Billy Budd As A Christ Figure Essay

He is a handsome sailor who has no idea his age or birthplace/date. He is well liked by his companions. Billy does represent goodness accurately because good has no real root, no beginning or end, it simply is, much like Billy. Though goodness does not equal perfection in this case. Billy does have a defect/flaw, his stutter. Billy explains his stutter as, “sometimes I cannot find the rights words to describe my emotions.” Billy’s innocence and purity are accepted by all but one on the ship, Claggart. Billy also is forgiving, at the end toward the time of his death, he holds no hatred for Captain Vere, instead yelling, “God bless Captain

     Captain Vere knew that Billy did not mean for him to die but he still calls a trial for murder. Captain Vere knew that Billy was not going to revolt as well but because of the mutinies that had been taking place at that time, Vere did not want to show any weakness. Billy could have probably gotten off had he turned in the other men who were actually planning to revolt but he didn’t because of his loyalty to his crew. He lost the trial and was hanged, his last words being, “God Bless Captain Vere!';

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.

Although Washington could not describe himself as a revolutionist, his present state of external conflict forged him into the figure engraved in our minds today. Herman Melville (1819-1891), author of the literary classic Moby Dick, possessed much experience that contributed to the setting and message of his writing. Although Melville never became a midshipman, or naval sailor, he can attribute a great deal of influence for writing to his life while at sea. Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor tells the story of a young mariner and his induction on the H.M.S. Bellipotent. From unstable relationships to cabin revolt, Billy, the main character, faces a series of conflicts that ultimately creates varying images of him in the differing minds of those around him. In view of all of this, Melville, in Billy Budd, Sailor, communicates to readers the theme that “conflict, internal or external, exists as the framework of destiny,” through Billy's initial reaction to the crew as a result of enlistment on the Bellipotent, the rumor of mutiny, and his

Many people have been born that have struck a chord with the world. Some people have become legends, patriots and even heroes. Though one person stood out among the rest, this one was not made a hero, but was born to be one. He was a hero at what he strived to be in life and he has captured the attention of the public like no other solider has done before or since. This great Canadian Air Force Ace became one of the legendary figures in 20th century air warfare. With his daring and dramatic dogfights in France, he achieved a record of 72 kills in his many encounters. His role on the ground during the Second World War training pilots changed and inspired a whole new generation of fighter pilots. This man is known

After Billy and Weary are caught the German photographer wanted a picture of an American being captured so that it could be published in the papers,“The photographer wanted something more lively, though, a picture of an actual capture. So the guards staged one for him. They threw Billy into shrubbery. When Billy came out of the shrubbery, his face wreathed in goofy good will, they menaced him with their machine pistols, as though they were capturing him then”(Vonnegut 74). Billy blindly follows what the guards tell him to do because he is under their control. Billy does not have the ability to act on his own accord. In the novel it is stated that,“'Saved your life again, you dumb bastard,’ Weary said to Billy in the ditch. He had been saving Billy's life for days, cursing him, kicking him, slapping him, making him move... Billy wanted to quit. He was cold, hungry, embarrassed, incompetent. He could scarcely distinguish between sleep and wakefulness now, on the third day, found no important differences either, between walking and standing still”(Vonnegut 43). Even though Billy is technically free at this moment he is still under the power and control of Weary. He is a Prisoner to Weary’s need to be

“I think you are a liar. You want to kill me. You’ve killed every breathing specimen that has ever walked into the house. You have killed Gregory Temple, Chris Mulholland, animals, heck you have probably even killed the poor post man,” Billy says loudly. At this point Billy knew that he had to find a way to get out of here before she added him to her kill

Christ figures in literature can be used for a number of reasons, such as the author wanting to make a specific point, about the characters sacrifice, their redemption, their hope, and their miracles. The author may also want to use the Christ figure ironically to make the character and their sacrifice look smaller, while making the great sacrifice by Jesus Christ much bigger.

"Billy, you will not have a second chance after you die. This is the only chance you have to be saved from the fire of Hell. Do you not even see the danger that lies before you?"

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.

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

Herman Melville is known greatly in the world of literature for his enigmatic works, such as "Bartleby the Scrivener", and "Benito Cereño". His complex plot and unique character personalities make his works both interesting and compelling. In "Benito Cereño", we are introduced to the narrator Captain Delano as he and his crew encounter the ship, the San Dominick, in need of assistance. Upon climbing aboard he meets Captain Cereño along with is crew and slaves, and is informed of their unfortunate events has left the ship without supplies. However, Captain Delano is not aware of what is actually going on behind the fake story he is told. The slaves aboard are the ones in charge holding the Spaniards hostage and forcing them to take them

In his novel, Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann presents different modes of language through a variety of mechanisms and characters. Specifically using language to differentiate his characters, Mann presents language as a hierarchical authority, classifying those who do not adhere to the Buddenbrooks’ established linguistic norm as minor and inferior. However, aside from differentiating minor characters from major ones, language– specifically disparate or atypical language– assumes a larger significance, as it affects Buddenbrooks’ narrative temporality. While Mann frequently distorts time in the novel– either by omitting years or expanding on minute aspects of everyday life– Buddenbrooks nonetheless rigidly adheres to a chronological sequence

Donald Yannella, author of New Essays on Billy Budd, says that “at the heart lies an obsession with justice," as is exhibited in Herman Melville’s classics, Moby Dick and Billy Budd, Sailor. Herman Melville was an American author born on August 1, 1819 in New York, New York. The author wrote many books and penned poetry in his later years. Best known for his novel Moby Dick, Melville was not regarded as one of America’s greatest writers until after his death on September 28, 1891. Not achieving his dream job, and with his family in shambles, he boarded the St Lawrence in 1839. His time spent at sea would prove to be useful, as the majority of his books take place on the high seas.

Claggart has often been described as a serpent like creature, he looks at Billy with "serpent fascination" (Melville 449), and when Billy helps Captain Vere to lift the corpse of Claggart, "it was like handling a dead snake" (Melville 478). It would also seem that Billy did not intend or want to kill Claggart as he did, but that due to what Claggart had done, he was unable to react in a different way. "But he foully lied to my face and in presence of my captain, and I had to say something, and I could only say it with a blow, God help me!" (Melville 482). Here Billy actually says that his killing of Claggart was not intentional, and if Claggart never lied to Billy and Captain Vere, Billy would never have reacted as he did. His exclamation of "God help me!" clearly displays that he knows what he did was his loss of innocence as did Adam as soon as he bit the apple.