Billy Budd: Chapter 1 - 7

 1. What is the effect of having a third person narration in this story? Suggest why Melville chose this particular narrative stance and its value with reference to the novel.

The effect of having a third person narrate this story is that the reader gets a deeper insight into everything that happens throughout the story. By having the novel written in third person, Melville is able to give the audience a history of the happenings of the time, and make sure that the reader knows all of the background information necessary to understand the story. Having the novel written in third person also allows the author to sway the audience’s opinion about certain things in the story, and thus better allows him to convey meaning and symbolism throughout the story. An example of this is in chapters 3, 4, and 5 when the narrator stops talking about Billy and his story, and starts talking about a few important historical events that occurred around the time when this story takes place.

4. Discuss the possible significance of moving from a merchant ship (Rights of Man) to a war ship (Bellipotent).  What might Melville be suggesting with this transition?

There are a few things that Melville may be suggesting by moving Billy from the Rights of Man, to the Bellipotent. First of all, Melville could be suggesting that Billy is growing up and becoming more of a ‘man’ as opposed to a boy. It is possible that by moving Billy from the merchant ship to the war ship, that Melville wants the readers to see Billy as more of a responsible, mature, grown-up, rather than a young boy, new to the realm of the sea. Another possible significance of moving from the merchant ship to the war ship is that the author is trying to symbolize the influence that society has and had on people. Even the names of both of the boats symbolize this influence. The “Rights of Man” symbolizes the individuality of the people, while “Bellipotent”, which means power of war, symbolizes the power of society. In this story, Billy is forced into what society wants him to do. An example of the differences between Billy's old ship, and his new ship, occurs when Billy's old shipmaster, and the new shipmaster are talking, and the old shipmaster is explaining to Billy's new shipmaster that Billy is a "peacekeeper". Billy's new shipmaster replies "Blessed are the peacekeepers, especially the fighting peacekeepers." He the gestures towards the ships cannons, to symbolize exactly what he is saying. This shows the difference between Billy's initial posting, on the Rights of Man, and his new posting on the Bellipotent. 

I chose this picture because it represents something having power over something else. The man being over the building symbolizes societies power over people. This idea is very important in the story, Billy Budd.