The Tragedy of Justice in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, the Sailor

Abstract

This study makes an attempt to explore the idea of justice from a critical point of view, in consideration to Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, the Sailor. The idea of justice is as old as the human civilization; however, the notion of fairness and equality associated with it are often in controversy. It is often found that justice becomes arbitrary in the hand of those who hold power. In Billy Budd, we find that Captain Vere is the commander-in-chief of a British ship in the Pacific Ocean. During one of the events occurring in the ship, a foretop man by the name Billy Budd knocks one of his seniors to death as an outcome of a momentary dispute. Now, in the eye of law, this event is purely accidental; however, Captain Vere goes on to punish Budd with death penalty. The idea of justice imposed by the authority like Captain Vere is both amusing and disturbing; as it is no correct way of imposing justice, even though it is in the name of law and order provided by the law of the land. The idea that justice is fairness and equality is thus, under serious scrutiny and critical observation.