Budd Boetticher

According to Teddy Roosevelt, “ In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” However, Billy Budd did the “right thing,” but was accused of doing the “wrong thing.” He definitely didn’t do “nothing” This young sailor, working on the warship H.M.S. Bellipotent, was one day doing his duties on ship when he was called to the Captain’s quarters on being falsely accused of secretly aiding a

Mason Light Reeves ENG 251 17 July 2015 Billy Budd as a Christ Figure In Hermon Melville’s work Billy Budd, we find that the main character, Billy, is compared multiple times as a Christ figure. Similar to real life, Melville can be considered the “creator” in comparison to God. Like Christ, Billy is blessed with virtuous meanings and is unadulterated. Multiple times, we see Melville makes various references but there are three situations that stand out the most while reading his book. Therefore

In the story of Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville the main themes are justice and loyalty. Is Billy being sentences to death with just cause? While Billy did commit “mutiny” was that his intention? Should Captain Vere serve his king or his conscious? These questions are tested but ultimately Captain Vere must side with the law and make an example to the other crew members what mutinous acts are met with. But the question facing this paper is whether or not Captain Vere was just in his conduct

Biblical Allegories in Billy Budd Herman Melville's Billy Budd is a novel with many biblical allegories ranging from subtle references to quite obvious similarities between characters and Biblical figures. One of the most prevalent and accepted similarities is that of "Billy as Adam" (Berthoff, Certain 33) around the time of the Fall, "The ground common to most discussion of Billy Budd is the assumption that the story is allegorical ... a reenactment of the Fall" (Berthoff, Certain

this story is naive, rude, and closed minded. How may one stick to one deli mea, moral questioning, or out-look on a book that jumps from such cases like frogs on lily pads? Just as Melville has done, I shall attempt to arrange my perception of Billy Budd, in a similar fashion. That is, through an unorthodox practice (that is; jumping from pt. to point), of writing an essay I shall constantly change and directions and goals of what it is I wish to state.      One may perceive

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

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 of

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

“Billy Budd” is one of Herman Melville’s final works that was published years after his passing in 1891. The novella is based on mutinies and the unfair treatment that individuals face when working at sea. Herman Melville is able to portray a well-developed novella through his extensive research and knowledge about mutinies, his interesting background, and his ability to relate characters from his own life to the story. The Mutiny Act is a bill brought out by the government, in order to outlaw the

Billy Budd and the Life of Melville  As with many great works of literature, it is important to become familiar with the author's life and time period in which he or she lived. This understanding helps to clarify the significance and meaning of his or her work. In many ways, Billy Budd depicts issues of importance to Herman Melville with both direct and indirect parallels to the time of the Civil War and to particular individuals of Melville's life. Important to the creation of Billy Budd were