Beginning of Essay
Herman Melville’s is a classic tale of innocence and evil. The main force of innocence is constantly attacked by the force of evil until the innocence falters. Through the use of many literary devices, Melville shows how sometimes the obvious results do n ....

Middle of Essay
.... They even call him “The Handsome Sailor”. On the ship, Billy is respected by everyone except the protagonist, John Claggart. Claggart is extremely jealous and holds considerable amounts of contempt for him. At first he tries to be nice to Billy but soon his true jealousies surface. He begins to scold Billy for insignificant lapses and tries to degrade him. In one instance when Billy spills a bowl of soup, Claggart sardonically says to Billy, “Handsome is as handsome did it.” Deep inside Claggart also thinks that Billy is secretly plotting against him. When his madness really begins to take over, Claggart starts thinkin ....