The Doves

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The Doves

Every book can be compared to another book or some real-life person, or thing. Billy Budd by Herman Melville is not an exclusion. This novel can be compared to numerous things, but Billy Budd can only be compared to few people in the world. One of the biggest and the most common comparison is to Jesus Christ, because Billy was pure he did not regret dying, and was not mad at anyone for him being hung. He is a Christ like figure for the way his life ended, how he felt when he was being hung, and what he mouthed right before he past away

Billy Budd was pure as anyone can be. He did not have hatred for any person or thing. Even Billy’s last name, Budd, symbolizes a bud in nature. Everybody on the ship came to be good friends with Billy because he was just a loving person; he was a kind human being just like Jesus Christ. Billy had a mysterious background. He was born of a virgin, just like Christ. Billy was found in England in a silk-lined basket, the silk representing that he is pure. Billy liked to treat everyone with respect no matter what they had done in the past, or what they are going to do in the future. Jesus once said “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Mathew 7) Everyone on the ship hated Claggart, because he was an evil person. He wanted to whip someone 100 times so they could learn their lesson, but Billy Budd did not hate Claggart, because he knew that he was lonely and no one understood him. Christ loved to help out people, it did not matter how they were, and how they treated him, because he knew that there was goodness in them. On the ship Billy was known as a peacemaker, and Jesus Christ was the Prince of Peace.

The way that Billy Budd and Jesus died is very symbolically sim...

... middle of paper ...

... perform miracles, then why didn’t he make a run for it? Jesus did not rescue himself and let the crucifixion happen the next day. Some of the other sailors noticed that Billy Budd did not struggle, because usually they would cringe, or struggle to get away, but Billy Budd and Jesus just went along with it without any struggle.

There are not that many people in the world that can be compared to Christ, however Billy Budd can be seen as Christ in many ways. Billy’s feeling before his hanging can be compared to Jesus’, because they were both in peace with themselves, and did not try to avoid the execution. Billy’s hanging, and Christ’s crucifixion was similar, because Jesus was between two crosses and Billy between the two decks. Their last words exactly alike but were worded differently.

(The Dove symbolizes the pureness in Billy Budd, and Jesus Christ.)

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