Biblical Refenrance

Melville explains to us that we need to strike some kind of balance between these two ideas; we need to have morality and virtue; we need to be in the world, but not of the world. To illustrate his theme, Melville uses a few characters who are all very different, the most important of which is Billy Budd. Billy is the focal point of the book and the single person whom we are meant to learn the most from. On the ship, the Rights-of-Man, Billy is a cynosure among his shipmates; a leader, not by authority, but by example. All the members of the crew look up to him and love him, as Meliville explains:He is “strength and beauty. Tales of his prowess [are] recited. Ash

ore he [is] the champion, afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost”(9).

Such glory and beauty in death can only be achieved by those who are truly ready and without regret, as Billy was. The question, then, is presented. Innocence or wisdom? Which philosophy, which way of life is more correct? Claggart, who represents the natural evil in the world, serves as the opposition and corruption which we face everyday. He is the obstacle that Billy must deal with, and the way in which he confronts that obstacle determines which of these answers is the correct one. Melville, in presenting the climax of the book, might be suggesting that it would have been better for Billy to have chosen the path of experience and wisdom, like old Red Whiskers, for if he had, he would still be alive. However, I believe that through this allusion to Christ’s crucifixion, he is showing us that perhaps we should not always only be concerned about ourselves, but also about those around us. Perhaps that through morals and virtue, we can rise above the evil in the world and make an impact on the lives of those around us. The newspaper article near the end of the book portrays this perfectly. It brands Billy as a traitor, but his shipmates will not have it so. They kept track of the spar from which he was hanged until it becomes a “… mere dock-yard boom. To them a chip of it was as a piece of the Cross”(87). The legend of Billy’s innocence will not die, and it changes the lives of the sailors forever. Melville is truely saying that true goodness, aspersed by a Satanic Claggart, and doomed to death by a perplexed but upright Vere, even dead, is better than all the wisdom and experience of the world because it exists after death, and therefore triumphs.

Through this situation Billy now finds himself in, Melville has us ask ourselves a question: Would it be right for Billy to heed the advice of experience and wisdom and tell the captain about Claggart’s conspiracy

Some topics in this essay:
Captain Vere, Red Whiskers, Lamb God, Billy’s Sweet, Rights-of-Man Billy, Billy Melville, Herman Melville, John Claggart, Claggart Billy, Satanic Claggart, red whiskers, captain vere, billy budd, evil world, experience wisdom, innocent ignorant, comes captain vere, claggart billy, comes captain,