Billy Budd Analysis

Society knew Billy was different and because of this, people outcasted him and treated him poorly. This relates to Harding’s quote because the way society treated Billy, led to other major problems, such as his relationship with his mother. Billy’s mother tried to shelter him from this by denying him independence and not supporting his growth and development. Parents have the responsibility to toughen up their children to prepare them for the real world, but Billy’s mother did not do this. She created a great co-dependence for Billy and he did not know any better. Billy suffered from depression and had self-inflicted “razor-blades” and “cigarette burns” (137) as proof. This was probably caused by loneliness and bullying his mother failed to harden him up for. By the time he became a patient in the hospital, Billy was not ready. He did not know what to do without his mother’s help and was not able to stand up for himself. By not defending himself, he allowed people to take advantage

Herman Melville’s Billy Budd introduces us to Budd as a young sailor amongst others in the merchant ship, “The Rights Of Man.” Billy is a bright young man whom everyone likes, he represents good and innocence. Soon we see a British naval ship near the merchant ship called “Bellipotent” where Billy is soon to be recruited onto. Here Billy will come face to face with Claggart, the ship's master-at-arms. Claggart represents evil in the world. Herman Melville’s creation of Billy Budd in a world of evil and wickedness shows that innocence cannot exist untouched by evil. Therefore the claim of the whole transcendentalist movement is “wrong” and not possible. Though good, and of best interest, the transcendentalists do not acknowledge the true flaws and evil ways of certain individuals throughout the world/society.

Billy Pilgrim is the person that the book is written around. We follow him, perhaps not in a straight order, from his youth joining the military to his abduction on the alien planet of Tralmalfadore, to his older age at his 1960s home in Illum. It is his experiences and journeys that we follow, and his actions we read about. However, Billy had a specific lack of character for a main one. He is not heroic, he has very little personality traits, let alone an immersive and complex character. Most of the story is written around his experiences that seem more like symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his World War Two days, combined with hallucinations after a brain injury in a near-fatal plane

Billy is innocent in a sense that he has done no wrong which leads to his blind and naïve view of evil. The Dankster tries to warn Billy that ‘nobody’s friend is Jimmy-Legs’ and by saying ‘he is down on you’ but he does not see Claggart to be a threat of any sort. Billy’s innocence and devotion to good do not let him see the evil in Claggart whom is trying to destroy him but eventually conflict resulting in the murder of Claggart from a blow by Billy.

To the casual eye, Billy looks like the typical bad boy. A boy that ran away from home, showing his rebellious tendencies. A boy that would most certainly be a bad influence over anyone. However, as we take a closer look into Billy's true personality,

It was very unlike Billy to ever do something so rash; he brought out the best in everyone. Captain Vere felt in his heart that Billy’s actions were a mistake, but he could not be sure. The accusation Claggart made was mutiny, and mutiny was a serious crime. Vere had no proof that Billy was not guilty, so for the safety of himself and his crew, he sacrificed Billy’s life.

During the war, Billy’s experience as a chaplain is horrid as they are “a figure of fun in the American Army” (Vonnegut), and he has no friends. Despite being out of place as a Chaplain, Billy is still there. It can only be described as fate that Billy is still there because, without a doubt, he would not be in that depressing situation if he had any real choice. Later, during Billy’s time spent in war, enemies “take him captive as a prisoner of war—an act that places him in the underground barracks and ostensibly saves his life yet again” (Lupack). Billy is saved by fate, but at the same time loses his free will. While he is in the prison, a prison guard responds to Billy’s whining by saying, "Vy you? Vy anybody?" (Vonnegut). This response reaffirmed Billy’s position being all based on fate. There wasn’t much he could do to prevent his capture from the enemy. Moreover, one of the effects of war in Slaughterhouse-Five is that “people are discouraged from being characters” (Vonnegut). This is because, in the book, war is turned into “a controlling system” (Babaee). It goes to show as Billy is involved in several war experiences, such as being “held in an underground shelter (slaughterhouse number five) when it was firebombed” (Haney) or where he has no control. Things that happen to him in war are based solely off of

