Billy Budd by Herman Melville is a tragic story of jealousy and ultimately forgiveness. Billy Budd is an extension of Melville’s personal philosophy and beliefs. Being centered around a ship, just as every other Melville story includes, an innocent, friendly, and especially forgiving Billy Budd is chastised and bullied up until his death. Herman Melville uses biblical symbols, paradox, and foreshadowing to portray the poetic nature and societal impact that forgiveness can carry on even past someone's untimely death. Melville conditioned the reader of Billy Budd to see that Billy was in fact an innocent and gentle person. Even small actions like obeying huge inconvenient orders with no scrutiny or aggression hidden deep down tell the reader …show more content…
Claggart has always had it out for Billy and at the ultimate point of him trying to persecute and thus killing Billy, it had resulted in Claggart’s own death at the hands of Billy himself. Another major instance of paradox is the status that Billy received after he was executed. The entire crew of the ship was able to witness not only the execution of Billy but most importantly the incredible forgiveness that he was able to show. The reason for his execution was that he was considered a leader of a revolution against the shipmaster and guilty of murder but his legacy reigned on in an extremely positive light. They were clearly scared of the influence and power that Billy held even though he made no attempts at obtaining control of the ship “The potential threat of mutiny makes Vere less ‘starry’ and more fearful, less intuitive and more rigidly rationalistic” (Crane 12). The entire crew knew what kind of person Billy was and he showed that even up until his last seconds where he ultimately became a marty. Newspapers and ship captains attempted to paint him in a bad picture but the true story of Billy and his will to forgive those who might not be so deserving shot all throughout the ocean and into different naval ships where people were able to tell the story of Billy Budd. They carry it on by saying things such as “Yes, Billy Budd was a foundling, a presumable by-blow, and, evidently, no ignoble one.
The first reason Billy should not have hit claggart was that Billy stained his reputation. Billy, being the perfect sailor he was, ruined his reputation in killing
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 of the faint candle, he strained to make out a solemn figure staring off into the endless sea. As the chaplain closed the door with a gentle squeak and carefully made his way to Billy, the weary sailor did not even breath.
To back up this idea they say that Billy was not in the wrong. They believe Billy was innocent, he was using self-defense, and he did not mean to hurt Claggart. This proof is faulty because Billy was completely aware of his actions. In the book, Melville calls Billy's actions a crime stating, "the criminal paid the penalty for his crime". if Billy intended just to hurt Claggart to show he was angry, Billy could have done that without committing murder. Others also say that the ship would not be the same without Billy because he was a valuable boy, sailor, and friend. This proof is also faulty because Billy was an average worker on the ship, who had been recently taken from another ship. In summary, people argue that Billy should not have been hanged because he was not in the wrong and the ship would not be the same without him. These proofs are inadequate because Billy was aware of his intentions to more than just hurt Claggart and Vere's ship survived without Billy for a long time, they could do it
A point that pertains to looking at the world in a different perspective involves Billy thinking back to when he was just a boy and his father threw him into the deep end of the
Claggart accused Billy of mutiny, shocking Billy and triggering his speech impediment of stuttering. After several vain attempts to speak up for himself, his frustration grew until it produced a muscle spasm in his arm that struck Claggart, ending his life. Obviously, Billy never planned to kill Claggart. He has never even held any malice against him. Because of these facts, Vere knows Billy would never deliberately kill anyone.
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.
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
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
The central conflict of this book is Billy coming to terms with the unfortunate events happening around him, and facing this character versus world scenario of everything and everyone always being against him in some way or another. Billy sees so much suffering and so much death. He is blamed for the death of Ronald Weary, which is not his fault. He witnesses the Dresden Firebombing, and has an overall uneventful blain life to begin with. Billy needs to find a way to cope with this unbearable pressure, and whether or not the Tralmalfadorians are real, their message is real to Billy. The philosophy they present is the excuse Billy needs to justify all the wrong he sees around him. The Tralmalfadorian belief being that there is no free will, and that you timeline is fact, and that you simply experience death, but continue “existing” afterwards. Essentially, you always exist and what happens to you is predetermined fate. This allows Billy to pass on all of the death and misery around him as meant to be. He can rest assured knowing that there is nothing he could about anything in the past, present, or future. There was nothing he could have done or can do to stop the death and torture, weather it is the death of his wife, the firebombing in Dresden, or even his own death. This motivation-less philosophy is his resolution to his devastating conflict, and is directly responsible for his lack of action throughout the story.
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.
Captain Vere told the crew what happen and what was going to happen to Billy they where confuses at first didn't know what was going on as they walked away with a murmur arises. But then felt it was unfair to Billy he was a good guy. Billy’s last words were “God bless Captain Vere” which affect the crew with a complete silence as they were amazed. The crew observes his body with
It sounds like marrying a school teacher was a sin, and being a wife was nothing more than being a slave to her own family. I can’t believe Okele said this in 1970s! However, as Christian, he believed what is written in the Bible, he said what he thought was right.
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!';
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
As Andersen's consulting business continued to grow, tensions within the firm mounted. The consultants, who were contributing more to profits than the auditors, felt that they were subsidizing the audit partners. Consultants began to realize that they were underpaid relative to their market opportunities. Auditing partners resented the fact that the consultants wanted a higher share of the profits. The auditing partners, who controlled the managing board, made few concessions to the consulting partners. In response, a number of the top consultants left Andersen for other firms or to start their own consulting businesses.