Conflict In Billy Buddd

     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 is a handsome, young sailor, new to the ship and eager to impress. Billy becomes very popular with the crew. When seeing Billy accepted by the crew it reminds him of the their dislike for him and he becomes jealous. The Dankster’s conversation with Claggart also shows his fear that he will lose the power he held from the fear of others

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,

the inner conflict of Connie, the protagonist of the book. The source of that struggle is her

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.

An important idea in the film “Billy Elliot” directed by Stephen Daldry is the idea of not living up to the expectations of family and society and because of that, being trapped within these expectations. As Billy has grown up in a working class town where all the men are expected to go out and work in the coal mines after school, the idea of Billy being a dancer is an extreme polarity and therefore it leaves Billy feeling trapped and as though he is letting his family down. This idea is shown by the director through cinematography, dialogue and imagery

According to Ann Charters in The Short Story and its Writer, "conflict is the opposition presented to the main Character of a narrative by another character, by events or situations, by fate, or by some aspect of the protagonist's own personality or nature. The conflict is introduced by means of a complication that sets in motion the rising action, usually toward a climax and eventual resolution" (Charters 1782).

to Garrett, “That’s him!” “Quickly as possible I drew my revolver and fired, threw my body aside, and fired again” claimed Garrett.(p.3) The Kid was dead. Pat Garrett was with John Poe, Thomas McKinney, and Pete Maxwell when he shot Billy the Kid.

Billy does not have any ambition he just reacts to circumstances that happen to him. He wife face gives him an optometry office to run. He married valenca just because she is there not because he is in love with her. “I is so sort and jumbled and jangled”(pg.19) he takes the path of less resistance rather than navigating the complex path of life. Krebs also lacks motivation, direction, and ambition he lives with his parents and does not have a job. He “sleeps late in bed” every day for him is like a vacation rather than real life. Krebs father thinks he has “lost his ambition, that you haven't got a different aim in life”(pg.75). His parents think it is time for him to move on from the war and make something of his life. The war affect both billy and krebs in a major way the weight of the war crushed their

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:

Conflict can take on many forms in one’s life, such as conflict with self, with society, with religion and with others. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, develops the theme of conflict through the moral sin of Hester Prynne. Conflict is observed through Hester’s difficulties with the townspeople, challenges with the Puritan way of life, struggles with herself and tensions with Roger Chillingworth. Committing sin in the Puritan society leads to a great deal of conflicts.

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

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).

All three of these conflicts help explain why certain characters in this novel act the way they do around others. The conflict provided by Stevenson is also used to assist with setting up the theme of the book.

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.