Captain Vere Essays

  • Herman Melville's Billy Budd - Captain Vere was Correct

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Captain Vere was Correct in Billy Budd Captain Vere makes the correct decision by executing Billy Budd.  If CaptainVere lets Billy live the rest of the crew might get the impression that they will not be held accountable for their crimes.  If the crew feels that they can get away with what ever they want then there is a chance that they might form a rebellion and have a mutiny.  A mutiny would destroy the stability and good name of the ship and the crew.  Captain Vere does not want to

  • Herman Melville's Billy Budd as Allegory of Good versus Evil

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Herman Melville's Billy Budd as Allegory of Good versus Evil Herman Melville's Billy Budd relates an allegory of innocence versus evil by symbolizing Billy Budd, John Claggart, and Captain Vere as Jesus Christ, Lucifer, and God. The protagonist in the novel is Billy Budd.  The experiences that Billy undergoes throughout the novel parallel what Jesus Christ endured in his life.  Melville characterizes Billy Budd as an innocent man physically and mentally.  The first feature sailors would notice

  • Billy Budd Essays: Three Main Characters

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    Three Main Characters Billy Budd, a 19th century novel written by Herman Melville, involves three main characters: Billy Budd, John Claggart and Captain Vere. In the beginning of the novel, Melville portrays each character with distinct personality; Billy Budd is represented as the simple-minded sailor, Claggart is viewed as the villain, and Captain Vere is seen as the honorable superior of the ship. As the novel develops, the earlier images of these characters are contradicted as previously unseen

  • Billy Budd Justice

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    to this conclusion: When John Claggart falsely accuses Billy Budd of inciting mutiny, Captain Vere (whose name suggests "truth") arranges a confrontation between the accuser and the accused. When Claggart shamelessly repeats the lie to Budd's face and when Captain Vere insists that Budd defend himself and when Budd is struck speechless (if you like) and, therefore, STRIKES Claggart who falls down dead, Captain Vere suddenly has a problem on his hands, a problem he did not bargain for. You see, he feels

  • Herman Melville's Billy Budd - The Tragedy of Billy Budd

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    more." Reich uses this as a basis for his assertion that Billy is innocent in what he is, not what he does. The point of the novel is therefore not to analyze the good and evil in Billy or Claggart, but to put the reader in the position of Captain Vere, who must interpret the laws of both man and nature. Reich supports Vere's decision to hang Billy. In defense of this he alludes to a famous English court case, in which three men were accused of murder. However, the circumstances which

  • A New Historical Reading of Billy Budd

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    humanity). What Brook Thomas does, then, is analyze Melville's story in the context of certain legal questions in Melville's lifetime, paying particular attention to Melville's father-in-law as well, Lemuel Shaw, who may have been the model for Captain Vere. Like Vere, Shaw sacrificed his conscience rather than "violate" an unjust law (he felt that slavery was wrong, yet he upheld the law requiring the return of escaped slaves to their "rightful" owners). In what follows I shall resort to a shortcut

  • Free Billy Budd Essays: A Structuralist Reading

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    - Dryden, p. 209 Not on your life, says Edgar A. Dryden (though not in so many words, of course) to the above in his splendid Melville's Thematics of Form. His argument is essentially to show that while most readers (erroneously) assume that Captain Vere is the story's tragic hero, the fact of the matter is that a "better" reading will reveal him as Melville's target, if you want to know the "truth." I want to emphasize at the outset is that EVERYTHING DRYDEN SAYS IS SUPPORTED BY THE TEXT he

  • Irony in Billy Budd

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    Billy Budd is a story filled with irony. This literary aspect can be seen through the plot and characters of the work. As defined in The American Heritage Dictionary, irony is the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. After a casual reading of the story' the many ironic aspects may have been igonred, but after analyzing the story it becomes obvious that they are of great importance. "...The fate of each character is the direct reverse of what one is led to expect from his

  • The Nature of Leadership in Billy Budd The Scarlet Letter

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Nature of Leadership in Billy Budd The Scarlet Letter While it would be logical for good character to be in accordance with good leadership ability, this is rarely true in application. History has proven that many effective leaders were cruel and corrupt, and even American literature has reflected the commonplace nature of corrupted politicians. Upright politicians have existed but do not stay in the brief spotlight of American attention as the ones consumed by scandal. Therefore, Americans

  • Billy Budd Innocence

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    Innocence in Billy Budd                          There is much to be said about innocence. If one is with innocence than one can do no wrong. But that is not all to be said. Innocence is not always a good thing. It could make one naive or blind to certain evils. Like in the case of Billy Budd. Billy was innocent from evil and therefore could not see the evil of John Claggart approaching

