A Step Down of a Hero

Billy Budd, Sailor; (An Inside Narrative) has a very unique publication history. Unfinished at the death of the author Herman Melville, the book had once fallen victim to misinterpretation and wasn’t until much later that the book was “corrected” to the proper names and storyline. In our current version of Billy Budd, Melville is notorious for his use of great character description which is used to portray ambiguities between people (Watson 219). In reading the book and being introduced to so many different characters, it is easy to stray from looking over Melville’s attempt to illustrate the polar opposites of human nature.

One main comparison of human nature is illustrated in the actions and descriptions of Vere and Nelson. Williet describes in his article that it is one popular view to see Vere as almost an inferior version of Nelson (370). Melville, himself born into a family of war heroes, can be seen glorifying the image of a perfect Nelson who not only defeats the French but is able to instill patriotism into the hearts of those planning mutiny (Merriman). While Nelson is therefore portrayed in an Uncle Sam reference, Vere falls short of this description. Zoning out into thought and very indulgent in knowledge, Williet argues that this training actually creates Vere’s ignorance for human nature (371). Later in the article, it is also discussed that Melville had actually came back to edit the novel and change Vere’s descriptions to be a little less harder to be evaluated superficially, but through the boosting of Nelson’s heroic stature, Melville seemed to continue the feeling of superiority of Nelson’s character.

Although only given a glance at Vere’s actions in the beginning of the book for this part of the blog, it is his actions throughout the rest of the novel that really define his character (Williet 371). The reader is then able to see the shaping of Melville’s thoughts by the increase in harshness and praise to two different characters.

Merriman, C. D. "Herman Melville." The Literature Network. Jalic Inc., 2007. Web. .

Watson, E. L. Grant. "Melville's Testament of Acceptance ." New England Quarterly 6.2 (1933): 319-25. Web. JSTOR. 21 Nov 2009.

Willet, Ralph W. "Nelson and Vere: Hero and Victim in Billy Budd, Sailor." Modern Language Association 82.5 (1967): 370-75. Web. JSTOR. 21 Nov 2009.