Part 1 of Essay
Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is a story about true goodness. It entails the conflict of good and evil, but more than that it portrays innocence in its’ most purest form. Innocence is an exploitable commodity. While this is universally recognized, there are many different ways people confront it. Some people ch ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... with him and innate, in short ‘a depravity according to nature.’” These two people who are clearly on opposite sides of the spectrum contrast one another in a plethora of ways. Where Billy is sweet, John is bitter. Where Billy is naïve, John is knowledgeable. Where Billy is content, John is jealous. Lastly, where Billy is good, John is bad. The ugliness that results in the death of both men portrays the triumph of sinister forces over the meek. John Claggart, who is a powerful and feared man abo ....