  • Billy Budd - Convictions Shaken

    1953 Words  | 4 Pages

    placing a man with the intuition and innocence of a child, in the hands of a captain amidst war. In a description of Captain Vere it can be anticipated that Vere, who values peace and common good, would be in conflict with his job, which requires him to be a militaristic authoritarian. Captain Vere learns important lessons when innocent hands bring about destruction of life. Vere was moved by his beckoning duty as captain, to convince the drumhead court to convict Billy Budd. However, the paternal

  • Hanging of Billy Budd

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Billy Budd was a questionable and complex decision made by Captain Vere. Captain Vere, or “starry Vere,” chose to coincide with the law rather than spare Billy to make himself happy. The hanging of Billy was necessary for order to remain on the ship and for justice to prevail. Billy Budd, also known as the “handsome sailor,” was on trial for killing the master-at-arms, Claggart. Everyone wished for Billy’s life to be spared, but Captain Vere chose to follow the oath he pledged to the King. Consequently

  • Billy Budd, Sailor, by Harrison Hayford and Merton M. Seaths

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    positive effect on everyone. Ultimately, Billy Budd’s lack of adult experience becomes his downfall; because Billy is unable to comprehend somebody would aim to impair his persona. Billy Budd is characterized to be a static hero by his previous ship Captain Graveling, upon being transferred to a ship called Billipotent. Therefore, the Caption Graveling complains to Billy Budd’s new Lieutenant, Radcliffe, “But Billy came; and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that

  • Searching For Meaning in Apocalypse Now

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    long and agonizing journey is seen through the eyes of Captain Willard played by Martin Sheen. Sheen. Captain Willard is assigned to a mission that relies on him to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, who is played by Marlon Brando. Although Apocalypse Now is an examination of the many terrors of society that are connected to the Vietnam War, Coppola plays much of his film off Joseph Conrad's novel The Heart of Darkness. Conrad's story focuses on Captain Marlow who is parallel to Willard and the Colonel Kurtz

  • The Importance of Thrasymachus in Plato’s Republic

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    through all the "asinine" arguments, simply stating it as "the interests of the stronger." He is clearly basing this view on simple observations of various rulers of his time. After Socrates refutes this argument by using examples of doctors and captains working for the benefit of their patients and sailors, respectively, Thrasymachus comes back with the argument of shepherds fattening sheep up for their own profit instead of for the benefit of the sheep. After this, Thrasymachus seems to w...

  • Invincible: My Journey from Fan to NFL Team Captain

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    Invincible: My Journey from Fan to NFL Team Captain Invincible is an incredible autobiography by Vince Papale with Chad Millman. This is a book that is about the life of Vince Papale. This book has great characterization, and it has an unbelievable detail on the behalf of Vince Papale and Chad Millman. This book teaches many things to the reader. This book is an amazing work of art that has much emotion in it. There are many characters in this novel that helped support Vince Papale in his

  • Life Choices in Captain Mack & Billy Mack’s War By James Roy

    1637 Words  | 4 Pages

    Captain Mack and Billy Mack’s War by James Roy are both "heart warming and thought provoking" (Reading Time) insights into the tangles of childhood and early adolescence. Published by University of Queensland Press (UQP) in 1999 and 2004 respectively, both explore the theme of how choices define who we are and what we become. Both of these books explore unlikely friendships, with two central characters in completely different settings, they are intriguingly written in a mixture of narrative methods

  • Hugo Chávez

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    those with power. He was assigned to many regions where he performed different duties. He also had the opportunity to meet numerous people. A former classmate and friend of Chávez, Jesús Hernández recalled, “We were a group of four or five captains who used to jog together in the afternoons, and one day in 1983 Chávez suggested we swear an oath to fight against corruption and for the welfare of our country…from that moment on, we began to study the pr... ... middle of paper ... .... Is

  • The Coup de Grace

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    war. This film does not glorifies war, instead it gives a very realistic view of its aftermath. One of the many artistic techniques use in this movie is the illusion of action which is achieved by the quick movement of the camera. For example, the Captain at the beginning of his search is stationary and facing forward for a long time. As he is facing forward, the background is in motion giving a sense of action. This means that the world around him is moving on and time does not stop for no one.

  • Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling, was referred to as a children’s nautical adventure story, but it has entertained audiences for generations. The main character in the story was Harvey Cheyne. Harvey is the son of a millionaire and a snobbish little brat. He acts pretty big around the crew of the ship he was aboard. The next important character is Manuel. Manuel is a Portuguese boy about Harvey’s age, which by the way is in his pre to mid teens