... as he became landlocked, his books grew to be inside narratives, the voyages of a mental traveler. So, in addition to the obvious biographical facts, a more difficult study, that of Melville's mind and spirit, should be pursued, and it should embrace not only his psychological and intellectual history but his responses, frequently deviant and always ambivalent, to nineteenth-century American culture ... in his gold-laced uniform for the painter Gilbert Stuart. The portrait would appear in Melville's later novel,  Pierre, for Melville wrote out of his familial as well as his nautical bac...

• Word Count: 2748
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography

... Melville's novel, Billy Budd, tells the story of a young man who is recruited by the British Navy to the H.M.S. Bellipotent. He is received well by most of his fellow sailors who like Billy Budd are often alluded to people and stories from the Bible. Most critics agree that these allusions serve as a basis to which a character ... Captain Vere regarding the story of man's fall; however he does symbolize God in his decision concerning the fate of Billy. He is the character who must deal with the struggle between good and evil, and must try to act in a non-partisan manner (Burris 1). In thi...

• Word Count: 3760
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... more than a sort of upright barbarian, much such perhaps as Adam presumably might have been ere the urbane Serpent wriggled himself into his company" (Melville(2) , 11). Claggart on the other hand, " represents evil" and his "wickedness is causeless and seemingly endless"( Phillips , 4) . Their differences ... not engendered by vicious training or corrupting books or licentious living, but born with him and innate, in short a depravity according to nature" ( Melville ( 2) , 43). His fundamentally evil nature thoroughly confuses Billy because he cannot find the cause for Claggart's resen...

• Word Count: 3225
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School