Melville's Billy Budd as "An Inside Narrative" Author(s): William Braswell Source: American Literature, Vol. 29, No. 2 (May, 1957), pp. 133-146 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2922102 Accessed: 21/10/2010 08:16

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http://www.jstor.org Melville's BILLY BUDD as "An Inside Narrative"

WILLIAM BRASWELL PurdueUniversity

A S WITH Moby-Dickand manyother classics, it is possibleto finddifferent meanings in BillyBudd, complementary rather thanconflicting, byreading it on differentlevels. One wayof read- ing it whichseems to me worthyof furtherexploration is as "an insidenarrative," which Melville himself called it in a subtitlein parentheses.This phrasemay obviously be interpretedin various ways. It maybe takenmerely to imply that the story is restrictedto theinner life of a singleship. It mayalso be takenas a hintthat the storyis "inside"in a familysense, on accountof thepart played in the Somersaffair by Melville'scousin Guert Gansevoort. But it seemsto me that Melville intended the subtitle in stillanother sense. I believethat Billy Budd may justifiably and profitably be considered as an insidenarrative about a tragicconflict in Melville'sown spirit- ual life. The Indomitable,which may be regardedmerely as a man-of-war,or, on anotherplane, as the worldof Christendom, appearsto me acceptablealso as a microcosm,the world of an indi- vidual-specifically,the world of HermanMelville-and the story ofwhat happened aboard the Indomitable, the symbolical projection ofa personalcrisis and theresolution of it. Thisis notto saythat BillyBudd is an allegory,nor to arguethat its symbols have fixed, rigidlyrestricted meanings throughout the narrative;in fact,the shiftingsimilitudes and the rich allusivenesssuggest new truths everytime one readsthe novel. Still,a generalsymbolical pattern maybe discerned.

Withthe Indomitable a microcosm representing Melville, certain aspectsof his being are dramatized in CaptainVere, Billy Budd, and Claggart.The divine,or semidivine,origin of Melville'sbeing is suggestedin thefact that Vere is ofnoble lineage and thatBilly and Claggart,although their origin is uncertain,are reputedto have noblemen'sblood in theirveins. The Kingis a symbolof the Deity: I34 AmericanLiterature he does not physicallyappear in the story,but he is the supreme authorityunder whose law theship operates. Billy Budd and Claggart are contrastingsymbols. Billy, the handsome,strong, lovable sailor, represents the good tendencies,the tendenciesoften designated as "the heart,"and the epithet"welkin- eyed"' suggestsa celestialquality. During his serviceaboard the Rightsof Man it is said thata virtuegoes out of him, sugaringthe sourmembers of thecrew. He is innocentas Adam beforethe fall. Afterhe has been impressedfor duty aboard the Indomitable,he is so unsuspectingand so unfamiliarwith the ways of evil thatat first he thinksClaggart likes him. Later he is horrifiedby the false chargesthat Claggart brings against him. He strikeshis accuserthe fatal blow only because an impedimentin speech preventshim fromdefending himself orally. Billy'scharacter arouses pity, but so does Claggart's. In defining Claggart'sevil nature,Melville suggests analogies between him and Milton'sSatan, especiallySatan's being cast into hell for his plot againstthe Deity and his partin bringingabout the fall.2 Claggart's historyis obscure,but it is rumoredthat he "was a chevatlierwho had volunteeredinto the King's navyby way of compoundingfor some mysteriousswindle whereof he had been arraignedat the King's Bench."3 His pallor is "in part the resultof his officialseclusion from the sunlight."4 While his officekeeps him below decks, "welkin-eyed"Billy is a man of thetop. At an unforeseenencounter of the two "a red light" flashesforth from Claggart's violet eyes "like a sparkfrom an anvil in a dusk smithy."5Yet, looking on Billy beforehe bringsabout his downfall,Claggart is filled with sadness,like Satan lookingon Adam in the Gardenof Eden. Clag- gart'slifeless body is comparedto a dead snake. His depravity,like Billy's goodness,is accordingto nature. He is the only person aboardwith the exceptionof Vere who is "intellectually"capable of realizingthe moral phenomenonof Billy's character;yet, "appre- hendingthe good, but powerless to be it,"a naturesuch as Claggart's

