The fact that Billy was literally higher than everyone else shows how people felt about him. It proves that the other men on board believed he was a better person, and may have belonged to an upper class family. This contrasts with his inability to say no, because it makes him seem like he is lower than everyone else, as if he were a slave. Billy Budd is offended by the after-guard when he is asked to rebel against the ship in return for money. Billy doesn’t know what to make of the situation, stutters, and threatens the guard. Billy tells the forecastleman that he took care of the problem, and that he did the right thing with the guardsman. Billy claims he “bid him be off where he belongs,” which means he will not try to foster mutiny anymore.

During the 1920’s, America was experiencing a shift from the traditional lifestyles to that which was run by industry. New types of music, clothing, dancing, and literature were being created and put out into society to be judged. Melville was trying to contrast Billy Budd’s innocence with the harsh realities of the world, including industrialization.

Billy does not confront the guardsman when he sees him the following afternoon because he doesn’t have the strength to defend himself. His innocence and naivety prevents him from being assertive and powerful with his peers, even though he is physically strong. According to Dansker, the guard was sent to get proof that Billy Budd would commit mutiny. This would connect to the research paper theme of loss of innocence, as evils of the world are quickly being revealed to Billy Budd.

In the age of Billy Budd, innocence brings with it downfall. No man in Billy’s time was respected if they were at all naïve, and a strong sense of masculinity and assertiveness was required to get anything. Billy Budd is in the beginning extremely innocent, and when he boards the navy ship it is viewed in a negative way. Simple mindedness, in his time, results in problems because life is “no game of chess.” Therefore, life is neither simple nor routine, and demands complex thinking while shunning simple mindedness.

It is clear that Claggart has great emotional flaws. He has such hate for Billy Budd, which seems to come out of nowhere. At first he seemed like a normal sailor who had manners and a relatively normal behavior. However, it is now clear that in fact Claggart is a rather mean spirited person who brings down the people he dislikes.

Claggart tells Captain Vere that Billy Budd is a risk; most likely conspiring and preparing to lead future rebellion. Billy has come across to Captain Vere as a hard working individual with strong morals and has respect for him. The allusion to Jacob and Joseph on page 55 is trying to show how Claggart’s envie of Billy Budd could have turned into a desperate attempt to bring Billy Budd down, highlighting the flaws in Claggart’s personality.

Captain Vere feels “strange dubieties” in regards to Claggart’s accusation of Billy Budd conspiring, and possibly committing mutiny. Vere feels great suspicion towards Claggart’s claim, and is trying to understand the reasoning behind such an accusation. The “essential nature” is concerning the ability of Vere to pick up on such suspicious behavior that Claggart is trying to get rid of Billy Budd.

In this part of the story it is evident that Billy Budd is losing his innocence as he starts to understand the flaws of the society in which he lives. Melville is leading us to consider that Billy can no longer trust any of his shipmates. He believes that everyone is out to get him, and now it is his own responsibility to defend himself (survival of the fittest). Billy’s simplistic mind is not able to understand the complex reasons behind the accusations brought upon him, so he is beginning to focus only on his survival.

Captain Vere is unable to think that Billy Budd would commit mutiny because he is such and innocent and naïve character. The surgeon is “full of disquietude and misgiving” because Vere does not want to immediately punish Billy Budd. This results in Vere looking like he does not respect Claggart, and cannot be trusted.

In Melville’s view, innocence ends when moral values are being affected. When an action crosses the line of certain moral values, guilt begins, and innocence can no longer be the factor.

By shifting points of view, the reader is able to analyze everybody’s actions and thoughts. This allows the reader to put everything into perspective and judge characters accordingly. These different views allow the reader to understand the frustration and confusion that Billy is experiencing. The accusations brought upon him have confused him greatly because he doesn’t understand how someone could possibly accuse another person of something that wasn’t true. This shows how innocent Billy Budd truly is, and how he needs to lose his innocence to defend himself.

The crew does not really react very outwardly to the news of Billy’s conviction. In the ship people are together for a common purpose, yet they are truly only fighting for their own lives. The Darwinian frame of thinking is that only this fittest survive. In a social platform, Claggart is more fit that Billy Budd. Billy is extremely innocent and does not have the ability to defend himself against the accusations. Therefore, Billy must be convicted of the crime.

Billy takes the conviction and sentencing in stride. He has had a decent life full of innocence and naivety, and he is still unable to understand the major flaws that are apparent in the society in which he lives. The Chaplin considers Billy to be a great man who lived an honest life, and therefore, he kisses him on the cheek.

Billy’s death walk is often compared to that of Christ and the martyr because he is so calm and relaxed. Billy Budd does not fear his death, because he still does not fully understand the reasoning behind his accusation and conviction. Even though Vere is the man who sentenced Billy to death, he said “God Bless Vere.” This is symbolic of the idea of Jesus to love your enemy.

After Billy’s death it is clear that throughout the crew, Billy and his innocence will be missed. The “inarticulate sound proceeding from certain larger seafowl” (page 83) is considered to be a sign from God. The sailors all mourn for Billy, and are sorry that he was killed.

As he is dieing, Captain Vere is sorry that he chose to convict Billy Budd, sentencing him to death. Billy’s last words were “God Bless Captain Vere,” so it is fitting that Vere respect Billy Budd by saying “Billy Budd, Billy Budd,” as his own last words.

Dr. Johnson’s comment is saying that the only way to save yourself, if you are evil, is to fight hard for your country. Claggart was an evil person and wanted to make himself look like a hero. Therefore, he had to make a fight that was nonexistent in the beginning, so he accused Billy Budd of conspiring, and leading rebellion. Claggart’s death makes him look like a hero for the country because his last effort was to bring down the conspirator of mutiny.

For the majority of his time at sea Billy Budd was above all of his shipmates, with the ability to see everything that they did. He was innocent and naïve up to and throughout his death, which was brought on by a false accusation of his shipmate. To the crew, it was a “chip of it as a piece of the Cross” because to them Billy Budd was like Jesus.