Biblical parallels in Herman Melville´s Billy Budd, Sailor: An Inside Narrative

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“But Billy came; and it was like a Catholic priest striking peace in an Irish shindy. Not that he preached to them or said or did anything in particular; but a virtue went out of him, sugaring the sour ones” (6). This is what his former lieutenant states when Billy leaves the “Rights-of-Men” to work on the “Indomitable”, a warship. Melville took the last part from the Matthew gospel (Matt. 4) to emphasize the somehow divine appearance of Billy, who just by his presence and his innocence is able to comfort everybody around. Arvin justifies this fact in “an active and disarming good nature also, and it draws upon him the spontaneous affection of his mates” (qtd. in Stafford 136). It is something in his outlooks that makes him special compared to the others, since he has “something suggestive of a mother eminently favored by Love and the Graces” (9) and who “in the nude might have posed for a statue of young Adam before the Fall” (39). He is instantly taken up by the crew and “soon begins to exert his benevolent influence there as well. Billy does seem a bit too good to be true, and some readers have referred to his semidivine nature and his godlike appearance on this earth” (see Kirby 160).

It is this innocence, this respectable nature, that arouses groundless rage in the malign Claggart, “in whom was the mania of an evil nature (...), but born with him and innate” (26). C.N. Manlove characterizes Billy`s function as one to “simply be, as is Claggart´s , so that the two may explode like opposed chemicals when brought together” (qtd. in Pullin 142).

Geoffrey Stone considers Claggart to “entertain a perversion of love for Billy” and he says that “it is psychologically quite credible that such a love should be further perverted into hate” (qtd. in Stafford 159). It is this jealousy and hate that makes him intrigue against Billy, who at first does not even remark that he himself is the arbitrary victim of the master-at-arms´ envy. Melville describes Billy as “a nature (...) that had in its simplicity never willed malice or experienced the reactionary bite of that serpent” (28). Claggart knows, that he could never reach Billy´s perfection of nature. That is why “part of his malign motivation is that he is intelligent enough both to comprehend Billy´s goodness and to know, that he can never partake of it” (see Kirby, 162). He acts like Saul who cannot deal with David´s popular and successful nature after his fight (Sam. 18.9).

This is obvious when Melville writes: “But Claggart´s was no vulgar form of the passion. Nor, as directed toward Billy Budd did it partake of that streak of apprehensive jealousy that marred Saul´s visage perturbedly brooding on the comely young David” (28).

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When Claggart does not manage to bribe Billy Budd he runs him down to the lieutenant, Captain Vere. The scene of bribery is a further excellent example for Melville´s biblical imagery; it is like the serpent trying to persuade Eve to eat the forbidden fruit when Billy is confronted by a Foretopman who tries to corrupt him (30-31). The situation escalates when Budd and Claggart come together in the Captain´s cabin and Claggart makes his false statement. Billy´s weakness l ies in his incapability to react on this lie by uttering the truth, he just hits Claggart who dies immediately. Captain Vere is the central conflict with his need to choose between his duty to the law and his love for Billy Budd. This is the point, where a more detailed description of his persona is necessary.

He has a strong sense of responsibility and his personality appears to be defined by his notion of compliance with his role as Captain and the conflict that occurs because of he must apply the law to the actions of the innocent Budd. He is the one to determine Billy´s fate. Mumford expresses this ambiguity and the mercy of this inner conflict: “Vere (...) loves Budd as a son and must condemn him to the noose: justice dictates an act abhorrent to his nature, and only his inner magnanimity keeps it from being revolting” (qtd. in Stafford 73). The fact that he loves Billy as a son is also obvious when the lieutenant calms Billy with “words so fatherly in tone, doubtless touching Billy´s heart to the quick” (43).

Melville puts Captain Vere on the level of God. The lieutenant´s sense for justice is especially clear when he passionately exclaims “Struck dead by an angel of God! Yet the angel must hang!” (44).When Abraham, one of the patriarchs of the Hebrew people, was ninety-nine years old, God made a covenant with him promising that his wife, Sarah, would bear a son despite her old age. Later, God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his long-promised son, Isaac.

When Abraham demonstrated his willingness to fulfill this request, the demand was withdrawn and a ram was provided as a substitute. Abraham´s obedience renewed the covenant with God (Gen. 22). This topic is taken in by Melville who compares Vere with the father driven by duty to a higher power to sacrifice his own son. When the execution of Budd comes near, Melville again aligns Billy with “the Lamb of God” (60), which is a phrase used by John (1: 29-30) upon greeting Christ.