1 Melville'sBilly Budd, ed. F. BarronFreeman (Cambridge, Mass., 1948), pp. 136, 192. Referencesthroughout are to this edition,as correctedby the Corrigendapublished by the same press. 2Norman Holmes Pearson,"Billy Budd: 'The King's Yarn,'" AmericanQuarterly, III, 99-114 (Summer, 1951), contains provocative discussion of Milton's influence on Billy Budd. 3BillyBudd, p. I69. 'Ibid., p. I68. 6 Ibid., p. 208. Melville'sBilly Budd as "An Inside Narrative" 135 has no recourseleft but "to recoilupon itselfand like the scorpion forwhich the Creator alone is responsible,act out to theend thepart allottedit."6 Withfreedom of will deniedhim, Claggart is doomed to therole he plays. He has furthersymbolical significance. As Billy symbolizesthe heart,so Claggart roughlysymbolizes "the head." His brow is "of the sort phrenologicallyassociated with more than average intellect."7A significantcomparison of the two men points out thatif Billy's"face was withoutthe intellectuallook of the pallid Claggart's,not the less was it lit,like his, from within, though from a differentsource. The bonfirein his heartmade luminousthe rose- tan in his cheek."8 The intellectualClaggart's bleached complexion suggeststhat he is sickliedo'er with the pale cast of thought. The contrastingsymbolism of thetwo men is subtlyindicated also in the fatalscene in Vere's quarterswhen Billy is confrontedwith Clag- gart'scharges against him. Billy'simpediment in speechhere be- comesa superbfigure for the inarticulatenessof the heart. Captain Vere'ssoothing words, instead of calmingBilly, touch his "heartto thequick," so that,still unable to speak,he strikesClaggart a power- ful blow upon "the forehead,so shapelyand intellectual-lookinga feature in the master-at-arms.. . ."9 A line not used in the final version,as transcribedby Freeman,describes Billy's blow as "electri- callyenergized by the inmost spasm of his heart."'0 The blow comes then,in effect,directly from the heartto the head. And as a result of it,Captain Vere is confrontedby a crisis. But thisterrific blow of Billy's,this lashingout of the heartat the evil representedby Claggart-is thereanything comparable to it, symbolically,in Melville'sown life? I believethat thereis. It seemsto me thatthe part of thenarrative leading up to thedramatic scenein Vere's quartersmay be said to representthe earlypart of Melville'sspiritual life. With ruddy-cheeked,welkin-eyed Billy saunteringon the deck in the sunshine,joking withfriends, and with the pallid, scheming Claggartslyly promoting his own interestsbelow deck,but stillnot openlyasserting himself, Captain Vere has no problemout of the ordinaryto contendwith. The relationshipbetween heart and head

nIbid., p. I92. 7lbid., p. i68. 8Ibid., p. I90. 9 Ibid.,p. 226. "0Ibid.,p. 228, n. 45. I36 AmericanLiterature in Melville's early life seems to have been, on the whole, well- balanced,with the heartsomewhat predominant. There are signs of a dichotomybetween heart and head at the end of Mardi,where all the travelersexcept Taji are convertedto the religionof the heartpracticed on the island of Serenia,but Taji sails out into the open sea in pursuitof theultimate truth. Melville'snext two books, Redburnand White-Jacket,show his compassionateheart in their ferventpreaching of Christiancharity, but thereis ample evidence thatduring the period in whichhe wrotethese novels he continued assiduouslyto cultivatethe head. Moby-Dickis predominantlyan expressionof theheart, but with a differencethat sets it offfrom the earlier books. In additionto the compassionfor mankind, there is now an impassionedhatred for the sourceof man's grief. In the earlypages of the novel,when pre- paringfor the entranceof Captain Ahab, Melville writeswith ad- mirationfor the type of pageant characterwho has a "globular brain" and a "ponderousheart."" However one may feel about Ahab's brain,he is a man of greaterheart than some criticsap- parentlyhave realized. Therehas been a tendencyof late in certain quartersto interpretMoby-Dick too muchin themanner of a Sunday Schoolpamphlet in whichthe sad fateof wicked,crazy old Ahab is intendedto illustratefor Everyman-Ishmael what will happento him ifhe is not a good boy. ObviouslyAhab's intentionis insane,as he himselfadmits, and fromthe beginning it is clearthat he is doomed; butdespite the tyranny with which his madnessmakes him drivehis crew,he is a noble characterwith a capacityfor great love. On an earlyappearance he is pictured,in a way to remindone of Christ,as standingbefore his men "with a crucifixionin his face";12 and the Iron Crownof Lombardywhich he wearswas made partlyof nails used in the crucifixion.He has one of thosegreat hearts capable of feelingin one pang the sum totalof pains diffusedthrough feebler men'swhole lives. He feelsas thoughhe "were Adam, staggering beneaththe piled centuriessince Paradise."'13In a letterto Haw- thorne,Melville said that "the reason the mass of men fear God, and at bottomdislike Him, is becausethey rather distrust His heart, and fancyHim all brainlike a watch."'4 Ahab saysthat he himself "Moby-Dic, ed. LutherS. Mansfieldand Howard P. Vincent(New York, I952), p. 73. 12bid., p. 122. "lbid., P. 535. " JulianHawthorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife: A Biography(Boston, i885), 1, 404. Melville'sBilly Budd as "An Inside Narrative" I37 onlyfeels, feels, feels; God alonehas theright to think. His hostility towardGod is based on his conceptionthat God is withoutlove for mankind. The plightof crazyPip makeshim exclaim,"There can be no heartsabove the snowline."'5 In the last days of the voyage thedespairing Starbuck shows sound perception in addressingAhab as "grandold heart,""noble heart."'6 At firstglance it may seem incrediblethat thereshould be a symbolicalrelationship between Captain Ahab and Billy Budd. Ahab,of course,is a muchmore complex character than Billy; and, in fact,it would be possibleto pointout similaritiesbetween him and bothVere and Claggart. But the parallelsbetween him and Billy seemespecially significant. Consider the conflictsin whichthe two men become embroiled. On the one hand, there are Ahab and Billy,symbols of man's naturallygood heartoutraged by evil,and, on the other hand, their adversaries,Moby Dick and Claggart, symbolsof evil (to Ahab, MobyDick symbolizes"all evil")." One may smileat the suggestionthat in the whitenessof the whale and thepallor of Claggartthere is a subtletie betweenthe adversariesof Ahab and Billy. More important,Moby Dick is an "agent"'8of the Deity,to use Ahab's label,and Claggart,a pettyofficer in His Majes- ty'sNavy, is likewisesymbolically an agentof theDeity. Thus both Ahab and Billyrebel, in effect,against the highest authority: Ahab's "blasphemy"in harpooningMoby Dick is matched by Billy's "mutiny"in strikingthe master-at-arms during war. In bothfables the symbolof the heart,when injured,strikes back in retaliation. It mightbe arguedwith some justicethat Ahab broughthis injury on himself,but as Billy incurredClaggart's enmity while going aboutroutine duties aboard ship, so Ahab was on a routinewhaling cruise when he firstencountered Moby Dick. Melville uses the samefigure, a firingcannon, to expressthe terrific feeling of thetwo men againsttheir opponents. Billy'sblow againstClaggart's pallid browis explosive,from "the heart": "quick as the flamefrom a dis- charged cannon at night,his right arm shot out, and Claggart droppedto thedeck."'9 And Ahab's chestis comparedto a mortar whichbursts his "hotheart's shell"20 upon theWhite Whale. The hero of Melville'snext book, Pierre,is quite as violentas Ahab and Billy in his ultimatereaction to evil. Highly idealistic 15 Moby-Dick,P. 5I4. "6Ibid., pp. 5315, 558. "lIbid., p. i8I. 19 lIbid., p. I62. Billy Budd, p. 226. 