Kristofer Green
3rd Period AP English
9/19/12
Literary Analysis #1
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
1. Billy Budd is removed from his position aboard a merchant ship and relocated to the British war ship the Bellipotent . He tries to prove himself as a valuable sailor but the Claggart, master-at-arms, scolds Billy for even the slightest mistakes. Billy is later accused of plotting a mutiny against Captain Vere. The Clarggart is the one who brings Billy to the captain and accuses him in person, Billy full of rage and anger lands a fatal punch across the front of the Clarggarts face. Billy is given the death sentence for his act of murder and will be sent to hang on the next morning. As Billy is about to hang for his crimes he shouts out "God bless Captain Vere!". After Billy's death the Bellipotent fights a French war ship, in the battle Captain Vere is wounded and later dies in a hospital. The story of Billy Budd spreads to the shores as him being a mutinous rebel, but the sailors on the ship question the accuracy of the story.
2. The law may state a punishment is to be given for a particular action, while a person may know and provide information impending to the circumstance under which the action was committed. The theme of the novel is whether or not a law should be absolute, if this happens regardless of why it happens, then this will always be the punishment. Billy Budd is sentenced to hang because of the law stating that hanging is the penalty for murder, however Billy did not intend to kill the Claggart, he merely meant to hurt him for the false accusation of Billy as part of the alleged mutiny.
3. The story is told through a resentful tone, feeling cheated and betrayed by the more noble or higher ranking powers of the world. The tone of resentment accompanies the experiences that Billy goes through during his journey in a way of parallel attitude. Both Billy and the author show their resentment toward higher ranking or more noble people in the world through the words that they use throughout the story. "For what can more partake of the mysterious than an antipathy spontaneous and profound such as is evoked in certain exceptional mortals by the mere aspect of some other mortal, however harmless he may be, if not called forth by this very harmlessness itself?" Indignant, is the feeling the reader receives from what Melville is trying to convey in the passage. "No, not always. But to me he has. I seldom pass him but there comes a pleasant word. And that’s because he’s down upon you, Baby Budd.”" No; but less often than with landsmen do their vices, so called, partake of crookedness of heart, seeming less to proceed from viciousness than exuberance of vitality after long constraint"
4.
Characterization- Herman Melville's use of Characterization helps to portrait his tone of resentment and the feeling of being cheated. The characters in the story are all static except for Billy Budd himself. He is an example of a dynamic character because at a specific point in the story he changes dramatically. He goes from being the example of innocence to guilty of committing evil acts.
Diction- The word choice and sentence structure of the novel are relative to the time period when the story is written, late 1800's. The characters talk with colloquial phrases to one another, using words and phrases from the time period. The diction corresponds well with the tone and theme of the novel as the words used often seem to have a harsh connotation to them.
Symbolism- Billy Budd is the representation of innocence. He never acts out our refuses to follow orders, he is not guilty of mutiny, and he did not intentionally murder the Claggart. The use of the term "Baby Budd" also emphasizes the innocence of the character. "Baby Budd, Jemmy Legs", "Ay, Baby lad, a sweet voice has Jemmy Legs." , "No, not always. But to me he has. I seldom pass him but there comes a pleasant word."
"And that's because he's down upon you, Baby Budd."
Point of view- The use of the third person in the novel eliminates the possibility of biased opinions that often occur when a story is told from a first person point of view. Since the story is narrated from third person the reader trusts the characteristics and elements of each character rather than the character being clouded by the opinion of the protagonist in first person.
Satire- Herman Melville ridicules the thought of having a set punishment for a certain crime. The story's central theme is that conscience should not always be inferior to law, that under certain conditions laws should be regarded along with conscience beliefs. The final words of Billy Budd before he hangs help to prove Melville's satire. “God bless Captain Vere!” along with the ironic last words of Captain Vere as he dies in a hospital “Billy Budd, Billy Budd.” compliment Melville's intentions.
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