Captain Vere

Men want nothing more than order, or so Captain Vere believes. In Melville's novel Billy Budd the self-assured Captain presents obedience to the law as an ideal, and seems to propose that humans are sinful creatures who inherently need firm guidance. These ideas fundamentally contradict my personal convictions, for I side with Thoreau on the issue of universal truth, and adamantly assert that everyone possesses a common sense of morality and justice. The story of Billy Budd, a young, handsome and naturally innocent sailor who in a moment of aggression kills his false accuser and later pays for it with his life, irritated and deeply disturbed me. Initially the ship's officers want to let Billy go without punishment, understanding that Billy's striking of his superior shipmate had been unfairly provoked. However, before the papers can be signed, Captain Vere delivers a fervent speech asserting that although Billy is innocent in the eyes of God, he must be executed in accordance with the adamant laws of the British Navy. I pondered these developments and my subsequent emotions, and was convinced in the rightness of my belief that people must listen to their conscience and always do what is just, even if doing so diverges from what society deems acceptable. Through my eyes, Captain Vere chose to disobey his conscience and the laws of God to execute a man he knew was innocent in order to satisfy the simply mundane and worldly principles of law and order. In all, reading Billy Budd confirmed my belief that people need to listen to their sense of justice within if they are to attain true morality. The human conscience can prevail if we give it a chance.