20 Moby-Dick, p. i8I. I38 AmericanLiterature and fullof lovefor mankind, Pierre vows in thebeginning that he will be ruledby theheart. His preferencefor heart over head is shownin his exclamationthat "the brains grow maggoty without a heart;but the heart's the preserving salt itself, and can keepsweet withoutthe head."'" Pierre'sfollowing the dictatesof the heart, however,his attemptto liveaccording to theideals of Christ,leads to suchmaddening entanglements that his loveturns to hate. He fireshis pistols point-blank at hischief antagonist in theevil world closingin abouthim. In prisonhe reflectson thejoy he mighthave knownhad he been"heartless," but realizing that now he musten- durehell in boththis world and thenext, he criesout his defiance ofthe Deity: "Well, be ithell. I willmould a trumpetof the flames, and,with my breath of flame, breathe back my defiance!"22 Thereis no doubtthat Pierre, Ahab, and Billyall had Melville's deepestsympathy. "I standfor the heart. To thedogs withthe head!"23 Melvillewrote to Hawthorne.But he ultimatelyrealized thata rebelliousheart could bring him to disaster-in fact, threatened todo so. It is generallyrecognized that Pierre, a book of overwrought emotion,of indignation, represents a climax of some sort in Melville's life. It is one of themost baffling and mostterrifying books ever written.Not longafter it waspublished Melville's nervousness and strangebehavior alarmed some of his familyto thepoint of their havinghim examined for insanity. He was pronouncedsane, but it is wellknown that he sufferedmuch anguish during this period. His conditionsoon after writing Pierre is symbolized,I believe, by thetragic situation aboard the Indomitable just afterBilly has struckClaggart. The factthat the crisis in BillyBudd comes during a timeof warwhen there is gravedanger of mutinysuggests sym- bolicallyhow criticalmatters were with Melville himself. Aboard the Indomitabledecisive action is necessaryto preventpossible anarchy.I believethat the actionof CaptainVere in regardto Billyindicates symbolically how Melville, with his faculties threaten- ing mutiny,resolved his own greatestpersonal crisis. II Beforegoing into more detailabout the symbolism,however, it is necessaryto analyzethe role of CaptainVere, because on whatever 21 Pierre;or, The Ambiguities,ed. HenryA. Murray(New York, 1949), p. 377. 22Ibid., p. 424. 23 JulianHawthorne, Op. cit., I, 404. Melville'sBilly Budd as "An Inside Narrative" 139 planeone reads the novel, he is thekey figure. The good-hearted BillyBudd and theevil Claggart have inspired relatively little dis- sentamong critics: one is inescapablygood as theother is inescapably evil. The cruxof the problem is whatto make of their commanding officer,who alone sees and understandsthe situation, and yet, know- ingBilly to be essentiallyinnocent, summarily has himhanged for strikingthe blow that accidentally kills the master-at-arms.Most criticismof the novel treats Vere sympathetically, as a conscientious manwho does his duty as he seesit. Butsome of the later criticism pictureshim as a monstrousvillain-a depravedmartinet who en- forcesironclad laws regardlessof whetherthey violate individual rights.He is chargedwith overweening personal ambition, hy- pocrisy,and theabuse of confidence.His partin thetrial scene is denouncedas odious.24 Melvillehimself makes no explicitjudgment on Vere'spart in havingBilly hanged. In one veryimportant sentence he putsit up to thereader himself to judgethe reasonableness of CaptainVere's actions.Just after Vere has told the Surgeon that a drumheadcourt is to be convenedimmediately to determineBilly's fate, the Surgeon reflects:Why suchhaste? Shouldnot Billybe confinedand the case laterbe referredto the Admiral? Was Vere mentallyun- hinged? Melvillesays that the line of demarcationbetween sanity andinsanity is as difficultto draw as theline between two merging colorsin a rainbow,and thenadds: "WhetherCaptain Vere, as the Surgeonprofessionally and primarily surmised, was really the sudden victimof any degree of aberration, one mustdetermine for himself by suchlight as thisnarrative may afford."25 ThoughMelville is ostensiblynoncommittal, the way in which he narratesthe story reveals something of hisattitude toward Vere. LawranceThompson is alone,so faras I know,in assumingthat the narrativepassages in thenovel as distinguishedfrom the dramatic passages,to use his phraseology,are relatedby a stupidnarrator whoseadmiration for Vere shouldnot be attributedto Melville.26 Unlessmore convincing argument than Thompson's is advanced, thereis no reasonfor doubting that Melville intended himself to be 24 For derogatorycomments on Vere, see, for instance,Joseph Schiffman, "Melville's Final Stage,Irony: A Re-examinationof Billy Budd Criticism,"American Literature, XXII, I28-136 (May, I950); "Letterfrom E. M. Forster,"The Griffin,1, 4-6 (I95I); and Lawrance Thompson,Melville's Quarrel with God (Princeton,I952), chap. xi. 25 p. Billy Budd, 233. " Thompson,op. cit., pp. 359-360. 