A review of sailor Billy Budd's works

In Billy Budd, the chapter in which Minister Weil called a military court for trial is the climax of the book, and it also shows the conflict between human nature and power in this specific space. Through these descriptions, Melville profoundly exposed the severity of military discipline, the power of military law, the dictatorship of captains and the cruelty of war. Captain Will was very excited when he saw sailor Billy accidentally kill picket Clajett. He shouted, "Oh, this is God's judgment on Ananias! Those who are killed by the angel of God will be hanged! " Obviously, he thought Billy was an angel, while Clajett was a liar and a poisonous snake, who deceived God and died a fair death. However, he decided to immediately call a military court to try Billy. The three officers who make up the military court are appointed by Weil. Although he is not a judge himself, as the final person in charge, he reserves the right of supervision and formal or informal intervention when necessary. In fact, during the whole trial, he was not only the prosecutor who prosecuted, the only witness, but also the real justice. He has all the power and one person has the final say. After he testified, the captain of the judge asked Billy, "Is Captain Weil right?" Billy replied, "What Captain Weil said is true. He's right. The picket officer was wrong. I eat the emperor's food. I am loyal to the emperor. "

The author uses Billy's tragic fate to reveal to the public the inhuman treatment suffered by a special group that has long been ignored by the world. Billy's life is like a mystery, no one knows his origin, his feelings and his pursuit; In this world, he is lonely. Just like a boat in the sea, it was finally swallowed up by huge waves. However, his indomitable spirit in difficulties is a very valuable character. For a small person from the bottom of society, death is his only destination, and it is also the most resolute and thorough silent protest. He fought against society with death, never giving in, always going his own way until death did us part. The pain he has suffered has exceeded the limit that people can bear, and he can't complain and vent. As a result, he became calm and calm. However, this calm opposition is more shocking than hysterical venting. His silent struggle against society with death is irreplaceable by any form of violent resistance. Captain Weil executed Billy Budd in the name of human law, which is also the name of "finiteness" in all difficulties, and it is a very limited decision that a person in "finiteness" can make. But if there is a better way, he doesn't want to do it. This is not only because you don't want to get someone else's blood on your hands, but because an angel is still an angel after all-an angel should not interfere in human affairs, and when his gentle face falls from the sky, there is a kind of murder hidden; However, the existence of an angel implies the blue sky above its wings, representing such absolute scales-good and evil, truth and lies, beauty and ugliness, purity and filth, and so on. In fact, each of us has a darkroom with these scales in our hearts, although we can't say it out loud and use it directly. Without such a sky and some basic boundaries, our eyes will be blind and our world will return to each other's chaos, regardless of good and evil.

Therefore, Captain Weir always agreed that Billy was like his own son. He disapproves of Billy's behavior, but recognizes and appreciates his spirit and morality. In the painful tearing, the captain harvested not the victory of the judge, but the pain of killing his son, just like being taken away from his own body. This is the real tragic core of this story-Captain Weil had to break into and intervene in the opposition between the two absolutes, but the ground he stood on and the weapons he possessed could not penetrate and deal with this opposition. He could not even restrain the absolute evil, but could only punish the absolute good, that is, Arendt said, "When the law cannot severely punish the fundamental evil, it can only punish the fundamental good." There is another cloud: "Dharma is for human beings, not for angels and demons". He must pay the price for "knowing what not to do", which is a painful burden in his soul.

Not only Captain Weir, but everyone must pay the price for their "limitation" in the world. It is they who tolerate the world, the evil, the intermediary and all kinds of high-sounding reasons.

When all the crew saw the windsurfing board that hanged Billy Budd, they naturally thought that "all the sawdust on it was a piece of wood on the cross". Without this tragic consciousness, we would fall into another kind of violence and barbarism. Claggert was jealous of Billy Budd, because the sailors spontaneously fell in love with the "naive" Billy Budd and deprived him of his rights as a "weapons manager". On the other hand, he despises Billy Budd, because Billy Budd is naive by nature. Claggert's jealousy and contempt for Billy became the deadly weapon of "naive" Billy Budd.

Billy Budd and Clajett respectively represent two completely opposite moral concepts. First, it is a secular moral concept and a secular hypocrisy, such as Clajett's "natural depravity" under the disguise of appearance; Secondly, the moral quality of "detachment from vulgarity" mentioned in the novel does not come from "depravity of nature", but from "inner innocence" full of vitality and vitality. The contradiction between the former and the latter is irreconcilable because of "naivety". And "evil" cannot cross the "unpalatable space" between them. Billy Budd's "innocence" and Clajett's "sin" prototype can be traced back to the Hebrew mythological figures Eve and Satan, and David and Saul respectively. The former embodies the temptation of "evil Satan" to "innocent" Eve, while the latter embodies the invincible power of "innocent" David and the jealousy and revenge of "evil" Saul.

When "naive" Billy was hanged, the sky conjured up a mysterious image of the world, and this lofty glory wandered in the depths of the souls of Captain Vere and the sailors. On the one hand, Billy Budd's naivety awakened Captain Weil's moral conscience and gave him a new understanding of evil and good on his deathbed. On the other hand, the martyrdom of Billy Budd has also become a monument to Billy's innocence in sailors' hearts, because Billy's innocence is the source of strength for sailors to pursue peace and light. Billy's "innocence" became sacred and immortal. The novel in this novel is written in the form of anti-fiction. It is like everything, such as court reports, philosophical essays, psychoanalysis, historical links, anthropological materials, including some poems and folk literature, but it is not like novels. The narrative is constantly interrupted by Wang Yang's wanton digressions, memories, blanks and various comments. E·l· doctorow, an American contemporary writer, made an interesting remark when talking about Moby Dick, another masterpiece of Melville, which also applies to Billy Budd the Sailor. He said that Melville, when writing, was like a cheerful fool, "pouring all his knowledge into it … philosophically thinking, breaking the coherent narrative, adding all the mysterious information he knew … releasing his unparalleled descriptive talent … like an unsatisfied animal's stomach, greedily devouring the English language."

At the same time, Melville is a genius who is good at using contrast. Although he talks a lot about Wang Yang, the description of the most critical moment is always like gold, and it's a deal, which makes readers stand there gaping. Only he can write old Dansk! The old man who is very prophetic. "Combat power" also has modern significance. It is a language ship, and only those who know its grammar can survive. Billy Budd's serious lack of language skills led to his death.