Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Billy Budd: Good Versus Evil - College Essays

Billy Budd: Good Versus Evil

Although their are many themes incorporated into the novella “ Billy Budd” written by Herman Melville on main theme stays consistent throughout the novella, the theme of good versus evil. In this theme Melville focuses on two main characters Billy Budd and John Claggart. Billy Budd is used in this novella to represent good in this theme while John Claggart is used to represent evil. This theme represented by Budd and Claggart is used by Melville for the purpose of discussing the nature of man.
Representing Good in the theme of “ good versus evil”, Billy Budd is used to depict Rousseau’s noble savage. Melville consistently, throughout the novella, refers to Budd as a “ barbarian”. By this ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

of knowledge”. Here he compares Budd to Adam and Eve before they were coaxed by the serpent to take a bite of the apple of knowledge. It is in this way that Melville gives the reader the implication that Billy Budd is being used to represent goodness of the nature of man.
To represent the evil in the theme “ good versus evil”, Melville introduces the reader to John Claggart. In this novella John Claggart shows to have unique characteristics all of his own. His vague background links him to Budd while his Intelligence links him to Captain Vere. His depraved nature however is unlike any other characters in the novella. Melville decides to compare Claggart to Satan using biblical allusions, focusing on his evil nature. With Melville’s description of Claggart we find that he is used to represent the depraved nature of man. In his descriptions he emphasizes this when he states “ With no power to annual the elemental evil in him, though readily enough he could hide it; a nature like ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Billy Budd: Good Versus Evil. (2007, August 12). Retrieved February 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Billy-Budd-Good-Versus-Evil/69489

"Billy Budd: Good Versus Evil." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 12 Aug. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Billy-Budd-Good-Versus-Evil/69489>

"Billy Budd: Good Versus Evil." Essayworld.com. August 12, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Billy-Budd-Good-Versus-Evil/69489.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 8/12/2007 11:59:05 PM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Free Paper
Words: 550
Pages: 2

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier