The novella is full of biblical allusions and is considered an allegory, as it conveys a hidden meaning through the use of symbolic characters and events. Billy's story effectively mirrors the story of Jesus Christ's redemption in the Bible. Like Christ, Budd becomes a sacrificial figure, someone who has died for a greater cause or good. Claggart, who causes Billy's death, could be said to represent Satan, while Captain Vere is a representation of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who presided over Jesus's trial and gave the order for his crucifixion.
In Chapter 22, the narrator makes an allusion to Abraham and Isaac:
The austere devotee of military duty, letting himself melt back into what remains primeval in our formalized humanity, may in end have caught Billy to his heart, even as Abraham may have caught young Isaac on the brink of resolutely offering him up in obedience to the exacting behest.
In the passage above, Melville likens Captain Vere to Abraham. In the Bible, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith and obedience. Melville likens Vere to Abraham here to illustrate the Captain's inner conflict; Captain Vere must reconcile his "higher" duty as Captain with his deep and conflicting emotions for Billy.
In Chapter 25, the narrator makes an allusion to Elisha, a reference to Elijah from the Bible:
Like the prophet in the chariot disappearing in heaven and dropping his mantle to Elisha, the withdrawing night transferred its pale robe to the breaking day.
In the Bible, Elisha is Elijah's disciple. Before Elijah leaves on a chariot of fire to heaven, he grants Elisha his wish of a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit. As Elijah ascends to heaven, his mantle (a cloak or robe) falls to the ground. Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle, symbolizing his succession as a prophet. Melville makes this allusion here to metaphorically describe the transition from night to day. The night, personified as wearing a "pale robe," fades as daybreak arrives, akin to Elijah's ascension to heaven.
In Chapter 31, the narrator makes an allusion to the cross in the Bible when describing the spar on which Billy Budd is hanged:
The spar from which the foretoman was suspended was for some few years kept trace of by the bluejackets. Their knowledges followed it from ship to dockyard and again from dockyard to ship, still pursuing it even when at last reduced to a mere dockyard boom. To them a chip of it was as a piece of the Cross.
A spar on a ship is a pole made of wood that is used to rig a sail. In the passage above, "piece of the Cross"refers to the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified in the Bible. In Christian tradition, these fragments of the Cross are seen as sacred. This allusion to the "chip of it" suggests that the sailors regard the spar with great reverence and importance. The spar, which plays a role in Billy's execution, has taken on a sacred meaning among the sailors.
The novella is full of biblical allusions and is considered an allegory, as it conveys a hidden meaning through the use of symbolic characters and events. Billy's story effectively mirrors the story of Jesus Christ's redemption in the Bible. Like Christ, Budd becomes a sacrificial figure, someone who has died for a greater cause or good. Claggart, who causes Billy's death, could be said to represent Satan, while Captain Vere is a representation of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who presided over Jesus's trial and gave the order for his crucifixion.
In Chapter 22, the narrator makes an allusion to Abraham and Isaac:
The austere devotee of military duty, letting himself melt back into what remains primeval in our formalized humanity, may in end have caught Billy to his heart, even as Abraham may have caught young Isaac on the brink of resolutely offering him up in obedience to the exacting behest.
In the passage above, Melville likens Captain Vere to Abraham. In the Bible, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith and obedience. Melville likens Vere to Abraham here to illustrate the Captain's inner conflict; Captain Vere must reconcile his "higher" duty as Captain with his deep and conflicting emotions for Billy.
In Chapter 25, the narrator makes an allusion to Elisha, a reference to Elijah from the Bible:
Like the prophet in the chariot disappearing in heaven and dropping his mantle to Elisha, the withdrawing night transferred its pale robe to the breaking day.
In the Bible, Elisha is Elijah's disciple. Before Elijah leaves on a chariot of fire to heaven, he grants Elisha his wish of a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit. As Elijah ascends to heaven, his mantle (a cloak or robe) falls to the ground. Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle, symbolizing his succession as a prophet. Melville makes this allusion here to metaphorically describe the transition from night to day. The night, personified as wearing a "pale robe," fades as daybreak arrives, akin to Elijah's ascension to heaven.
In Chapter 31, the narrator makes an allusion to the cross in the Bible when describing the spar on which Billy Budd is hanged:
The spar from which the foretoman was suspended was for some few years kept trace of by the bluejackets. Their knowledges followed it from ship to dockyard and again from dockyard to ship, still pursuing it even when at last reduced to a mere dockyard boom. To them a chip of it was as a piece of the Cross.
A spar on a ship is a pole made of wood that is used to rig a sail. In the passage above, "piece of the Cross"refers to the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified in the Bible. In Christian tradition, these fragments of the Cross are seen as sacred. This allusion to the "chip of it" suggests that the sailors regard the spar with great reverence and importance. The spar, which plays a role in Billy's execution, has taken on a sacred meaning among the sailors.
The novella is full of biblical allusions and is considered an allegory, as it conveys a hidden meaning through the use of symbolic characters and events. Billy's story effectively mirrors the story of Jesus Christ's redemption in the Bible. Like Christ, Budd becomes a sacrificial figure, someone who has died for a greater cause or good. Claggart, who causes Billy's death, could be said to represent Satan, while Captain Vere is a representation of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who presided over Jesus's trial and gave the order for his crucifixion.
In Chapter 22, the narrator makes an allusion to Abraham and Isaac:
The austere devotee of military duty, letting himself melt back into what remains primeval in our formalized humanity, may in end have caught Billy to his heart, even as Abraham may have caught young Isaac on the brink of resolutely offering him up in obedience to the exacting behest.
In the passage above, Melville likens Captain Vere to Abraham. In the Bible, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith and obedience. Melville likens Vere to Abraham here to illustrate the Captain's inner conflict; Captain Vere must reconcile his "higher" duty as Captain with his deep and conflicting emotions for Billy.
In Chapter 25, the narrator makes an allusion to Elisha, a reference to Elijah from the Bible:
Like the prophet in the chariot disappearing in heaven and dropping his mantle to Elisha, the withdrawing night transferred its pale robe to the breaking day.
In the Bible, Elisha is Elijah's disciple. Before Elijah leaves on a chariot of fire to heaven, he grants Elisha his wish of a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit. As Elijah ascends to heaven, his mantle (a cloak or robe) falls to the ground. Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle, symbolizing his succession as a prophet. Melville makes this allusion here to metaphorically describe the transition from night to day. The night, personified as wearing a "pale robe," fades as daybreak arrives, akin to Elijah's ascension to heaven.
In Chapter 31, the narrator makes an allusion to the cross in the Bible when describing the spar on which Billy Budd is hanged:
The spar from which the foretoman was suspended was for some few years kept trace of by the bluejackets. Their knowledges followed it from ship to dockyard and again from dockyard to ship, still pursuing it even when at last reduced to a mere dockyard boom. To them a chip of it was as a piece of the Cross.
A spar on a ship is a pole made of wood that is used to rig a sail. In the passage above, "piece of the Cross"refers to the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified in the Bible. In Christian tradition, these fragments of the Cross are seen as sacred. This allusion to the "chip of it" suggests that the sailors regard the spar with great reverence and importance. The spar, which plays a role in Billy's execution, has taken on a sacred meaning among the sailors.
