Billy budd 3
Billy budd 3Herman Melville describes the three main characters whose names are Claggert, Captain Vere, and Billy Budd. Movies give the audience a “summary” of the character’s personalities while books tend to elaborate the details of the characters. Even though Claggert, Vere and Budd’s personalities are presented differently in the book than they are in the movie, they do have some similarity.
In the movie Captain Vere is presented completely different than he is in the book. In the movie he is shown as a man who follows the law of the King's navy. He is able to ignore his feelings and follow the law set by people who have more power than he does. In the book, Vere has all of those qualities previously stated but what the movie does not mention is what his life was like and what the other officers thought of him. The novella states that Captain Vere loves books. He especially loves those that have stories and details about the treatment of man. His own officers say that he acts "like the King's yarn in a coil of Navy rope." I believe that quote says that he is a puppet of the King. All of these aspects of Captain Vere seem to make him a "robot" of the King. The King says and the robot obeys. When Billy kills Claggert, Captain Vere has to decide whether or not Billy should be punished and if so, how he should be punished. He decides to hang Billy. Then the possibility of a revolt on the ship comes up. This revolt would probably cause the death of the Captain and his officers. If he lets Billy go, he would be going against the law that he has sworn to enforce. Since Vere is a law-abiding man, he decides to hang Billy. These ideas were also left out of the movie. This shows that sometimes movies can ruin a good book. What’s the answer? Watch a book with your mind.
Billy Budd's character in the movie does an exceptional job of acting out the character in the book. His name is even symbolic. The word Budd is like a flower that is just starting to grow and will eventually bloom. Billy represents youth, innocence and he always speaks the truth. Here is an example of his youthful innocence. Billy is signing his oath of allegiance to the King and he is asked, " where were you born?" He replied, " Don't know, Sir." He was then asked, "Don't know where you were born? Who was your father?" He then replied, "God knows, Sir." He said he was left in a basket on the doorstep of a good mans home. Billy was also illiterate that he couldn't even read but he could sing very well. When Billy faces a situation where he knows inside that the truth isn't being spoken, he will speak up and voice his the truth even though it could cause physical harm to him....
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