Billy Budd, Sailor

Billy Budd, Sailor is a 1924 novella by Herman Melville. The narrative is equal parts philosophical examination and Christian allegory. The story concerns the brief time and tragic death of the eponymous Billy on the British warship Bellipotent. In the story, Billy, happy and naïve, is framed for mutiny and hanged for treason despite his innocence. Melville uses Billy’s story to examine The Struggle Between Morality and Lawfulness, The Vulnerability of Innocence and Naivety, and The Tension Between the Individual and the Group. The story was published posthumously and, as such, was first released as a draft instead of a final product. Later, this draft was revised by scholars and rereleased.

This guide refers to the 2006 Barnes & Noble Classics edition.

Plot Summary

Billy is taken from his former ship, the Rights-of-Man, and impressed into service on the Bellipotent, which is under the command of Captain Vere. His former officer, Captain Graveling, is reluctant to let Billy go but cannot deny the orders.

After saying goodbye to his shipmates, Billy has no trouble acclimating to life on the new vessel or with the new crew. He is a hard worker, never complains, and enjoys life to a degree that is infectious with most of the other sailors. The first sign of trouble on the Bellipotent arises when Billy witnesses the punishment given to a shipmate. After observing the vicious flogging that the man receives, Billy is determined never to experience the same cruelty. Unfortunately, even though he is diligent and reliable in his work, Billy notices that people are watching him closely. Even his most trivial offenses seem to be fodder for gossip and scrutiny.

Billy seeks counsel from an older sailor known as the Dansker. The Dansker listens to Billy’s story and tells the young man that John Claggart, the ship’s master-at-arms, dislikes Billy for some unknown reason. Billy hasn’t experienced any evidence of this and cannot understand the Dansker’s theory. However, even though he believes the Dansker is wrong, he remains restless about his situation.

Not long after his meeting with the Dansker, Billy accidentally spills his soup at lunch. He doesn’t spill it on Claggart, but the liquid pools near the man’s feet. Claggart laughs it off as the crew members follow suit. Billy reasonably assumes that Claggart’s laughter is sincere and that the incident was harmless. However, Claggart is inordinately, irrationally offended by the spill, which he interprets as Billy’s disdain for him. He tells Squeak, an unscrupulous friend, that he should make Billy uneasy by subtly undermining him whenever possible.

A nameless sailor wakes Billy one night and asks to talk with him in solitude. Billy follows him to an isolated spot on the ship. When they speak, Billy can’t make sense of the man’s purpose and is even more confused when the man offers him two coins, with which he hopes to purchase Billy’s cooperation in a potential mutiny. Billy still doesn’t understand the nature of the request. Angry and stuttering, Billy threatens to physically harm him. After the man leaves, Billy speaks with two other sailors. He tells them that he chased a confused sailor back to his own part of the ship.

Claggart tells Captain Vere that he suspects an impending mutiny led by Billy. Vere questions Billy in front of Claggart. When Claggart lies about Billy to Vere, Billy is so confused that he cannot speak. He cannot imagine why Claggart would invent the story. However, when Vere tells Billy to defend himself, Billy’s stutter prevents him from speaking. Vere understands what’s happening, but before he can find another approach, Billy hits Claggart in the forehead with his fist. Claggart falls, bleeding from his nose and ears.

Soon, the ship’s surgeon arrives and pronounces Claggart dead. Billy is held in an isolated room while Vere speaks with a group of trusted, experienced officers. He convenes a small court with a marine captain, his first lieutenant, and the sailing master. Vere gives them the official record of events, treating the men as the jury. Billy doesn’t speak, other than to maintain that he is innocent of any mutiny-based conspiracy.

The jury deliberates after sending Billy back to holding. When Vere sees that they are unlikely to reach a verdict, given the peculiar nature of the crime and the situation, he urges them to adhere to the law with full dedication, regardless of what their consciences may wish for Billy. They obey and sentence Billy to death by hanging, to be carried out the next morning.

Vere tells Billy about the verdict, but Melville does not share the contents of their conversation with the reader. That evening, Vere speaks to the crew and gives them a summary of the situation that led to Billy’s impending execution. The crew buries Claggart at sea and awaits Billy’s hanging in the morning.

As Billy passes the night in his holding cell, the chaplain visits him. It surprises the chaplain that Billy has no obvious need for his spiritual help. Indeed, Billy is tranquil and at peace, as if he has already entered God’s grace. The chaplain kisses Billy’s cheek and leaves.

The hanging takes place shortly after four o’clock in the morning. Billy’s final words are “God bless Captain Vere!” (84). The crew repeats his words immediately, and Billy dies as the sun rises. Soon, the crew is restless, but the officers quell their murmuring by sending them back to their duties. Sailors continue to discuss Billy’s strange story in the following days.

While returning home, the Bellipotent engages in a battle with a ship called the Athée, which is the French word for atheist. Captain Vere is wounded and dies in a Gibraltar hospital while uttering Billy Budd’s name. Billy’s legend grows in the aftermath of his death. A newspaper names Billy as a common murderer who killed Claggart, but the sailors who knew Billy still revere him. They even treat a piece of wood from the gallows as a divine relic and write verses that celebrate Billy Budd. The narrator spends the novella’s conclusion discussing the nature of fiction and the unreliability of narratives as they change with time and repetition, calling his own reliability into question. The novella does not have a satisfying conclusion, which makes it, according to the narrator, a less tidy story than it would be if it were pure fiction.