140 AmericanLiterature thoughtof as thenarrator. As such,he usesa shiftingpoint of view, lookingnow intothe mind of one character,now into the mind of another,making general comments from time to time,and present- ing scenesof dramaticaction, but also shuttinghimself off from a sceneentirely when he chooses. He portraysVere as both an admirableman and an excellent officer.Though not brilliant,Vere has a superiormind and a markedliking for books by authorswho "in the spiritof common sensephilosophize upon realities."27He has won distinctionas an intrepidfighter. He runs a taut ship,but he has always acquitted himselfas "an officermindful of thewelfare of his men."28 In view of his rolein thetrial, his concernfor the welfareof his men should be especiallynoted. Vere is a man of firmprinciples, and Melvillesays it is well that he is,since he livesin thetempestuous era of the FrenchRevolution. "His settledconvictions were as a dykeagainst those invading waters ofnovel opinion[,] social [,I political[,]and otherwise,which carried awayas in a torrentno fewminds in thosedays, minds by nature not inferiorto his own." He disinterestedlyopposed the theoriesnot only"because they seemed to himincapable of embodimentin lasting institutions,but at war with the peace of the world and the true welfareof mankind."9 It is impossibleto appreciateVere's actions without relating them to the worldhe livesin. Exceptin regardto the one particularal- lusionto it,the case of CaptainMacKenzie and the threeexecutions aboard the United States brig Somers during peacetimein I842 shouldperhaps best be forgottenwhen one is attemptingto analyze thecharacter of CaptainVere, because in spiteof what the historical incidentmay possiblyhave contributedto Melville's imaginative creation,what he tells about Vere is anotherstory, about another man,at anothertime. There is particularsignificance in the choice of I797 as the timefor the actionof the story. England is at war with France,now in the excessesof the Revolution;and England herselfhas latelybeen rockedby mutiniesat Spitheadand theNore. The firstof the mutinieswas comparativelymild: the sailorscom- plainedabout undesirable conditions and were grantedconcessions. But the Great Mutiny,which occurredthe followingmonth, was more "menacingto England than the contemporarymanifestoes 27BillyBudd, p. I64. 28Ibid.,p. i6o. 29 Ibid.,p. I64. Melville'sBilly Budd as "An Inside Narrative" 14T and conqueringand proselytingarmies of the French Directory." To theBritish Empire it was "whata strikein thefire-brigade would be to London threatenedby generalarson." Melville'svivid figures leaveno doubtas to the devastatingeffect upon Christendomwhich Vere and otherloyal Englishmenfeared was imminentunless rigid controlwere maintained: thatwas the time when at themast-heads of the three-deckers and seventy- foursmoored in herown roadstead-a fleet, the right arm of a Powerthen all butthe sole free conservative one of theOld World,the blue-jackets, to be numberedby thousands ran up withhuzzas the British colors with theunion and crosswiped out; bythat cancellation transmuting the flag of foundedlaw and freedomdefined, into the enemy'sred meteorof unbridledand unboundedrevolt. Reasonable discontent growing out of practicalgrievances in thefleet had been ignited into irrational combustion as bylive cinders blown across the Channel from France in flames.30 Afterthe mutiny had beenquelled, it was fearedthat there would be furtheruprisings. To illustratethe precautionary measures taken at sea againstsuch