Billy Budd and Other Tales | Herman Melville

Billy Budd and Other Tales | Herman Melville | Sailors' Favorite Framed, Takes Rap

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Billy Budd and Oth...

	Billy Budd and Other Tales Herman Melville Signet Classics, 1998 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
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Featured in this volume are "Billy Budd", Melville's posthumously published novella, the story of the rivalry between a handsome sailor and his demonic captain; the tale of the apathetic "Bartleby, the Scrivener; " the riveting "Benito Cereno", the story of a slave ship mutiny written at the time of the Amistad case and "The Town-Ho's Story", a chapter from Melville's masterpiece, "Moby Dick". Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates.

good and evil

Personally, I thought this was a great book. This book follows a man named Billy Budd through the end of his life spent in the English navy. Although this book had some boring parts, it was overall a great story line. I was impressed with story more than the writing, which ran a little longer than I thought it should have in some parts. However, the main story was very clever and presented a lot of great ideas.
The story was set in 1797 during one of Britain's wars with France. Most of the story takes place on a ship called the Indomitable. There had been a lot of mutinies in the British navy, and the ship is overall a tense place. To add to it the men find the quarters too crowded. Billy Budd starts out on a boat called the Rights of Man, a merchant ship, and is put into service on the Indomitable.
The story to me is about good versus evil. The whole book seems to be a major analogy of the simplest form. Billy is good. Claggart is bad, and Vere is reason. The major plot involves Billy killing Claggart in response to evil. Billy seems to be completely unaware of badness. After being offended by Claggart, Billy punches him and accidentally kills him. Then a court is set up to determine Billy's punishment.
The characters have very obvious symbolism to the struggle of good and evil. When Billy joins the Indomitable he is about 20, handsome, kind, and basically personified innocence. Claggart is an older man who moved up in rank mainly because he could please people, but is clearly evil. I think that this is genius. Even in my life I can think of people who get ahead in life simply through attitude, which I find to be a horrible representation of a man. I believe men should be judged more on their values, or set of morals, which determine all of his endeavors. Even in schools the straight A students are not always the people who are most able to do jobs. However I use this more as an analogy than an example because this story deals mainly with good and evil. Finally, there is Captain Vere. He is an older man, who is implied to be intelligent although not directly show to be. He loves to read, and is a conserved man who is seen as fair, and well liked among the sailors. To me he doesn't represent a person. I see Vere as the challenge of judgment. He is a man given all the information, a just fairness, and intelligence. I find that even though not all people come off as having equal intelligence, it's more of a language barrier. Until you get to know someone its like looking at the surface of an ocean. When it comes to their ideas you can only see the tip of the iceberg, and it's impossible to tell for sure how deep those thoughts go, even if you think you have an idea. I think that most people have this reason and understanding, under the surface, that is represented by Vere. I must say that some people wouldn't like this book because they might find it stupid or boring, but the principles that are suggested by this book are real and true to today. So, even if you don't appreciate the style of the author, anyone who takes time to consider the idea of this story must find themselves lost in thought; riding on a train of thought that only great ideas can take you aboard, staring out the window with amazement.
The story itself beautifully illustrates this idea of the forces of good and evil in life. The men on the ship are like followers. Some of them follow Claggart, trying their best to please him, but the majority look up to Billy for his purity, and respect Vere for his fairness. The idea of mutiny is brought to Billy by one of his fellow seamen. Billy of course has no desire to partake in it, and is outraged by the idea. However, later, when the ship leaves the main fleet, Claggart tells Vere that he has heard of a mutiny developing. Vere who seems to admire Billy for his innocence and good heart, finds the claim ridiculous. It's never made clear why Claggart dislikes Billy, but I think that this is one of the key points of the book, that evil exists without instigation. Vere, determined to settle the dispute, brings both of them into his office one night, and tells them both the situation. Billy, who has no understanding of evil, is so offended by this accusation that in defense he out lashes and punches Claggart, killing him. Vere, a man of justice calls together a court for Billy's punishment. If you don't want to know the ending, skip the rest of this paragraph. In sight of fairness Billy is sentenced to a hanging. Also, later Vere dies in a fight with the ship Atheist. So, in the end evil is all that's left it seems. I don't think that this means that evil conquers goodness and fairness. I think it simply shows that goodness is rare, and fairness can be taken by evil, as with Billy's death and Vere's death. I think the reason evil is left at the end of this book is because evil will always exist.
Overall, this book was definitely a classic. I found the story interesting, and quite well written, but had it been poorly written, the concept of the book was enough to make this book well worth the reading. The book seemed boring to me at first, but the whole picture is needed to appreciate this work of art. I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind.

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Sailors' Favorite Framed, Takes Rap

*BILLY BUDD, a classic tale by America's Herman Melville, was written 40 years after his burst of creative energy. Melville still possessed the feeling for a good story, but he wrote it in a language so ornate and (to our modern eyes) stilted, that one can hardly absorb it. Nevertheless, BILLY BUDD deals with a timeless human issue---the nature of justice. Billy, a handsome young sailor, has been impressed into the British Navy where he incurs the jealousy or instinctive dislike of an officer. Billy has done nothing to warrant his wrath and is highly popular among everyone. This officer, rather more intellectual than most, proves tenaciously vindictive. He endeavors to trap Billy in a mutinous plot, but Billy rejects the idea. At last the officer goes to the captain and accuses Billy of mutiny directly. The captain too likes Billy and cannot believe the accuser. He calls Billy, who in tense circumstances is apt to stutter or be tongue-tied. When presented with the officer's accusations, Billy cannot speak. He strikes the officer. The conclusion is swift and sad. I should not reveal the ending, but the question of "what is justice ?" lies at the center of it.

*Other Tales---these are neither very enjoyable nor easy to read except for BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER, an amusing story that might remind readers of one episode from "Sinbad the Sailor". Bartleby, a copyist or scrivener arrives at a lawyer's office and is hired. He seems to have no past, no present. We discover that he even lives at the office, never goes out. He gradually refuses to do all work, but will not leave the premises. How to get rid of him ? I could tell you the end, but in the immortal words of Bartleby himself, "I would prefer not to." This is a minor classic.

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The difference between to be right and to be moral!

Billy Budd has never known a home beside the sea. Orphaned, and apparently un-cared for, even though he has a personal innocence, and beauty about him, he is at one with the sea.

In his innocence, he is unaware that his superior, Claggert, is also his nemesis, and one can only speculate why Claggert has such antipathy towards him.

Although there is nothing Captain Vere can do to save the poor boy, after Billy Budd unexpectedly lashes out at Claggert, we are waiting for something to happen to avoid the unfair morality of the story. While Vere has right in his decision to condemn Billy Budd, it is an immoral decision. Is what is right and what is moral it always the same thing? Not in this case, and perhaps that is Melville's point. Well meaning people can do what is right, can act in a manner that is correct, but isn't there a higher consideration. Why does there have to be a conflict with morality and correctness, with humanity and duty.

This short novel provides yet another addition to the literature in which to question right and wrong, good and evil. I think that this is an unanswerable question.

While the themes within this story and universal, and well presented, the language is nineteenth century. Parts of the narrative are difficult to get through, and many of the metaphors require a nineteenth century outlook. But the issues it raises are worth thinking about, and that certainly comes through, at least to me,

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