpt directly shows that Billy didn’t like Valencia very much and that he actually didn’t want to marry her. However, he was “stuck in amber”. Or, for example, Billy knew the exact time when he would be killed, yet didn't’ try to do anything about it. He couldn’t have changed it anyway.

Billy’s retaliation leads to another conflict between good and evil where Captain Vere must decide Billy’s fate after he commits a crime punishable by death after killing Claggart. Vere likes Billy’s character and would not like to see Billy put to death. Vere accepts that Claggart provoked Billy’s retaliation by lying and can see the evil in Claggart but also recognizes the call of duty which at war-time was non-tolerable for such an offence. Vere is troubled with the conflict of conscience and duty and under the circumstances of war he does what is right and has Billy hung. Captain Vere loves Billy and has no problem with him in any way but finds where authority has evil it will command.

      In his decision making, Vere reminded himself he was under the oath of the King, not human inclinations. If Vere had not done this Billy might have lived. This was not, however, the real reason for changing his mind. The real reason was because others would have followed in Billy’s alleged footsteps if he were not punished. Billy Budd’s life was sacrificed for an unjust reason, and the circumstances surrounding his death were definitely questionable. However, Vere made the decision that he had to although it wasn't morally right for Captain Vere it was the only fair decision he could have made to hang him. The consequences of what might have happened if his life had been spared were far greater that those of grief for Billy's death. Billy’s death was truly necessary for things to remain in order on the ship, especially without crew members entertaining the idea of killing another or starting a mutiny. The hanging of Billy Budd shows the need for punishment to occur for justice to

of symbolism in his novel to accurately convey the feelings of his main character, Holden, and, in essence, to reveal information pertaining to human sentiment. Many of these symbols contain

In Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor, readers are introduced to the conflict of good and evil between Billy Budd and Claggart. However, there is another conflict, which, in ways is more significant than the epic clash of good and evil. Vere’s struggle between duty and conscience is more significant because it occurs in the mind. Whereas Billy Budd was clearly the noble sacrificed hero and Claggart was the vindictive villain, duty is just as noble as conscience and conscience is just as noble as duty. Melville sets up this conflict by placing a man with the intuition and innocence of a child, in the hands of a captain amidst war. In a description of Captain Vere it can be anticipated that Vere, who values peace and common good, would be

only killed Macdonwald but he also stuck his head on to the castle wall which makes the death of

In James Baldwin’s essay “Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation” in The Fire Next Time, Baldwin advises his black, adolescent nephew living in the 1960’s during the African-American Civil Rights Movement on what living a free life means based on Baldwin’s own experience as an adult. As an existential thinker, Baldwin attributes a person’s identity to the collection of accomplishments and failures in his or her entire lifetime, as opposed to accepting a person as determinately good or bad. In order to be truly free of oppression, according to Baldwin, African Americans must seek to be authentic by not conceding to the expectations and restrictions of racist white Americans. A person’s authenticity lies in

The Bible states that "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Billy was definitely slow to speak considering that he did not utter a single word to captain Vere after his accusation. However, Billy was not slow to anger which was evident by the way he immediately punched Claggart, which resulted in more than one death. Even though I believe Vere made the right decision by choosing to hang Billy others believe Vere's punishment was way too severe. I believe that Captain Vere did the right thing by hanging Billy because Billy was not acting trustworthy, he was not using common sense, and he was not being a good influence.

Billy Budd is responsible for his own death. There are times when taking someone’s life is necessary such as a time of war, but not in a heating argument. Captain Vere, said it best that the crime is what they were worried about, not the case between right and wrong. The crime was murder. Billy was a hard worker who would do his best to help anyone out. However, Billy was not judged on the type of man he was he was judged by the action that had taken place.

Billie Holiday, whose real name is Eleanora Gough, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1915. She grew up mostly in Baltimore and always loved jazz. Billie was born to very young parents. Her mother was thirteen when she was born and her father just fifteen. (www.numberonestars.com, 2010)

A sense of duty and fear play into the hand of genuine evil by Captain Vere not following the law to which everyone is governed by. Captain Vere had a duty to sentence Billy Budd whether or not he agreed with the punishment of death is irrelevant. He knew that if he did not follow his duties then there would be punishments awaiting him which is where fear comes into play. He had to put aside his admiration of Billy in order to fulfill his duties. Which is why I can agree with Captain Vere’s argument for the fate of Billy Budd. I think that in his position he followed a logical path of rationale in order to sentence him to death. I think there are times when moral wrongdoing cannot be avoided. For example, if someone where to break into my house

According to Teddy Roosevelt, “ In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” However, Billy Budd did the “right thing,” but was accused of doing the “wrong thing.” He definitely didn’t do “nothing” This young sailor, working on the warship H.M.S. Bellipotent, was one day doing his duties on ship when he was called to the Captain’s quarters on being falsely accused of secretly aiding a French rebellion against the British. He retaliated in anger and struck and killed John Claggart, the man who accused him. When the news spread across the ship, there were many opinions about why he acted so brashly and what should be done to him. In the end, Billy was hanged at sea even though he was right in his actions, for John was always pestering Budd in some way,

Bellipotent was bound for the Mediterranean when Billy was impressed. Through the journey, they experience the mutinies committed by the Royal Navy in 1797 at Spithead and Nore, a sign of radicalism in the maritime. The story also provides a lengthy description of Captain Vere, an educated man who has served in the military for a long time. He is described as a regular dreamer. He is a keen advocate of the law who is concerned with obedience to authority and legal doctrines. Vere is also described as a man who likes reading books and caring about people. John Claggart is an antagonistic master-at-arms of the ship, who was envious of Billy’s beauty and popularity. He is described as a man who is abnormal and constitutionally deprived, and naturally wicked (described as natural depravity). With his evil he accuses Billy of being a mutineer. This propaganda was not plausible because Billy was known to be a good moral person. Dansker is an experienced member of the ship’s crew, who warns Billy of Claggart’s evil-mindedness. Billy was found guilty of killing Claggart after accusing him falsely, and was sentenced to be hanged. Before dying, he said, “God Bless

William ‘Billy’ Budd has been described as a ‘Christ’ like character. His physical appearance remains to be a focus throughout, and his perfection is, ultimately, what attracts all the sailors to him. Billy has an innocence to him that many on the ship have lost. However, nothing is perfect as it seems, as Billy’s flaws lead to his demise. Billy’s stutter, as well as his childlike mentality when it comes to aggravated situations show that while God can create seemingly ‘perfect’ beings, Satan and evil also have their say and play a crucial part. Billy’s death in the novella can be considered a mirrored image of Christ’s death in the bible. Even their last words bear a sense of forgiveness. Billy’s final “God Bless Captain Vere!”, (page 86), is very similar to Christ’s, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Billy’s final exclamation results in a lack of wavering faith and, almost, forgiveness for Captain Vere’s condemning William to death. Additionally, as written in chapter 27, Melville compares Billy to