hazards,Melville points out that,with the fleet offthe Spanishcoast, Nelson was transferredto a ship just arrived fromthe Nore, with the hope thathis presencewould win back the loyaltyof the late mutineers.Engagements with the enemymight take place at any hour. When theydid occur,officers assigned to batteriesfelt it necessaryat timesto stand with drawn swordsbe- hindthe gunners. It is clearthat Billy's fatal blow could not have been struckat a worsetime. ThoughVere would ratherconfine Billy and submithis case laterto theAdmiral, he feelsit incumbenton him,as an officer responsiblefor the efficiency of a fightingunit, to act on thecase im- mediately. Ironically,with Claggartlying dead on the deck, the essentiallyinnocent man and the bearerof false witnesshave in effectchanged places, so thatClaggart, legally viewed, appears the victimof "the most heinousof militarycrimes. Yet more. The essentialright and wrong involvedin the matter,the clearerthat mightlie, so much the worse for the responsibilityof a loyal sea- commanderinasmuch as he was not authorizedto determinethe matteron thatprimitive basis."31 Vere advisesthe courtthat Billy's intent is not to be considered, " Ibid.,pp. 150-151. 9lIbid., pp. 234-235. 142 AmericanLiterature thatthe court must confine itself to theconsequence of theblow. He knows,of course,that this is a hard doctrinefor the young officersto accept: How can we adjudge to summaryand shamefuldeath a fellow-creature innocentbefore God, and whom we feel to be so?-Does that state it aright? You sign sad assent. Well, I too feelthat, the full forceof that. It is Nature. But do thesebuttons that we wear attestthat our allegiance is to Nature? No, to the King. Though the ocean, which is inviolate Nature primeval,though this be the elementwhere we move and have our being as sailors,yet as the King's officerslies our duty in a sphere correspondinglynatural? So little is that true, that in receivingour commissionswe in the mostimportant regards ceased tolbe naturalfree- agents. When war is declaredare we thecommissioned fighters previously consulted? We fightat command. If our judgementsapprove the war, thatis but coincidence. So in otherparticulars. So now. For suppose condemnationto followthese present proceedings. Would it be so much we ourselvesthat would condemnas it would be martiallaw operating throughus? For thatlaw and the rigourof it, we are not responsible. Our vowed responsibilityis in this: That howeverpitilessly that law may operate,we neverthelessadhere to it and administerit.32 To convictand yetmitigate the penaltywould have a disastrous effecton theship's company. Long accustomedto arbitrarydisci- pline,the crew would be bewildered,Vere reasons, by seeing clemen- cy granteda seamanwho had murderedthe master-at-arms: such a dispositionof thecase would be virtuallyan invitationto further mutiny. Vere'sspeech to thecourt is thehardest thing in thebook for readersto accept. E. M. Forster'sand Eric Crozier's"tidying up" Vere in the trialscene of the librettothey wrote for Benjamin Britten'smusic resulted in Vere'snot counseling the court.33 But as Melvillewrote the novel, there is no denyingthat Vere alone is ulti- matelyresponsible for the execution of Billy. BillyBudd does not condemn Captain Vere. WhenVere private- lytells Billy of the verdict, what takes place between the two is not revealed,but with"each radicallysharing in the rarerqualities of ournature-so rare indeed as to be all butincredible to average "2Ibid.,pp. 244-246. 