Power politics: unveiling political incongruities in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd

Abstract

This dissertation does the connotative study of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd in the light of Foucauldian notion of power and discourse to examine the power relations and to uncover the manipulation of authoritarian use of power. It highlights the nature of power politics and its intricate nexus with state apparatus like military and judiciary thereby unveiling the corrupt nature of its representatives who most often create various discourses that are purpose oriented for accomplishing personal goals. Basically they deploy discourse of order, discipline, mutiny and patriotism in order to exploit the junior ones. The research highlights the persecution of Billy Budd who has been victimized by his senior. Thus, it asserts that although laws are necessary, however, in the novel they are manipulated in such a way that justice remains outside the law.