Billy Budd

They bring Billy into Vere’s cabin and Vere has Claggart confront Billy. Billy is completely flabbergasted by the allegations and hits Claggart, knocking him to the ground. This blow kills Claggart. Billy is then put to trial and convicted. He is hanged before his crew and his last words are “God bless Captain Vere!” (his final act of kindness, alluding to forgiveness) (Melville 49).

At this point, the captain’s lack of confidence in himself as a leader, and his fearful awe of the ship dominate his character. This is illustrated as the captain decides to stand guard over the anchor. While this task is often left to lower ranking officers on the ship, he does not allow any one to do the task but himself. The captain remains because of his overwhelming feeling of inadequacy as leader of the ship. He feels a clear distinction between what he must become and what he currently is.

Billy Budd by Herman Melville Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were perfect. They were innocent and ignorant, yet perfect, so they were allowed to abide in the presence of God. Once they partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, however, they immediately became unclean as well as mortal. In Billy Budd, the author, Herman Melville, presents a question that stems directly from this original sin of our first parents: Is it better to be innocent and ignorant, but good and righteous, or is it better to be experienced and knowledgeable? I believe that through this book, Melville is telling 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.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner The Mariner is not in the hands of a merciful God because his agony always returns. He asks for forgiveness of his agony but still after he tells his tale the agony returns at random times. A merciful God would grant permanent mercy. For all, the Mariner has been through death and hardship of his crew because of the killing of the albatross. The thought of his crime is enough agony but the Mariner's agony returns until he has to relive the tragedy of the killing of his crew by telling his tale to another person.

Through this symbolism the Captain implied his insecurities with nature and his crew. Not only does the Captain and Leggatt share similar characteristic traits, but Legget also has qualities that the Captain needs. Leggatt psychologically completes the Captain by giving him a sense of decisiveness and confidence. When the captain first spotted Leggatt, the Captain saw him as a "headless corpse". Soon after the Captain saw Leggatt as his "body double".

Billy packs up his gear and follows the officer of the Bellipotent. After Billy gives a good-bye to his old ship mates, He settles in quickly among the company of the Bellipotent. He is useful and eager in to work, and is assigned to foretopman and gets to know more experienced sailors. Billy is very upset by the sight of a violent wiping given to one of the ship's crew. Hoping to avoid a this kind of punishment, Billy works harder at his duties, but finds himself not measuring up to certain officers.

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?

Can a man kill another man; yet, be a passive hero? In Harrison Hayford and Merton M. Seaths short story, “Billy Budd, Sailor (An inside Narrative)”, Billy Budd is characterized as a passive hero. Unexpectedly, Billy Budd is singled out and forced into the King’s service. Even so, Billy Budd has a positive influence with nearly all of his ship mates and officers. However, Billy’s affect with the new master-at-arms proves Billy does not have a positive effect on everyone.

However, he made up a story that his father was sick and needed help and asked the slave hunters for help. They immediately assumed that his father had smallpox, and he wanted nothing to do with Huck or his father. Thus, he had saved Jim, and actually felt good about it. Further along in the book, Jim becomes a slave again. Huckleberry, with the aid of Tom Sawyer, free's Jim.

However, he does offer him money for a boat that does not belong to Crusoe and the poor Boy Xury, who does not belong to anyone. How soon Crusoe forgets the horrible life of being a slave!! It is humorous how it is only those who are in the possition of master who think slavery is a good idea. Crusoe then meets Friday. He saves his life, much the way the captain saved Crusoe's life.