Billy Bud
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David Green
Charles Steven Ellis
Eng 102
12 Apr 04
Billy Bud by Herman Melville
Herman Melville wrote the story Billy Bud to show that bad things happen to good people, be it the right thing to do or the hard thing to do. He showed this in his story in many different ways. He used the Elements, the crew, Time frame and the war in that period. Billy in essence was used as a Jesus like character; Clagert was a devil like person. Melville used the setting to encompass all of these in his story.
The Elements are every thing that has to do with the outcome of story. In this story the main element was the sea. Because they were at sea they had to deal with crimes faster and harsher then if they were on land. The sea played a key role if not for that element instead of punishing Billy to hang for striking and killing an officer he might have just been incarcerated for life. Because they were at sea the punishment had to fit the crime Billy killed a superior and at that time just striking an officer is punishable by death...