Criticism > Short Story Criticism > Billy Budd, Herman Melville - R. Evan Davis (essay date 1984)

Billy Budd, Herman Melville - R. Evan Davis (essay date 1984)

R. Evan Davis (essay date 1984)

SOURCE: “An Allegory of America in Melville's Billy Budd,” in Journal of Narrative Technique, Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall, 1984, pp. 172–81.

[In the following essay, Davis suggests that the character of Billy Budd can be interpreted as a representation of early America.]

Understanding Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor depends, in part, on the recognition of Billy as an image of Adam, of Christ, and of several classical gods and heroes, a recognition urged by more or less explicit references in the text. The narrator also likens Billy to various animals, birds, and flowers, and all of these associations are mutually compatible, if not complementary. A similarly complementary interpretation of Billy as representing early America is not as obvious, but is, nevertheless, indicated by the narrator's portrayal of the young hero. As such, it functions neither as a key to the puzzling novel nor as...

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