Billy Budd's Biblical Connections

Billy Budd's Biblical Connections

Billy Budd’s Biblical Connections

This book report is about Billy Budd, by Herman Melville.   It was Melville’s final novel, and was published in 1924, over 30 years after his death.   Billy Budd is a basic battle of good and evil, with evil deceiving good, and good taking the final victory.   But the unusual twist put into this story, is the fate of common law.   The main theme for Billy Budd is that society corrupts the innocent.

The main story line of Billy Budd starts with a sailor named Billy Budd serving on a merchant ship, The Rights of Man, in the Atlantic Ocean, on the European coast, in 1797.   While sailing, the ship is halted by a British man of war ship, H.M.S. Bellipotent, in need of men.   Only one of the sailors on board the merchant ship decides to take a navy sailing job: Billy Budd.   Aboard the navy ship, Billy takes the job as foretopman.   He quickly makes friends with all his shipmates.

The plot involves mainly two other characters: the captain of the ship, “Starry” Vere, and the ship’s master-at-arms, Claggart.   Captain Vere is a quiet, fair, and experienced naval officer, while Claggart seems outwardly decent, but rally is malevolent and downright mean.

Captain Vere becomes somewhat of a father figure to Billy.   He is sympathetic to the poor sailor, whose parents abandoned him at birth.

Meanwhile, Claggart is nice to Billy at first, but becomes jealous of Billy’s innocence and perfect image.   He seems pleased of Billy’s actions at first, but then severely scorns Billy for small errors, such as accidentally spilling his soup on the deck.   A corporal named Squeak, who reports false information to him about Billy, fuels Claggart’s displeasure of him.  

Then, one night Billy is awakened by a guard who takes him to a spot on the ship where he is asked to join a group of sailors that are planning a mutiny.   He offers Billy a bribe to join the uprising.   Billy is outraged by this offer to the point off stuttering.   He threatens to...