Billy Budd, Sailor; an Inside Narrative [Paperback]

herman melville (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bobbs-Merrill (1978)
• ASIN: B000FMIBUY
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Melville's common man against Burke's paternal authority, September 28, 2007

By 

D. Cloyce Smith (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative Reading Text and Genetic Text) (Paperback)

Stored away in a tin box and unpublished until 1924, "Billy Budd" has since been released in a number of forms. The confused state of the various drafts and manuscripts and the resulting (significant) disparities among the work's many editions have only increased the multiplicity of interpretations of what is already an extraordinarily complex (but not all that difficult) work. Readers' understanding or pleasure of this deeply textured novella may well depend on the text they select; the version widely considered the standard is Hayford and Sealts's "reading text," which is reprinted in any number of editions, including those available from the University of Chicago Press, Penguin, and The Library of America.

"Billy Budd" is often labeled an "unfinished" work--but I think that this intimidating tag does the story an injustice, leading readers to believe that the tale will end mid-sentence, with Billy dangling from the plank of a ship. But this is no "Mystery of Edwin Drood" or "The Castle"; Melville's novel is complete. Instead, one might say it is "unpolished"--although the work's ostensible inconsistencies and errors may have been part and parcel of Melville's clearly unreliable narrator--an aspect common to many of his late works, particularly "Pierre" and "The Confidence-Man."

So what's it about? And, more perplexingly, what does it mean? This tale of the sea relates the adulation and eventual persecution of the ever-trusting Billy Budd, the "Handsome Sailor" on a British merchant ship who, at the book's opening, is forcibly impressed by the warship "Bellipotent." In his new post, the innocent naif is worshipped by the rest of the crew, which arouses the dangerous jealousy of the master-at-arms, John Claggart, the protective watchfulness of the old salt Dansker, and the conflicted paternal instincts of the ship's captain, Edward Vere. The dynamics of the tensions among these four shipmates lead to a horrible accident which tests the principles of each of the survivors.

At its most basic, Melville is a retelling of the biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac (a parallel made explicitly in the text), but in this story God remains aloof: Captain Vere must decide on his own whether Billy is to be sacrificed on the rock of military discipline. And, even more obviously, Billy is the ship's Christ figure.

But, biblical allusions aside, Billy can also be seen as the common man controlled by the paternalism of nobility. The ship from which Billy is kidnapped is the "Rights-of-Man," and "the dry and bookish" Vere (who shares his name with one of the more famous Earls of Oxford) is unsubtly modeled after that idol of conservatism Edmund Burke ("his settled convictions were as a dike against those invading waters of novel opinion social, political, and otherwise"). Billy's eventual transformation as a symbol of the strong arm of the law disguises what's really at stake: is it the preservation of aristocratic power--or the prevention of anarchy? (Melville's own sympathies were equally ambiguous.) More subtle still is the issue of race: the archetypal Handsome Sailor, mentioned in passing on the first page of the book, is "so intensely black that he must needs have been a native African." Through the compulsory act of impressment, Billy (whose "lily was quite suppressed" by his tan) becomes a slave under the arbitrary white rule of the ship.

The book's finale and its understated aftermath never fail to amaze and sadden me. My amazement results from Melville's ability to turn what could be a treacly ending into a statement on democracy and humankind (much like he did in the less successful "Israel Potter"); the sadness stems from the obvious truth in the author's views on power and subservience. In spite of its being a slim and "unfinished" novella, "Billy Budd" remains one of the most multifaceted classics of American literature.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elisabeth, Billy Budd, December 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Billy Budd, Sailor (Enriched Classics (Washington Square)) (Mass Market Paperback)

Melville's short novel, Billy Budd, relates the late eighteenth century story of a naive, innocent, young sailor, who is hated by John Claggart, the ship's master-at-arms. Good versus evil, the individual versus society, absolute law versus mercy are all themes in the novel. Billy Budd contains many Christian allusions, and some commentators have suggested the novel is a Christian allegory that depicts the sacrifice of an innocent man. The narrator repeatedly draws comparisons between Billy Budd and Christ and Claggart and Satan. Although the reader must be willing to wade through many unfamiliar allusions and difficult vocabulary, the novel has a simple, but gripping plot line with universal themes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elisabeth, Billy Budd, December 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Billy Budd, Sailor (Enriched Classics (Washington Square)) (Mass Market Paperback)

Melville's short novel, Billy Budd, relates the story of a naive, innocent, young sailor hated by John Claggart, the ship's master-at-arms. The reason for Claggart's hatred is unknown; he is simply the representative of evil. In the presence of the ship's captain, Claggart falsely accuses Billy of mutiny. In response, Billy strikes Claggart with such force that Claggart falls dead. Concerned with the possibility of mutiny, Captain Vere convenes a court which follows Vere's directions, convicts Billy, and sentences him to death by hanging. The sentence is carried out.

The novel contains many Christian allusions, and some commentators have suggested Billy Budd is an allegory of Christ and the sacrifice of an innocent man. The narrator repeatedly draws comparisons between Billy and Christ and Claggart and Satan.

The most difficult parts of Billy Budd were Chapters 3 and 4, which seemed unconnnected with plot at that point in the novel. Later, the reader understands the connection between the descriptions of two mutinies on other ships and Billy Budd. However, I am not sure the reader is ever entirely clearly ion the relevance of Admiral Nelson in Chapter 4.

Although the reader has to be willing to wade through many allusions and difficult vocabulary, the novel has a great plot and universal themes. The innocent victim, the evil heart, the individual versus society theme, the letter of the law versus mercy theme, the internal conflicts in Captain Vere, the Christ imagery all make for a classic novel. I recommend Billy Budd.