This paper examines the tension between conscience and law in Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor, with particular attention to the drumhead court scene in which Captain Vere must decide Billy Budd's fate after he strikes and kills the master-at-arms Claggart. The paper analyzes how Vere weighs private moral conscience against imperial military duty, argues that social order and discipline ultimately override personal compassion, and situates the verdict within the broader context of naval impressment and the specter of French Revolutionary violence. The essay concludes that Vere's decision to hang Budd reflects the military worldview's privileging of appearances and order over deeper moral justice.
The paper demonstrates close reading combined with thematic analysis. By isolating Vere's speech to the court and unpacking the opposition between "private conscience" and "imperial" military code, the writer shows how a single passage can carry the full argumentative weight of an essay. This technique — extract, quote, analyze, generalize — is a foundational move in literary criticism.
The essay opens with a brief survey of the novella's themes before narrowing to its chosen focus. A "Discussion" section works through the court scene's competing arguments — the officer of marines, the sailing master, and Vere — before shifting to the social-level consequences of any verdict. The conclusion synthesizes the military-duty versus moral-scruple opposition and delivers the essay's final judgment on Vere's decision.
There are many themes to be considered in Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor: individualism versus society, the vulnerability of innocence, and conscience versus law. This paper explores the latter in the context of the time and setting of the story.
In chapter 21, a small drumhead court is assembled by Captain Vere to consider the fate of Billy after he strikes Claggart — a superior aboard the ship — and kills him for lying about Billy's alleged involvement in a conspiracy to incite a mutiny. As the court wavers on what to do, Captain Vere speaks: "But something in your aspect seems to urge that it is not solely the heart that moves in you, but also the conscience, the private conscience. But tell me whether or not, occupying the position we do, private conscience should not yield to that imperial one formulated in the code under which alone we officially proceed?" (p. 1920). Captain Vere understands that his men are struggling with a conflict between their hearts and their duty.
Because of these circumstances, Vere is reluctant to let the matter of Claggart's death go unpunished. The officer of marines argues that Budd did not intend mutiny or homicide, so the death penalty seems unwarranted. The sailing master inquires whether it is possible to convict and yet mitigate the penalty (p. 1921).
At this point the question of guilt or innocence moves from the personal to the social level. Captain Vere fears that any verdict other than death will send the wrong message to the crew. The Captain contends that the crew, "long molded by arbitrary discipline" (p. 1921), lack the capacity to understand if an exception is made under these circumstances. In his view, the crew will interpret the matter as a homicide committed in a blatant act of mutiny.
Furthermore, any leniency would encourage mutiny and wild behavior among the rest of the crew, who, if given enough freedom, might act as recklessly as the king-killing populace of France. Whether the killing was intentional, or whether Budd did or did not actually engage in mutiny, is of little consequence. It is the effect of his perceived action on the crew that matters (Hunt).
While moral scruple and compassion try to delve into deeper circumstance in order to better understand an action and the realities that underlie it, military rules do not. The military point of view is content with surfaces and appearances. From this perspective, order and discipline supersede justice, and matters of duty supersede matters of the heart. Captain Vere felt there was no alternative but to hang Billy Budd in order to maintain discipline aboard his ship.
Hunt, Lester H. "The Clash of Perspectives in Billy Budd." University of Wisconsin–Madison, Department of Philosophy. N.d. Web. 16 June 2011.
Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins, eds. The American Tradition in Literature. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
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