Billy Budd

full title · Given in various editions as Billy
Budd; Billy Budd, Foretopman; and Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside
Narrative). The last seems to represent Melville’s final intention before
he died.


author · Herman Melville


type of work · Novel


genre · Sea story, Christian allegory, novella,
philosophical novel


time and place written · 1886–1891,
New York City


date of first publication · 1924


narrator · The story is narrated in an omniscient
third person voice whose liveliness, strong opinions, and stylistic
inconsistency give the narrator a forceful, erratic personality that colors the
events of the story. The narrator jumps freely from character to character in
describing backgrounds, attitudes, and mindsets, yet often admits ignorance
concerning certain events.


point of view · The narrator generally focuses on
Billy’s point of view, but in certain chapters shifts to that of Claggart and
Vere. For brief moments, the point of view of minor characters such as Captain
Graveling is represented.


tone · The narrator’s attitude toward his story is
generally one of ironic disillusionment. The notes of hope, reconciliation, and
optimism that creep into the text, especially toward the end, have been
interpreted by some readers as sincere and by others as satirical.


tense · Past


setting (time) · Summer of 1797,
four years into the Napoleonic Wars between England and France and several
months after the Great Mutiny at Nore


setting (place) · On an English warship, the Bellipotent,
somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea


protagonist · Billy Budd


major conflict · On one level, the conflict of the
book is between the natural innocence and goodness of Billy and the subtlety
and deceptiveness of evil, represented by Claggart. The second major conflict
of the book is the dilemma about whether Vere should absolve Billy for killing
Claggart, since Billy is fundamentally innocent, or whether he should execute
him to avoid appearing lenient toward mutiny.


rising action · Billy’s persecution for minor
infractions, his spilling the soup in front of Claggart, and his encounter with
the afterguardsman, who may have been seeking to entrap him, all bring Billy
and Claggart toward open conflict.


climax · Billy strikes Claggart dead after being
falsely accused of mutiny.


falling action · Vere forms a special drumhead
court to try Billy, and pressures the court to convict and condemn him; Billy
is executed in front of the entire crew; Billy’s legend gradually begins to
spread among the sailors.


themes · The individual versus society; conscience
versus law; the vulnerability of innocence


motifs · Christian allegory; suggestive names;
mutiny


symbols · The ships, the purser, the surgeon





Context


Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819, the third of eight
children born to Maria Gansevoort Melville and Allan Melville, a prosperous
importer of foreign goods. When the family business failed at the end of the 1820s,
the Melvilles relocated to Albany
in an attempt to revive their fortune. In another string of bad luck, overwork
drove Allan to an early grave, and the young Herman was forced to start working
in a bank at the age of thirteen


Plot Overview


The setting is the last
decade of the eighteenth century. The British naval warship H.M.S. Bellipotent
impresses, or involuntarily recruits, the young sailor Billy Budd, extracting
him from duty aboard the Rights-of-Man, a merchant ship. Billy’s
commanding officer, Captain Graveling, though reluctant to let one of his best
men go, has little choice in the face of the superior ship’s demands. Billy
packs up his gear without so much as a protest and follows the boarding officer
of the Bellipotent, Lieutenant Ratcliffe, across the gangway to his new
assignment. After a cheery good-bye to his old mates, Billy settles in quickly
among the company of the Bellipotent. He proves most industrious and
eager in his role as foretopman and soon earns the affection of his more
experienced fellow sailors.


[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]


Billy is deeply affected
by the sight of a violent lashing given to one of the ship’s crew. Hoping to
avoid a similar punishment, Billy attempts to fulfill his duties in model
fashion, but finds himself under constant scrutiny due to various minor
infractions. Puzzled by this persecution, Billy seeks out the advice of the
Dansker, an aged, experienced sailor. After explaining the situation to him,
the Dansker concludes that Claggart, the master-at-arms, holds a grudge against
Billy. Refusing to accept this theory, Billy dismisses the Dansker’s opinion
but continues to wonder pensively about his situation.


Shortly thereafter, at a
lunchtime meal, Billy accidentally spills his soup pan in the ship’s dining
room after a sudden lurch. The contents of the pan trickle to the feet of the
passing Claggart, who makes an offhand, seemingly lighthearted remark in
recognition of the spill. His comment elicits a stream of obligatory laughter
from the ship’s company, and Billy interprets the event as proof of Claggart’s
approval. But Claggart is offended by the accident, and finds it indicative of
Billy’s contempt for him. He fixates on the accident as proof of Billy’s
hostility, and his assistant Squeak resolves to increase his surreptitious
persecutions of Billy in recompense.