33 See Forsteron their feelingit necessaryto "tidy up" Vere ("Letter from E. M. Forster,"Op. cit., pp. 4-6). Their librettowas publishedby Boosey & Hawkes (London, I95'). Melville'sBilly Budd as "An InsideNarrative" 143 mindshowever cultivated"34-Billy understands and approveswhat Vere has done. His finalwords, uttered just beforehis execution, are, "God bless Captain Vere!"35 It has been suggestedthat this remarkis ironical,but Billy,we are explicitlytold, is incapableof consciousirony, and nobodyhas yetpresented convincing argument thatMelville meant the remark to be takenso. Vere is portrayedas sufferingmore than Billy. The relationship betweenthe two, suggestiveas it is of the relationshipbetween Abrahamand Isaac, and betweenGod the Fatherand the Son, ap- parentlyenables Billy to understandthat Vere's role is necessitated by his adherenceto formswhich he holds dearerthan life itself- formsfor which Vere ultimatelygives his own life. "With man- kind,"Vere believes,"forms, measured forms, are everything;and that is the storyof Orpheus with his lyre spellbindingthe wild denizensof the wood."36 In an ideal world, Billy would not be punished;but in the tenseman-of-war world of whichthe Indomi- tableis a part,forms dictate the execution of a murdererif anarchyis not to prevail. The "union and cross"on the Britishflag-symbols torn offby the mutineers-represent"founded law and freedom defined"as against"unbridled and unboundedrevolt." Vere ago- nizinglyperceives the injustice effected at timesby adhering to forms, but he setsimperfect order above anarchicdisorder. Aftereach of the incidentswhich emotionallyupset the ship'scompany-the an- nouncementof the verdict, the execution, and theburial-Vere main- tainsdiscipline through enforcement of forms,issuing routine orders thathe knowsthe men will obey. The chiefreason for immediate action on Billy'scase is thatan encounterwith the enemymight take place at any time,and any weakeningof disciplinemight result in defectionthat would mean defeat. Soon afterthe execution,and beforethe Indomitablere- joins the Mediterraneanfleet, there is an engagementwith the enemy. The well-disciplinedBritish sailors fight valiantly and win the victory. Vere himselfis fatallywounded fightingfor his be- loved forms. The internalevidence as a whole shows,it seems to me, that Melvillelooked upon Vere as a sympatheticcharacter. There is also a bitof externalevidence on Melville'sattitude toward the tragically involvedcommander. On the back of the dedicationpage of the S " "4Billy Budd, p. 251. Ibid., p. 264. Ibid., p. 272. 144 AmericanLiterature novel,Melville wrote the followingannotation: "Both directlyand indirectlythe era lent emphasisto the difficultiesprofessional and moralfalling on CaptainVere by reasonof the tragicevent just re- counted;difficulties not adequatelyto be estimatedby the sea-officers of our time; and still less by landsmen."37If readersof today, whethermilitary or civilian,cannot adequately estimate the moral and professionaldifficulties that fell on CaptainVere, are theyquali- fied to pass judgmenton his resolutionof the difficulties?The implicationappears to be that Melvillehimself does not condemn Vere. The reader,of course,as Melvilleremarked, is freeto judge Verefor himself. III As an inside narrative,Billy Budd revealsMelville tellinghis own storyas objectivelyas he could,not with self-pity, but withself- respect. Insteadof being called his "Testamentof Acceptance,"it mightperhaps better be called his apologia. In the characterof Billy Budd he presents,one may say, the dominanttendencies of his youngmanhood; in CaptainVere he presentsin essencethe later Melville. The name Budd suggestsyouth; in a manuscriptline not used in the final versionBilly, who is also called Baby Budd, is referredto as "a flowerof masculinestrength and beauty,a flower, scarceyet released from the bud."38 The name Verebrings to mind theLatin wordfor man, vir. The crucialpoint in Melville'sdevelop- mentcame when he realizedthe necessityfor curbing the wild, re- belliousspirit manifested in Moby-Dickand Pierre. The factthat therebelliousness was inspired,in partat least,by the highestideal- ism was no justificationfor its being tolerated,especially since it threatenedto destroyhis wholebeing. Nearlyforty years before Melville wrote Billy Buedd, he developed the theme,most notablyin Plinlimmon'stract in Pierre,that the heavenlywisdom of Christis not in accordwith the wisdomof this earth,and that anyone who attemptsto live strictlyby heavenly ideals is likelyto become involvedin "strange,unique folliesand sins."39At the timeof writingPierre Melville was so wrappedup in his idealisticyoung hero that he presentedthe coldly rational Plinlimmonin a verysatirical manner. It is worthremembering that althoughPierre proceeds to his downfall,he does not throw bid.,p. 234, n. 12. 