Billy Budd Essay

Essay #4: Billy Budd Would you go against the country you love? In Herman Melville’s novella “Billy Budd”, Billy Budd was a sailor who was impressed into service for the British Navy. During his work in the Navy, an afterguardsman approached him. He wanted Billy to help him start a mutiny. Some would say that Billy should help the afterguardsman start a mutiny. Although they agree that a mutiny would hurt the British Navy, Billy should not help the afterguardsman start a mutiny for the following

Billy is a twenty one year old boy that always loves to help people. At this ege he has not gotten into any problems or caused harm to others, not only that but he is well known and admired wherever he goes. "On shore he was a champion; afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost." He will never start an argument or even have any defense against bad people like Claggart, which was a very hateful man. By being a good person, he does not see the bad side of others, this brings

loved Billy Budd. However, Claggart and his sidekick Squeak, did not. Although Billy did his best to either avoid them, or on those occasions in which he did come face to face with one or the other, he did his best to be kind to them. While Billy was being as absolutely courteous as possible, that did not help the flaming hatred that was burning in their hearts. As a matter of speaking, Billy was actually feeding the rage and fury that had been smoldering there even before they knew Billy even existed

as a threshold for his opera Billy Budd. He explores the hunting troubles of captain Edward Fairfax Vere by setting up a narration on retrospect of the hanging of Billy Budd . Inspired in Herman Melville’s novel, the opera became well known. In 1997 John Dexter directed one of the performances in the Metropolitan Opera. The opera presents captain Vere in the first scene as an old man who narrates in retrospect the story of Billy Budd on his ship the Indomitable. Billy, the handsome sailor, kills the

This idea of good and evil and of moral correctness is explored within Herman Melville’s novella, Billy Budd, Sailor. Captain Vere, who serves as the authority aboard the ship, Bellipotent, although believing he was upholding the proper morals of the situation at hand, from the view of the laws upon his ship and under the king and country he serves, made the morally wrong decision in sentencing Billy Budd, an ethically

Who is responsible for killing Billy Budd? Is it Claggart, Captain Vere, or Billy Bubb himself? There are many people who will argue all three men are responsible for killing Billy Budd. Their argument is Claggart, also known as Jemmy Leggs, provoked Billy in to striking him, attacking an officer is a serious offense. Captain Vere witnessed Claggart pushing Billy’s buttons by yelling at him, accusing him of mutiny, and saw the frustration in Billy’s face, but did not pull rank and order both men

Captain Vere's name is a symbol of many things and demonstrates his battle between his individuality versus society's expectations. The name Vere is associated with fights and quarrels, relating to society. The symbolic meaning within the story indicate that one with the name Vere will lack peace and happiness because of mental pressure and instability. The more direct meaning is stated by Chandler here, “Those who still think of Vere as a heroic figure seem to have taken as proved that the name

Although the sexual attraction described by Melville is not as strong with Captain Fairfax Vere, the attraction is still heavily within the text. Melville uses much of the same innuendo with Vere as he does with Claggart in terms of their attraction to Billy Budd. He is described as having a “dreaminess of mood” (Melville 25). Yet again there is a descriptive phrase Melville uses that makes the reader question his sexuality. Melville writes, “But between you and me, don’t you think there is a queer streak

a sign of weakness, a sign of obsession. In the book Billy Budd, the main character Billy Budd was an extraordinary young handsome man who became hated because of ruinous envy. Gladly, Billy Budd worked as a sailor then was transferred over to a ship called the Bellipotent where he met his unknown enemy John Claggart. John immediately realized that there was something special about Billy Budd, and he didn’t know what is was. Naturally, Billy was kind, charming, and moral, and everybody took notice

The Dilemma of Billy Budd   Herman Mellville's Billy Budd is and extremely divisive novel when one considers the dissension it has generated. The criticism has essentially focused around the argument of acceptance vs. resistance. On the one hand we can read the story as accepting the hanging of Billy Budd as the necessary ends of justice. We can read Vere's condemnation as a necessary military action performed in the name of preserving order aboard the Indomitable. On the other hand, we