One night, an anonymous
figure rouses Billy from his sleep on the upper deck and asks him to meet in a
remote quarter of the ship. Confused, Billy mechanically obeys. At the
mysterious rendezvous, Billy is puzzled when, after some vague discourse, the
unidentified man flashes two guineas in exchange for a promise of cooperation.
Without comprehending the exact details of this solicitation, Billy recognizes
that something is amiss, and he raises his stuttering voice and threatens the
man with uncharacteristic violence. The conspirator quickly slinks into the
darkness, and Billy finds himself confronted with the curious inquiries of two
fellow sailors. Unsure of how to explain the situation, Billy explains that he
simply happened upon a fellow sailor who was in the wrong part of the ship, and
chased the man back to his proper station with a gruff rebuke.


Somewhat later, after a
brief skirmish with an enemy frigate, Claggart approaches Captain Vere with
news of a rumored mutiny and names Billy Budd as the ringleader of the
rebellion. Vere summons Billy to his cabin and instructs Claggart to repeat his
accusation. Upon hearing of this unexpected blot on his character, Billy is
rendered speechless. Vere commands Billy to defend himself, but then, noticing
Billy’s tendency to stutter, softens his approach. Left with no other means of
defense, and twisted into a rage at Claggart’s outrageous words against him,
Billy strikes out in a fury, giving Claggart a swift punch to the forehead.


The blow proves forceful
enough to knock Claggart unconscious, and he lies bleeding from the nose and
ears as Billy and Vere attempt to revive him. Abandoning this effort, Vere
dismisses Billy to a neighboring stateroom until further notice. The ship’s
surgeon pronounces Claggart dead after a brief examination, and Captain Vere
summons a group of his senior officers to the cabin.


[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]


In a decisive move, Vere
calls a drumhead court consisting of the captain of the marines, the first
lieutenant, and the sailing master. Vere, functioning as the main witness,
gives a testimony of the relevant events to the jury. Billy remains rather
silent during his period of questioning, admitting to the blow but maintaining
his innocence of intention and declaring his lack of affiliation with any
potential mutiny. The court dismisses Billy again to the stateroom.


During a tense period of
deliberation, Vere hovers over the jury. When they seem to be deadlocked,
unable to make a decision, Vere steps forward to declare his conviction that
the rule of law must supersede the reservations of conscience. He concludes his
speech to the jury by insisting that they decide to acquit or condemn in strict
accordance with the letter of military law. After a period of further
deliberation, the jury finds Billy Budd guilty as charged and sentences him to
death by hanging on the following morning.


Captain Vere
communicates to Billy the news of his fate and, after a discussion with him
that we do not learn about directly, he withdraws to leave the prisoner by
himself. Later that evening, Vere calls a general meeting of the ship’s crew
and explains the events of the day. Claggart receives an official burial at
sea, and all hands prepare to bear witness to Billy’s hanging at dawn.


Billy spends his final
hours in chains on board an upper gun deck, guarded by a sentry. The ship’s
chaplain attempts to spiritually prepare Billy for his death, but Billy already
seems to be in a state of perfect peace and resignation. As the chaplain
withdraws from Billy’s company, he kisses him gently on the cheek as a token of
good will.


That morning, shortly
after four A.M., Billy is hanged in the mainyard of the ship. As the crew
watches him being strung up, preparing to die, they hear him utter his last
words: “God bless Captain Vere!” The assembled company automatically echoes
this unexpected sentiment, and Billy expires with surprising calm as dawn
breaks over the horizon.


After Billy’s death, the
crew begins to murmur, but the officers quickly disperse them to various tasks.
Whistles blow and the ship returns to regular business. In the ensuing days,
sailors engage in various discussions concerning Billy’s fate and the
mysterious circumstances of his expiration. On its return voyage, the Bellipotent
falls in with a French warship, the Athée, or Atheist. Captain
Vere, wounded in the skirmish, eventually dies in a Gibraltar
hospital, uttering as his last words, “Billy Budd, Billy Budd.”


Finally, the legend of
Billy Budd becomes recorded and institutionalized in naval circles. A newspaper
reports the incident from afar, implicating Billy Budd as the villainous
assailant of an innocent Claggart. The sailors themselves, however, begin to
revere Billy’s growing legend, treating the spar from his gallows as a holy
object, and composing laudatory verse in his memory.


