Religious allegory in Herman Melville's Billy Budd

Abstract

Herman Melville's Billy Budd is an allegorical novel which reiterates the story of Christ's redemption of man from Adam's original sin. To construct the allegory, Melville blended his plot with Biblical connotations and overtones of other religion-related sources, primarily Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained.

Malville employed that characters to reaffirm God's universal law. He created the major figures in the allegorical method of dual characterization: Claggart, who represents Satan, is also a symbol of evil; Billy, a Christ figure, is also a symbol of innocence; Vere is both a representation of Pilate and a personification of obedience to human law.

Billy is the Christ figure whose characteristics and actions stress his identity as the son of God and man. His ordained execution symbolizes the fulfillment of Christ's victory over Satan and the purgation of man's inherited sib.

Claggart is the allegory's Satanic figure. Like the Biblical and Miltonic Satan, he suffers from rationality's enslavement by passion. This defect forces him to attempt to thwart Billy’s divine mission.

Vere is the Pilate figure who condemns an innocent man to death. He is a faithful upholder of the king's law, and his allegiance requires him to order Billy's execution.

The theme of atonement culminates inmediately after Claggart accuses Billy of inciting mutiny. Billy's fatal blow represents Christ's triumph over Satan. The religious allegory prevails through the execution, the counterpart of Christ's crucifixion, and Billy's symbolic ascension.