Plot Summary
Billy Budd centers around a merchant sailer who enlists in the British Navy in early July of 1797.
Billy is stationed on a merchant ship named the Bellipotent.
Billy is an extraordinary sailor. He is esteemed by his fellow sailors for his amiable looks and authentic uncomplicated personality.
Billy flourishes in his new ship. His new shipmates quickly approve of him.
The ship's captain's name is Fairfax Vere. He is an astringent man who is highly educated and alludes to history a great deal. He seems to be very distinguished but is not popular with the crew.
John Claggart holds a new position known as the "Master of Arms" which basically means he monitors the crew. Mutinies are common on British ships causing Claggart to stay on high alert
Billy is wrongly accused of mocking Claggart by a corporal. This defamation causes Claggart to observe him attentively . Claggart pretends he has not been told anything, but when Billy is told about the lie he is in disbelief.
Captain Vere is told by Claggart that Billy is threatening and bound for mutiny but Vere disagrees.
Vere stages an intervention between Claggart and Billy and commands Claggart to implicate Billy in person.
Billy is abashed and when ordered to talk he strikes Claggart in the head. The blow kills Claggart.
Vere is consequently discombobulated and beckons for a panel of officers to analyze the offense and decide on an appropriate sentence. Despite the fact that some thought it unintentional, Vere states that murder on a ship , premeditated or otherwise, is still murder. Billy convicted and is sentenced to death at sunrise the next day.
Billy is executed at the main mast as the sunrises. A few sailors believe Billy dies even before the rope had contracted. The official navy report pronounced that Billy had stabbed Claggart and purposely killed him.
The correct story events survived only in a song sung by sailors everywhere.
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