Character List


Billy Budd - Discovered on a doorstep as
an infant, Billy Budd is a fine physical specimen at age twenty-one, renowned
for his good looks and gentle, innocent ways. Upon taking up as a young seaman
in the service of His Majesty the King of England, Billy grows into the
near-perfect image of what Melville calls the “Handsome Sailor,” an ideal specimen
who inspires love and admiration in all his fellows. While working on board the
merchant ship Rights-of-Man, Billy is impressed into naval duty as a
foretopman (a sailor who sits atop the foremast or above) on board the warship
H.M.S. Bellipotent. Although much younger than most of the Bellipotent’s
crewmen, the cheerful, innocent young man quickly gains back the popularity he
had previously enjoyed, earning the nickname “Baby Budd” in the process. He has
several shortcomings, however, including an inability to perceive ill will in
other people. He also has an unpredictable tendency to stutter, and at certain
crucial moments he is rendered completely speechless.


[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]


Captain the Honorable Edward Fairfax Vere -
Captain of the H.M.S. Bellipotent. A bachelor of aristocratic lineage,
the forty-year-old Vere has made his mark as a distinguished sailor. His
nickname, “Starry Vere,” seems fitting for this abstracted, intellectual figure
who often shuts himself up at sea with his books. Vere remains somewhat aloof
and diffident among his peers, though he is not haughty.


John Claggart - The master-at-arms of
the Bellipotent, an office equivalent to chief of police on board the
ship. Behind his back, the crew refers to Claggart with the derogatory nickname
“Jemmy Legs.” At age thirty-five, Claggart is lean and tall, with a protruding
chin and an authoritative gaze. His brow bespeaks cleverness, and his black
hair contrasts starkly with his pallid complexion. Because of his pale face, he
stays out of the sun as much as possible. The narrator gives few details about
Claggart’s past, although speculation runs rampant among the crewmembers. It is
known that after entering the navy unusually late in life, Claggart rose
through the ranks to attain his present position on the strength of his
sobriety, deference to authority, and patriotism. However, his compliant
exterior disguises a cruel and sinister streak, which the narrator explains is
actually a natural tendency toward evil and depravity.


The Dansker - Billy’s acquaintance and
confidante aboard the Bellipotent. A wizened old sailor with beady eyes,
the Dansker listens and occasionally issues inscrutable, oracular responses
when Billy seeks out his confidence. At other times, however, the Dansker is
decidedly reticent and unhelpful.


Ship’s Surgeon - Pronounces Claggart
dead upon arriving in the captain’s cabin. The surgeon considers Vere’s
decision to call a drumhead court somewhat abrupt and hasty. Though unable to
account for Billy’s unusually peaceful death in the gallows, he refuses to
believe that the event is attended by supernatural circumstances.


Ship’s Purser - Ruddy and rotund, the
purser speculates that Billy’s unusually peaceful death in the gallows shows a
phenomenal degree of will on Billy’s behalf, perhaps revealing a superhuman
power.


Ship’s Chaplain - Reluctantly and
unsuccessfully attempts to console Billy with words from the Bible on the eve
of Billy’s execution. When the chaplain realizes that Billy is already
peacefully resigned to his death, and that his spiritual direction cannot do
anything more for Billy, he leaves, kissing Billy gently on the cheek as he
goes.


Squeak - Claggart’s most cunning
corporal. Squeak supports and fuels Claggart’s contempt for Billy, and tries by
various maneuvers to make Billy’s life miserable.


Albert - Captain Vere’s hammock boy.
Trusted by the captain, Albert is sent to summon Billy to the cabin on the day
Claggart accuses him.


Lieutenant Ratcliffe - The brusque
boarding officer of the Bellipotent. Lieutenant Ratcliffe selects only
Billy from the company of the Rights-of-Man for impressment, or
involuntary recruitment into naval service.


Captain Graveling - Captain of the Rights-of-Man.
At fifty, the slightly overweight Captain Graveling is a benign, conscientious
shipmaster who is sorry to lose Billy Budd to the Bellipotent.


The Red Whiskers - Billy’s adversary
aboard the Rights-of-Man. When Billy strikes him, his hatred of Billy
turns to love, which both parallels and contrasts with Billy’s disastrous
striking of Claggart.


Red Pepper -
The forecastleman who reproves Billy for not taking greater disciplinary action
against the stranger who tries to corrupt him.


Themes, Motifs & Symbols


Themes


Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary
work.


The Individual Versus Society


Conscience Versus Law


The Vulnerability of Innocence





Motifs



Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can
help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.


Christian Allegory


Suggestive Names


Primitive and Animal Imagery


Mutiny





Symbols



Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent
abstract ideas or concepts.


The Ships


The Purser and the Surgeon

y3m el kesa dy 3lena ؟؟؟
!!!!!!!!!
[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]

[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذه الصورة]