Billy Budd Essay: Comparing Christ to Billy

Billy Budd, whose name even illustrates the innocence of a budding flower, is representative of all that is good and pure on this earth. From the beginning of the novel he is uplifted by the narrator for his masculine yet youthful appearance and his prestige among his peers. In the beginning of the novel, Billy is described as a man who exemplifies the goodness of man without the influence of civilization and without exposure to evil, “By his original constitution aided by the co-operating influences of his lot, Billy in many respects was little more than a sort of upright barbarian, much such perhaps as Adam presumably might have been ere to the urbane serpent wriggled himself into his company” (Melville 11). The

Melville relies heavily on diction to set up Budd’s character archetype. The words Melville uses throughout the passage are all religious and positive, in fact, Melville begins the passage with the words “Love and the Graces” (Melville 109). Starting the passage with these two words, heavily used in the Bible, sets up the passage for a lot of religious influence that readers must keep an eye out for. This ties into the idea of Budd as a prophet or hero, as the Bible is full of stories about similar characters. Other words that prevail in the passage are “lineage,” “lot,” “service,” “father,” “God,” “beginning,” “basket,” “good,” and “hope.” These words may seem jumbled, but all have significance. The words “lineage,” “lot,” “father,” and “God,” are all related to familial ties within Biblical stories. Take a look at three main prophets: Moses, Christ, and Adam. The three aforementioned words all relate to the idea that each of these men are sons of God. All men are parts of stories involving a “journey

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 Budd, the foretopman in Billy Budd, Sailor, seems similar to Jesus Christ because of his relative appearance of purity, simplicity, and innocence. He posses human virtues which cannot be explained but* by any other method except comparison to Christ. Yet, while Budd may seem like a "Christ figure" at first glance, he is a far cry from the Christ of the Holy Bible.

Here the cassock is literally the skin of the whales penis donned by a member of the crew known as the mincer. The mincer is “Arrayed in decent black; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; intent on bible leaves; what a candidate for an archbishoprick” (351), Melville is rather un-subtle here, seemingly setting the scene up just to make a juvenile pun at the expense of religious authority. But despite its rather low-brow appearance, students should be able to recognize that this is clearly satirical and should be expected to explain how this pun functions as more than just a simple “penis

But we must also distinguish anglers from those who go down to the sea in ships, who can say: All Thy waves and billows have gone over me, O Lord,” and “Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee O Lord.” Melville properly gives Father

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.

In the first paragraph of the novella, the narrator describes Billy Budd as being the “Handsome Sailor” of his merchant ship, the Rights-of-Man. He was well liked by his crewmates and also well respected due to previous confrontations, such as his brief fight with Red Whiskers. Captain Graveling, when speaking to Lieutenant Ratcliffe, even stated how “they all love him” (1). Unfortunately for Billy, his natural physical ability in combination with his good naturedness made him a victim of his own success. Upon boarding the ship searching for men to recruit for the navy, Lieutenant Ratcliffe

Herman Melville's “Billy Budd, Sailor” is a story that demonstrates one mans struggle between the moral and social obligation posed upon him. Billy Budd an innocent young sailor who was forced to join the kings navy. Growing up on the “Rights of Man” Billy Budd only knew how to have his own social identity because of it immediately after joining “Bellipotent ” one of the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart, someone who has no independent social identity, dislikes Billy. Billy being an ignorant young sailor doesn't realize this and is ultimately by the end at the whim of Captain Vere, a man who's own identity is completely controlled by society. In the story, Captain Vere is in conflict with his individual moral perspective versus society's expectations of him

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, is often considered to be one of the greatest pieces of written work in American literature. Written in 1851 this influential novel acts as a split in a road with infinite possibilities for the reader to interpret it. Throughout the story Melville reveals multiple themes to the reader, the most prevalent I find to be man’s limitless search for knowledge and control. Melville uses the literary device symbolism, to communicate the theme of mans limitless search for knowledge and control to the reader in Moby dick, through Ahab the captains unhealthy obsession with the “Great white Whale”, and Queequegs Coffin.

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville sets the scene on a whaling ship, the Pequod. In addition to exploring the horrors that occur on the ocean, the novel reflects one of the statements found in Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil: “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Nietzsche claims that when one strongly despises the evil, the evil will contaminate one’s mind and sense of justice. Melville demonstrates this concept through character development.

Early on Billy begins with the utmost innocence, apart from the fact that he is a bastard child of a nobility man. This unintentionally corrupts Billy's innocence by a small bit, however, this does affect Billy overall. At a younger age Billy begins work as a seaman, he has known this to be his only job. While in his 20s Billy is taken from his ship and moved to a ship to work for the king's navy. After a few days on this new ship

Herman Melville and Henry David Thoreau were very different writers and yet had very similar philosophies. Both writers focused their writi ngs on the effects of nature and society on man and how these effects inform their protagonists’ actions. In Moby Dick, Melville details the struggle that occurs over the course of Captain Ahab and his crews journey to capture the great white whale known as, Moby Dick. While also exploring Captain Ahab’s’ struggle for individualism which is expressed through his obsession with Moby Dick. Ishmael acts as the narrator of the story with the voyage being told through his experiences. Over the course of the story Ahab slowly becomes this ungodly, yet godlike vessel who has become more focused on the metaphysical than the material goals that were common place in his profession. In contrast, Thoreau’s Walden was written from an autobiographical perspective that detailed his personal struggles between finding sense of self and the social obligations of the world.

Herman Melville wrote Billy Budd, Sailor, before his death in 1891 and it remained unfinished until the early 1960s, after countless hands had been involved in the writing and editing process. As a result of this, no one is completely sure of Melville’s intentions with the novel, but after analysis and researching his writing styles and history, one can infer his intentions. Melville was an American romanticist, and this category of writers was influenced by religion. This influence is apparent in the selected passage. This passage is evidence for the argument that Billy Budd is a character symbolic of Jesus Christ, drawing allusions to the Biblical story of the time before Christ’s death.

Herman Melville was an American novelist, writer of short stories, and poet. He represent one transcendentalists of the first great literary generation produced in the United States. He was bom in New York City on August 1, 1819. He was the third of eight children. He was from an old, wealthy family. After the death of his father