Essay/Term paper: Billy budd

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Characters Billy Budd- He is a bright-eyed,

twenty-one year old forewoman of the British Fleet. An

orphan, he is tall, athletic, friendly, innocent, and helpful. He

is a loyal friend, and a fierce fighter. All the officers like him

except for Claggart. Claggart- The Master-at-Arms that is

envious and jealous of Billy Budd. He is out to make Billy's

life miserable and is the cause of Billy Budd's execution.

Captain Vere- The Honorable Edward Fairfax Vere is a

bachelor of about forty. He has a nickname of "Starry

Vere." Captain Vere is forced to execute Billy Budd though

he knew of his innocence. But nevertheless Dansker- A

veteran sailor who has taken a liking to Billy Budd. Tells

Billy that Claggart doesn't like him. He is also one of the

most important members of the crew. Chapter's 1-7 Page's

1-27 The book starts out with the author remembering

seeing a handsome man many years ago. He is reminded of

this by the Handsome Sailor, Billy Budd. Billy is twenty-

one, a foretopeman of the British fleet who impressed

Lieutenant Ratcliffe of the H.M.S. Indomitable. Billy leaves

his ship the Rights of Man, and joins the H.M.S.

Indomitable. He is received well by the crew and they like

him lots. An officer asks him about who his parents are and

he reply's that he doesn't know. He was found in a basket

hung on a man's door handle in Bristol. Billy seems to be

practically perfect, but he does have one weakness. When

he is strongly provoked, he is inclined to stutter, or may even

become speechless. The author tells us of the uprisings in the

British navy. It is later called the Great Mutiny. They sail for

the Mediterranean and have an uneasiness about them as

they watch for signs of trouble or discontent. Chapter's 8-15

Page's 28-55 Billy had seen the gangway punishment, and

was determined that he would always perform his duties

well, and that his actions would never cause him to get yelled

at. Though he had made that resolution, he was occasionally

getting into slight trouble. He is confused by this, and goes to

Dansker, who seems to have taken a liking to him. Billy asks

him for his opinion, and he says that it is because Claggart

doesn't like Billy. That with all evidence to the contrary, he

despises him. The day after the discussion with Dansker,

Billy spills soup on the freshly cleaned deck just as Claggart

passes by him. Claggart notices that it was Billy that spilled

the soup, and only taps him lightly with his rattan. The book

seems to say that Claggart has an inborn wickedness in him.

Claggart and the Captain seem to be the only two on the

ship that can see the unique innocence in Billy Budd. This

perception aggravates Claggart's jealously even more.

Squeak has sensed Claggart's envy of Billy Budd, and

makes up mean names for him, which he tells Claggart are

the sort of things that Billy is saying about him. A few days

after he spilled the soup, someone was trying to wake him

by whispering in his ear. They said to meet on a secluded

platform on the deck. He hinted to what it was about. It was

very vague. When Billy went to meet the mysterious man, he

wasn't able to see his face because it was in the shadows,

but he could tell that the person was one of the

afterguardsmen. The sailor said that there was a gang of men

that were impressed into service just as Billy had been, and

he wanted to know if Billy wanted to join them. The sailor

offered Billy what looked like gold coins. Billy was angered

greatly by this, and stutters and threatens to throw the sailor

overboard. The sailor is offended and runs away. Chapter's

16-23 Page's 56-94 After the incident with the

afterguardsman, Billy tells his friend, the Dansker, some of

the details of what happened. Billy doesn't tell the Dansker

that it was an afterguardsman, and the Dansker says that

Claggart is out to get him. It makes Billy wonder what

Claggart has to do with all of it. Billy disregards what the

Dansker has told him about Claggart, even though the

master-at-arms acts weird around him sometimes. He

doesn't realize that beneath Claggart's calm surface, there is

a jealous man that is out to get him. A few day later,

Claggart approaches Captain Vere and tells him that one of

the sailors is a dangerous man who is planning something

dangerous among the crew. The Captain becomes impatient

with Claggart and interrupts him, demanding to know who

this dangerous sailor is. Claggart says he is "William Budd."

The Captain is surprised with this accusation and wonders

what the best way to silence the matter as quickly as

possible. Captain Vere decides to bring Billy Budd and

Claggart together into his cabin so that they may close the

matter when Claggart's allegations are proved false. Claggart

waits in the captain's cabin while his personal attendant is

sent to fetch Billy. Billy enters the captain's cabin and notices

that Claggart is present. He is not alarmed, but rather

surprised. Captain Vere tells Claggart to tell Billy face to

face the accusations he had previously made. Claggart

repeats the story to Billy, and he is speechless. Vere orders

Billy to speak in his own defense, but Billy is still tongue-tied

and can't seem to be able to find his voice. After an instant

more of silence, Billy's arm lashes out and strikes Claggart

on the forehead. He falls to the ground dead. Billy and the

Captain try to revive Claggart, but he is definitely lifeless.

The Captain regains his official composure and orders Billy

to wait in the rear stateroom. He sends for the ship's surgeon

who confirms that Claggart is dead. Captain Vere tells the

surgeon that he will quickly call a drum-head court, and to

tell the ship's officers, but not anyone else. The surgeon

disapproves of the Captains order to call a drum-head

court, yet he can do nothing about it. Other lieutenants and

the marine captain share his amazement and dismay. The

drum-head court is put together, and Captain Vere is the

only witness. Billy admits to having killed the

master-at-arms, but says that Claggart was lying. He is very

sorry that he is dead, but never meant to kill the man.

Captain Vere urges the court to be compassionate with their

ruling. Billy is convicted and sentenced to be hanged at the

yardarm in the early morning. Chapters 24-31 Pages

95-116 The crew is summoned on deck, where the captain

tells them what has happened. The sailors are astonished by

what the hear. They can't believe it. Claggart's body is then

buried at sea according to the rituals of his naval rank. Billy

is put in irons and is visited by the chaplain. He doesn't seem

to see the chaplain so he goes, but returns again around

midnight. The chaplain tries to tell Billy about God, but he

just listens politely even though he does not know what the

chaplain is talking about. Everyone is called on deck to

watch the execution. The last words that Billy Budd says is

"God bless Captain Vere!" They return to the English fleet in

the Mediterranean, where the ship meets hostility. In the

battle, Captain Vere is hit and seriously wounded by a

musket ball. The senior lieutenant captures the enemy ship

and takes both ships into Gibraltar. Captain Vere is dying,

and on shore he is heard to murmur to his attendant, the

words- "Billy Budd, Billy Budd." A few weeks later, in a

Navy Chronicle, a passage said that there was a man named

Billy Budd that had stabbed Claggart. It also stated that Billy

Budd was not an Englishman, but an alien taking on an

English name. In the navy, anything that has to do with an

incident that happened in the service, is converted into a

monument. The spar from which Billy Budd was hung

became so important to some sailors, that a chip of it

became like a piece of the cross. Though they do not know

the whole story of the incident, they know subconsciously

that Billy could not be guilty of mutiny, or intentional

murderer. Thoughts on the book... I think that the author

was trying to tell us about how to accept an imperfect life.

That you should just accept things as they are, and to adjust

to things as is necessary. How you may be good in all kinds

of ways, but you may also have one flaw, and it may make

your life miserable. Billy Budd had one flaw, and that was

when he was under any kind of pressure, he would either

stutter or lose his ability to speak. He was nearly perfect in

every way, but the one flaw made him human. We should

accept life and live it to its fullest.