38ibid.,p. 2I9, n. 88. "Pierre, p. 250. Melville'sBilly Budd as "An Inside Narrative" 145 away Plinlimmon'spamphlet, but carriesit about unknowinglyin the liningof his overcoat-tuckedaway in his subconscious,as it were. The passingyears brought about a change in Melville'sat- titudetoward the teachings of thepamphlet. In writingBilly Budd he was sympathetictoward not onlythe ChristlikeBilly but also the philosophicalVere. When Vere tellsthe courtthat in administeringthe laws of His Majesty'sNavy theyare restrictedto consideringthe act alone,not the intentor nonintent,when he saysthat they are not responsible forthe severity of the laws theyadminister, one shouldrecall that as the King symbolizesthe Deity,the laws in effectin His Majesty's Navy are symbolicallythe universallaws to whichman mustadapt himself,no matterwhat his personalopinion of themmay be. It is only naturalthat Vere and his officersshould be moved with pity forthe essentially innocent sailor, but as commissionedofficers their allegiance,as Vere pointsout, is not to Nature,but to the King, or God. The Indomitableproves its loyaltyto the King by observing his rigidlaws and by defeatingthe enemyship, significantly named the Atheiste. Though thisloyalty symbolizes Melville's realization thatman mustaccept his place in the universalscheme decreed by God, one shouldnot overlookthe fact that the loyaltyis based more on a sense of duty-in fact,of necessity-thanon love. On the Indomitableit is Billy Budd ratherthan the King who is loved: the men preservebits of the spar fromwhich Billy was hanged as thoughthey were chipsfrom the Cross,and Vere's finalwords, ut- terednot withremorse, but with poignancy,are, "Billy Budd, Billy Budd." At Melville'sdeath therewas found among his manuscriptsto- getherwith Billy Budd a sketchentitled "Daniel Orme." Though it is too slightto have much value as literature,it is importantas a briefsymbolical self-portrait, and particularlyso, in my opinion, sinceits kindred imagery and symbolismconfirm much of what has been said here about Billy Budd.40 There are strikingparallels in the experiencesof Orme and Vere. Bothmen spendmost of theirlives at sea aboardbattleships, and thoughOrme, retired at theend, has notbeen in commandof a ship, 40On "Daniel Orme" as a self-portraitsee William Braswell, Melville's Religious Thought (Durham, I943), pp. I24-I26. Richard Chase, Herman Melville: A Critical Study (New York, I949), p. 298, and NewtonArvin, Herman Melville (New York, I95o), p. 288, bothconsider the sketcha self-portrait. I46 AmericanLiterature he has been a "captainof thetop." Bothmen are respectedby their shipmates,but both remainsomewhat apart. Vere is suspectedby the Surgeonof sufferingmental aberrations, and, similiarly,Orme is suspectedby some of his shipmatesof piracy,which here,as in "I and My Chimney,"symbolizes insanity. Orme, like Vere, is wounded fightingfor "forms." Across the crucifixtattooed over his hearthe bearsa scar,which it is intimatedhe receivedrepelling boarders;and Vere,under the flag of the"union and cross,"is fatally woundedfighting the Atheiste. In his last days Orme frequently contemplateshis scarredimage of the crucifixion,and Vere dies murmuringof the crucifiedBilly Budd. In view of Melville'ssea- and-landsymbolism, with the sea representingabstract truth and the land empiricaltruth, it is importantthat both men die in port:Orme is founddead neara batteryof rustyguns on a clifflooking seaward; Vere dies not aboardthe Indomitable but on the gun-studdedRock of Gibraltar. Both men die calmly,with no apparentremorse. It is not surprisingthat in thesetwo symbolicalnarratives the imageof thecrucifixion figures so prominently.For Melvilleit had longbeen an imageof human life, more suggestive of man's suffering thanof man's hope. Men are "Cross-bearersall," to quote a phrase fromClarel.4' In BillyBudd he developsthe theme in all itsmagni- tude; and forthose who read the "insidenarrative" he tellshow he bore his own cross. 'Clarel (London, 1924), IV,xxxiv.