In Melville’s story Billy Budd one of the many themes in the story is good v. evil, this is clearly defined by the two main characters of the story Billy and Claggart. With these two character Melville also dives into the battle of having either innocent or experience. Billy Budd is the classical noble savage from childlike innocent stand point, while Claggart is the harden experience evil man that wants to see Billy Budd destroyed.
Billy and Claggart are different in many ways they do have some similarities, both men are representatives of good and evil, showing that in the word you cannot have one without that other as they balance each other out. Billy being that Christ like figure on the ship and Claggart being the seductive evil that seduces Billy and frightens the sailors.
Billy is described as the handsome innocent sailor that is has an innocent outlook on the world. He has no experience in pain, suffering or facing the kind of evil that most would be familiar with. Billy is compered to Adam before God had threw him out of heaven, he is described to be almost flawless, the only flaw he has would be a stutter that become highlighted when he is under emotional stress. Before he was taken on to the Indomitable, on his pervious ship he was known as the peace
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But has Melville points out that how the Devil convince Adam and Eve to take the apple from the tree he seduced them. Claggart is describe to have purple eyes that changes to red, thus making everyone around Claggart to be warily of him. He serves as the tempter and destroyer of Billy. Melville compare Claggart several account of evilness in history like the Shawnee enemy of the English colonist, Titus Oates diabolical plotter against Charles II. Claggart is a master at manipulation as his experience in life allowed him to fool Billy into thinking that he is his
They called him a Jap-loving traitor.”(14) After the Pearl Harbor bombing every Japanese was a suspect and everyone who supported them were a traitor like Billy. He still stayed by Tomi`s side after the bombing and after everything that was lost. And he was trusted because of how loyal he was. Another example of how Billy is a loyal and trustworthy friend is when he helped Tomi bring his father`s sunken boat up from underwater like the rest of Tomi`s friends. “I’ve been thinking about it. It’s such a crazy idea it`s interesting. I still think it`s impossible…for us anyway…but forget that for a moment. I was thinking, what would the army have to say about it? I mean they put it there right”.(38) One day the both of them went to look at the ship like usual, when Tomi gets the idea to bring the ship back up and put it into service. Billy at first thinks it`s impossible and that they would need heavy equipment for it. But later on he helps Tomi and lets him know all
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
Throughout the end of Billy Bud, Sailor, Herman Melville uses facts, reasoning, word choice, and emotion to have the drumhead court give in to Captain Vere. Vere only lives by the rules of war and the rules would tell him that Billy was not right and he deserves to be sentenced to death. In order for Vere to get the court on his side, Vere sympathizes with the court about how he knows that this case is very tough and he understands what they are going through. He then discusses how the court's duty is more important than their conscience, and lastly he shows that the action of Billy is what matters, not the intention. Vere states how Billy has a generous nature and that he would feel for the court too, that he would understand that they needed
Although Ellis depicts the appearance of Christ, McMurphy, as leader of the fishing trip, is actually the savior that these patients will follow. The part where Ellis cites Billy is also significant. If McMurphy plays the role of Jesus, Billy Bibbit represents the Apostle Simon Peter, an allusion restated later when Billy denies association with McMurphy three times when he is confronted by Nurse
In Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor, readers are introduced to the conflict of good and evil between Billy Budd and Claggart. However, there is another conflict, which, in ways is more significant than the epic clash of good and evil. Vere’s struggle between duty and conscience is more significant because it occurs in the mind. Whereas Billy Budd was clearly the noble sacrificed hero and Claggart was the vindictive villain, duty is just as noble as conscience and conscience is just as noble as duty. Melville sets up this conflict by placing a man with the intuition and innocence of a child, in the hands of a captain amidst war. In a description of Captain Vere it can be anticipated that Vere, who values peace and common good, would be
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
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.
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:
Once Billy becomes capable of time travel and comes into contact with the Tralfamadorians, he simply goes through the motions of life but avoids falling into a defeatist attitude. Under the tutelage of the Tralfamadorians, Billy fashions a brand new perspective towards society and enhances his natural persona, “When Billy accepts the Tralfamadorian philosophy, the passivity that he has displayed his entire life—from wanting to drift quietly at the bottom of the YMCA pool after his father throws him in, to begging Roland Weary to leave him behind—is justified. If the future cannot be changed anyway, why even try?” (Farrell 9). Though the interaction with the Tralfamadorians seems to allow Billy an outlet to construct his own ideals upon the universe, he nonetheless continues along the same path as before. Billy becomes an extremist towards passivity in life rather than utilizing the experience to impart a strong impression
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
Every time Claggart witnessed the relationship between Billy and the rest of the crew, he was reminded of how much hatred he felt towards Billy. All in all, he hated the fact that Billy was popular and envied him for his innocence and beauty. Claggart was born with an evil soul, and nothing could change that. It is no secret that this story brings a sense bad and good; a sense of irrationality.
By characterizing Billy as a traumatized and pacifist individual, Vonnegut portrays his message about the everlasting effects on veterans. Vonnegut is trying to spread the anti-war message through Billy. From the beginning of the book, the author makes it clear to the reader that the book will be anti-war. Billy goes to speak to a movie star about his book and, “he raised his eyebrows and inquired, ‘is it an anti-war book?’ ‘yes’, I said. ‘I guess’” (6). Vonnegut was very straightforward about Billy being a pacifist that he directly stated it in the book. The reader can see that Billy is confused on whether he considers himself an anti-war writer or not since he participated in the war. First, he says “yes” then he said “I guess” which shows that he does not know if his book will qualify as an anti-war book even though that was his intention.
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
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.
For starters, Claggart caused trouble for Billy. At the start of his hatred, Claggart acted friendly towards Billy, causing him not to suspect anything. This alone put Billy in danger, because he lived unaware of the malice