Billy Budd Essay

drummer’s court faced in the book “Billy Budd”, when Billy punched and killed John Claggart, his superior officer at master-at-arms aboard the H.M.S. Bellipotent, a British Naval ship. Claggart accused Billy Budd of mutiny, and this false accusation angered Billy so much that he punched the master-at-arms in the face, killing him. Although Billy did not intend mutiny or murder, he was sentenced to death by the drummer’s court, and hung the next morning. And while Billy did in fact murder Claggart, there

Billy Budd sat silently in the hard wooden chair as the ship creaked back and forth. He had been sitting there for what seemed like an eternity. No one understood that all of it was an accident, that he had just hit the man out of anger, and that it had mistakenly become the death blow. Drifting back and forth from daydreams, Billy contemplated his whole life with an emotionless expression painted on his face. The chaplain slowly peeked in from behind the worn door. Through the dim and dreary light

his book, Billy Budd was faced with this very decision. Both sides agree that John Claggart falsely accused Billy Budd, however they disagree as to whether Billy should have punched John, or whether he should not have. Billy Budd should not have punched John Claggart for three reasons: the possible risk, needless violence, and poor representation. The first reason Billy should not have punched John is because of the possible risk. When John knowingly and wrongfully accused Billy, Billy’s first

how the narrator of Billy Budd, Sailor views the behavior of the character Master at Arms, John Claggart. Through many a biblical reference and serpentine comparisons, the narrator of Billy Budd paints a vile portrait of the Master at Arms. Yet when closely examining the text, the foul caricature of John Claggart is nowhere to be found. What is present, is a man in love, who knows the consequences

Billy Budd, by Herman Melville, is the book I chose to read. My reaction to the novel is that it was very boring and took too long to read for how long it was. It was also hard to read because of the style that it was written in. The reason I chose this book is because it had a small number of pages in it and I didn't have much time to read it. The organization of this novel seemed very stray and confusing. This may, however, have been because of the style it was written in or that I did not

Is love and passion more powerful than honor and responsibility? When Billy Budd strikes Claggart it left Captain Vere with a tough decision. Billy is like a son to him, but he is the Captain of the ship and has many duties to attend to. The effect and significance of this decision on Captain Vere intertwines with the setting of sorrow and symbolism of Billy being equivalent or even greater than a Christ-like figure. The time of the novel is very somber. For the shipman human rights are threatened

In Melville’s “Billy Budd,” the contemptuous presentation of Christianity emphasizes an intrinsic flaw in the narrator; his unverified convictions and ambiguous moral code. Billy Budd characterizes a very pious and innocent form, like Adam before the Fall or Christ, to emphasize the narrator’s romanticized perception of him. Likewise, Claggart’s portrayal as the villainous snake from the Fall epitomizes the narrator’s belief (conception) of evil. While Melville may seem to mock religion, he mocks

The Hanging of Billy Budd The hanging of Billy in Melville’s Billy Budd was a questionable and complex decision made by Captain Vere. Captain Vere, or “starry Vere,” chose to coincide with the law rather than spare Billy to make himself happy. The hanging of Billy was necessary for order to remain on the ship and for justice to prevail. Billy Budd, also known as the “handsome sailor,” was on trial for killing the master-at-arms, Claggart. Everyone wished for Billy’s life to be spared, but Captain

BILLY BUDD      There are many ways you can argue if the novel Billy Budd was a good novel or a bad one. You can determine this by looking at such things as plot, character, and the use of language. The book is about a sailor that has been impressed (the act of forcibly taking sailors and making them serve in the navy) by the British navy. It is set in the late 1700’s during the French Revolution which overthrew the anarchy, addressed peoples concerns, and it was mainly

Resentment of various types pervades “Shooting an Elephant,” from the beginning to the end. As a conspicuous agent of the foreign presence, a stranger-master, the narrator finds himself, “for the only time in [his] life,” automatically “hated by large numbers of people.” This hatred takes the form, in its non-crisis mode, of “an aimless, petty . . . anti-European feeling . . . very bitter,” expressed in opportunistic acts like spitting betel juice on the dress of a European woman crossing the bazaar