John Claggart was filled with anger because of the obsession of desires. Hatred was constantly being poured into John’s heart just like a waterfall pouring into a lake. All of John’s sense was lost in his ocean of hate, which caused him to talk poorly of Billy and make assumptions and stories about Billy that were totally false. Even a workmate warned Billy of John Claggart’s doings, but Billy always thought the best of him and denied it. Discreetly, John Claggart confronted Billy of false stories that John made up in his mind, and Billy was so deeply shocked that he was silent. But silence is the best reply to a fool. Ultimately, Billy crossly punched John resulting in death. What John desired the most was what Billy had, and that turned into hatred for Billy. Hatred is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die, life doesn’t work that

Beatty is a conformed character, who is a prime example of what authority is in this society. He burns books and kills people to enforce his way of thinking; trying to “keep the peace”. Throughout the book Beatty says that books are useless, and no one needs them. This is another example of how he enforces his opinion on everyone. After an old woman is killed by firemen, Montag doesn’t want to go to work, so Beatty goes to his house. Beatty explains to Montag how he, Beatty, thinks the history of the world and firemen . After Montag questions Beatty about books, he replies saying, “They’re about nonexistent people, figments of imagination, if they’re fiction. And if they’re nonfiction, it’s worse, one professor calling another an idiot, one philosopher screaming down another’s gullet.” (p.59). He sticks with the same mindset throughout the entire book, and even dies for what he believe is

With this description, Vonnegut vastly distances Billy from the ideal, strong and mighty image of a soldier, yet Billy is a soldier nonetheless. Not only is this weak and ungracious character fighting and representing the honour of his country but also he is one of the few soldiers who survive the war; he outlives many of the other soldiers that could be considered better suited for war. Furthermore, Vonnegut compares Billy to a filthy flamingo, highlighting the distance that exists between society's soldier ideal, graceful and admirable, and the soldiers' reality, harsh and rampageous. In short, Billy is so far from what is expected that he “shouldn't even be in the Army” (51). However, Billy is not the only soldier in this ludicrous predicament. Vonnegut describes the entire Army as chaotic, confused and ludicrous:

Part of Billy's appeal to his shipmates was due to his unparalleled feats of strength that had become canonized amongst them. Just as Jesus' tales of miracle workings and deeds helped to further His legend, Billy's prodigious exploits and physical attributes in turn furthered his own: "Tales of his prowess were recited. Ashore he was the champion; afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost" (1486). The recantation of Billy manhandling Red Whiskers, who is openly hostile towards Billy, and subsequent winning of his allegiance, can be viewed as an allegorical tale of Jesus winning over the stubborn Simon Peter into His congregation of Apostles. Billy, like Christ, is a symbol of peace and unites the other sailors into a familial contingent: "But Billy came; and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular; but a virtue went out of him, sugaring the sour ones" (1488). The familial aspect of the crew is alluded to in the description of Billy not having any known relatives or family members: "for Billy, as will shortly be seen, his entire family was practically invested in himself" (1490). This idea goes along with Christian theology often invoking the image of the

Billy had no mental problems. He was more than capable of having a conversation and could have explained himself to the captain. Billy let his emotions get the best of him. Billy regretted striking Claggart. Billy was punished correctly for the crime he

While never a defeatist, Billy merely flows through his disjointed life without much heed to the event at hand. Billy realizes that he holds the power to create his own happiness and satisfaction out of life through appreciation of the present moment rather than contemplate the occurrence of past and future. Vonnegut develops Billy Pilgrim as a unique protagonist as a means of forcing the reader to question the application of free will upon society and gain a new perspective on the beauty of the present.

When he tells Billy that he needs to figure it out and snap out of it, Billy says, “ You guys go on without me. I’m all right” (Vonnegut 47). This just displays the hopelessness in Billy’s life. The war has driven him to lose touch with himself and not value his own life. This makes it very easy for a reader to feel empathy for Billy and get an idea of how war can really affect these men. Billy isn’t the only character that Vonnegut uses to depict the terrors of war.

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