Beginning of Essay
Herman Mellville's Billy Budd is and extremely divisive novel when one considers the dissension it has generated. The criticism has essentially focused around the argument of acceptance vs. resistance. On the one hand we can read the story as accepting the hangin ....

Middle of Essay
.... ethical? Immediately following the fatal blow to Claggart, There is no outlet of Billy's emotion; whatever emotion he may be experiencing is not accounted for. This is not the behavior one would expect from someone who had just accidentally killed someone else. On trial Billy has this to say for his actions: "I did not mean to kill him. But he foully lied to my face and in the presence of my captain, and I had to say something, and I could only say it with a blow, God help me!" This statement illustrates Billy's emotional response to his crime; He shirks the full weight of his action by pointing to his accidental nature. Billy is sorry that Claggar ....