Hanging of Billy Budd Essay

After finding himself under the power of nurse ratched, Mcmurphy immediately gains a following amongst the patients by appealing to their needs and showing them a new way to live. He shows Billy Bibbit the greatest time of his life and for a short time frees him from the prison of control that his mother and Nurse Ratched have built around him his whole life. Similarly Jesus showed many a new way to live free from the worries of the natural world and the circumstances they were in. In their gaining of a new following, the heroes gained hatred, equal to the love that their followers showed them. In their conquests, both become guilty of the crime of which they are accused, which leads to their crucifixion, without consideration of their motive. Jesus was accused of blasphemy and claiming to be the son of God. Jesus was guilty of the claim, but not of blasphemy, as he truly was who he claimed to be. Mcmurphy was punished for throwing a party and being rebellious to the nurses. He was of course guilty of this, but he only committed these infractions to give the patients of the ward a freedom that they had longed for. After the party, Chief says: Maybe the combine wasn’t all powerful. What was to stop us from doing it again, now that we saw all that we could?” (120). Mcmurphy opened the patient's eyes and freed them from their lives of constriction. For the

     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.

Out of the 9.5 million Jews in Europe, 60 percent of those people were innocently murdered from January 30th, 1933, to May 8th, 1945. Fascist dictator, Adolf Hitler, led this horrendous genocide, well known as the Holocaust. The Nazis believed that they were superior to others, and their goal was to eliminate people who were different. Many people attempted to go into hiding, living in abandoned buildings, or with non-Jewish families. Sadly, many non-Jewish resented the idea of rescuing the Jews, because if caught, they would be immediately killed. In like manner, the plot of the poem, "The Hangman", written by Maurice Ogden, is about a hangman who arrives in a town and executes every citizen there. As each person is killed, the others are afraid to object out of fear that they will be the next. The last man standing, the narrator, is then hung by the merciless man, as by then there is no one left to defend him. In addition, in "Terrible Things", by Eve Bunting, the author creates an entertaining allegory in which the Terrible Things invade the creatures' homes in the forest and capture them, separating the animals from each other one group at a time. Fear spreads across the forest, and the chaos turns the creatures into thinking that it is every man, or animal, for themselves. Throughout both the poem and the parable, the author's use of symbolism and irony to aid in the development of the theme that although speaking up and fighting for what one believes in can be

In spite of this, Don Brothwell another archaeologist argues that although the noose was around his neck Tollund Man was not hung as his neck bones were not ruptured or dislocated and his spinal cord was not broken. Harold Hillman, an expert on executions states that the neck should break and the upper cervical spine should snap causing the person to go into unconsciousness and die of asphyxiation (deprived of air). However, it is impossible to completely identify if there was any damage when hung due to skeletal decomposition of Tollund Man’s bones. However, the autopsy and x-ray examination report came back saying “the rope, judging by the way it was placed around the body’s neck, was most likely not used for strangulation, and because of that it is of less importance that the cervical vertebras were undamaged since that sometimes happens when a person is hanged”. As a result of the great preservations of the noose and the tongue it is manifest that Tollund Man died through hanging. So why was he hung? Was it punishment or sacrifice?

Billy had ended up killing most of the group but was still looking for Sheriff Brady. On April 1, 1878 Billy got his wish. Billy and a group of five friends positioned themselves behind an adobe wall and waited for Brady and his posse to come into town. When they finally did Billy and his band of outlaws opened fire from their ambush and killed Brady and his posse. Even though Billy used great strategy to gain the upper hand on Brady he was regarded as a coward for the ambush and lost the support of the people who had supported him.

Have you ever had to make an example of someone through punishment? In the book “Billy Budd the Sailor” Captain Vere did just that. Everyone agrees that Captain Vere faced a potential mutiny, but some people believe that he should have executed Billy Bud to prevent a mutiny while others think he should not have executed Billy Bud. Billy Budd should have been executed for three reasons. He killed Claggart, his death would prevent a mutiny, and it was the captain’s duty.

The first reason Billy should not have punched John is because of the possible risk. When John knowingly and wrongfully accused Billy, Billy’s first instinct to express his wrath was to punch John. However, being unnaturally strong as Billy was, punching John could result in either his injury, violence, or

Both Randle McMurphy and Nurse Ratched did not rest to bring out their own methods to influence the patients. McMurphy displayed his method of rebellion by actually gathering some patients and fleeing from the hospital. He showed them something they would never forget by setting them free and letting them see what was outside of the frugal hospital. After the unexpected fishing trip, Nurse Ratched realized she was losing her control on the patients. They began to think for themselves and realize that they were being cheated. Clearly, the group meetings were not successful because the topics Ratched chose were too personal. When the nurse insisted Billy to reflect on his first suicide attempt Cheswick frantically exclaimed, “Why do you force him to talk about that?” Instead of displaying empathy and compassion to Billy, she pressured him into discussing it. Nurse Ratched needed a way to restore order and punishment was the only way. She knew McMurphy had gained the patients’ respect which was something she had never achieved. McMurphy brought something to those patients that Nurse Ratched could not contribute, and that was gratitude for life.

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 history, there are lesser-known occurrences in which Historians can make assertions about the society in that time period as a whole. The conviction, execution and alleged resurrection of William Cragh is one such occurrence. In The Hanged Man, Robert Bartlett writes of a man who was executed, but allegedly rose from the dead in the Middle Ages. The story of William Cragh is not only a riveting anecdote, but also, an insightful look at the legal system of the Middle Ages. The Hanged Man helps to explain the relationship between England and Wales, the legal process that led to hanging, as well as societal perceptions of criminals and outlaws in the Medieval Period. Robert Bartlett is able to present a complicated historical event through the language of an everyday person. The Hanged Man is a great example of accessible historical nonfiction, bringing an understanding of the Middle Ages to a broad audience.

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:

BILLY BIBBIT: He was a man who was really attached to his mother and could be easily swayed by any mention of his mother just like a child. Later on he managed to get a girlfriend named Candy Starr. He went on many adventures with McMurphy and Bromden and was able to experience life a little more when he let his mother slip out of his mind. She wasn’t completely gone though; this was shown when Big Nurse threatened to tell his mom about what he has done and Billy goes into straight panic mode and kills himself by slitting his throat. It seemed as though he had some sort of deep psychological fear about what would happen if he disobeyed his mother.

Herman Melville's Billy Budd provides us with a summation and conclusive commentary on the ambiguities of moral righteousness and social necessity. The conflict that arises pitting natural justice in opposition to military justice essentially deliberates over whether the sacrifice of the individual is required for the continuum and conservation of social order. The deep allegorical theme of the passion of Christ that resides in Billy Budd illustrates Melville's adjudication on this issue. The sacrifice of Billy Budd for the upholding of social order is an illusionary backdrop to Christ offering up His life for the forgiveness of the sins of mankind. Melville implements this theological staple

Billy Budd is responsible for his own death. There are times when taking someone’s life is necessary such as a time of war, but not in a heating argument. Captain Vere, said it best that the crime is what they were worried about, not the case between right and wrong. The crime was murder. Billy was a hard worker who would do his best to help anyone out. However, Billy was not judged on the type of man he was he was judged by the action that had taken place.