Bill Budd

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Billy is sweet, John is bitter. Where Billy is naïve, John is knowledgeable. Where Billy is content, John is jealous. Lastly, where Billy is good, John is bad.
The ugliness that results in the death of both men portrays the triumph of sinister forces over the meek. John Claggart, who is a powerful and feared man aboard Bellipotent, lashes out at Billy who is for the most part defenseless. This is an injustice of biblical proportions.
What could have prevented this from happening? Perhaps, if Billy picked up on John’s malicious intent the entire tragedy could have been avoided. But, on the other hand Billy was good and sought goodness. That is why he failed to see the evilness in Claggart.
To discourage Billy’s goodness is to compromise the very thing that makes us human in the first placeHumans seek goodness instinctively. Thus, it is society’s innate responsibility to protect the good (naïve) from those who are in a position to hurt them (people with ...

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