Billy Budd:The problem of the existence of good and evil

Billy Budd:The problem of the existence of good and evil

On one level, the novel BillyBudd tells an exciting story of certain happenings on board the British warship called the Bellipotent in the time of the Napoleonic wars, but the novel has also to be read on a deeper level. The unintentional killing by Billy of the ship’s master at arms, and a few subsequent developments constitute the plot of the novel. But these incidents have certain symbolic meanings which cannot be ignored. In symbolic terms, this novel presents a contrast between good and Evil. It would be better to use the word “contrast” and not the word “conflict” or “clash” because a conflict or clash has to be a two sided affair while in this case the good is absolutely passive and , when it does come into action, it does so not deliberately but impulsively and thoughtlessly. Claggart’s false change against Billy is pre-meditated and pre-planned, but Billy’s attack on Claggart is an instantaneous reaction to the charge and by no means pre-meditated. Billy never anticipated such a false charge, and so he could never have contemplated any action against the accuser beforehand. Now, the problem of the existence of good and evil in this universe has always troubled all thinking people. Some of the twentieth-century novelists have especially felt concerned with this problem. As for Melville, early in his literary career he had begun to feel worried by this problem. The novel Billy Budd has as its theme the gulf which lies between good and evil. Good and Evil are the two irreconcilable extremes; and Melville here shows that there is no escape from the puzzlement and bafflement which the existence of good and Evil gives rise to in our minds. The only sensible attitude to be adopted in facing this problem is to accept the reality and to find comfort in religious faith.

Claggart and Billy represent the two extremes –black and white, or goodness and evil; and the novel tells the story of how these two men act and interact. Then there is a third character too; and this third character, namely captain Vere, represents the gray colour, a colour which occupies an intermediate position between black and white and which in this case, represents goodness with a strong admixture not of evil exactly but of an excessive preoccupation with duty, a preoccupation so excessive as to seem almost evil. Indeed, captain Vere’s obsession with his official duty seems fanatical and even insane. Here are, then, three characters, each of whom symbolically represents or embodies a particular aspect of human nature –wholly or almost wholly good; wholly or almost wholly evil; and a blend of the largely good with a zeal which, by its very excess, seriously undermines and weakens the good. In this connection, it may be noted that the very names of the characters have symbolic implications. The name of Billy Budd gives vise to a feeling of youthful happiness in us because of its associations with a rose –bud. The name Claggart has a jarring sound which, therefore implies discord and harmony. The name Vere is derived from the Latin word  “verite” which means truth. And, indeed, captain Vere embodies truth of a particular mind, though not the absolute or ideal truth. It has also been pointed out that Billy Budd, because of his goodness, represents the heart, and that Claggart, whose brow is large enough to suggest a more than average intellect, symbolizes the head as distinguished from the heart. Melville, when he was writing this novel, had begun to put his faith largely in the dictates of the heart and had repudiated the claims of the head. Captain Vere, according to this interpretation, symbolizes the will. The head and the heart in this novel come into a conflict with each other, though the heart symbolized by Billy isn't conscious of the conflict. The conflict leads to a catastrophe, and then captain Vere takes charge of the affair, taking a decision which itself proves to be controversial though many people would approve of this decision because it was the only sensible decision under the circumstances. The names of the ships in this novel, like the names of the major characters also have symbolic implications. The merchantship the Rights– of –Man has been named after the title of a book of political philosophy written by an author called Thomas plaine. The warship Bellipotent has a name which, literally, means a ship which is powerful in war. At one point in the story, the Bellipotent chases a French warship by the name of the Athee which means “atheist”. Some of the other French warships are called the Devastation and the Erebus (meaning Hell). The names of the ships are therefore in themselves significant.

Continued…