The novella explores the tension between the right thing to do and what the law dictates. Several characters suffer because the law imposes harsh sentences or enables control over people, and Melville ultimately suggests that lawfulness does not equate to morality but often serves those in power. The theme is most visible in the motif of <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Symbols & Motifs" href="https://www.supersummary.com/billy-budd-sailor/symbols-and-motifs/#585592">mutiny</a>. Jurisprudence and its codified rules attempt to impose order on the <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Symbols & Motifs" href="https://www.supersummary.com/billy-budd-sailor/symbols-and-motifs/#585588">warships</a> in the text. The laws are not ambivalent. This raises a dilemma for Vere. He is subordinate to the rule of law and to the society that empowered him with his position. When the surgeon wishes to tell Vere his misgivings, he thinks, “[t]o argue his order to him would be insolence. To resist him would be mutiny” (64). Vere would also have acted as a mutineer in the eyes of the law if he spared Billy. The superiors in the text argue that order is necessary for an effective command, but rigid adherence to order and law also makes it possible for Billy to be condemned to die, despite the fact that everyone hates the thought of his hanging. Vere’s decision about Billy’s fate is the clearest example of the <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.

The Struggle Between Morality and Lawfulness

The Vulnerability of Innocence and Naivety

The Tension Between the Individual and the Group 

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Action & Adventure

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American Literature

Values & Ideas

Books on Justice & Injustice

Society

Community

Good & Evil

Fiction

Novellas

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Relationships

Teams & Gangs

Herman Melville

Adult

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About Billy Budd, Sailor

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Billy Budd, Sailor Background

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Chapters 1-5

Billy Budd, Sailor Chapters 1-5 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 6-12

Billy Budd, Sailor Chapters 6-12 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 13-20

Billy Budd, Sailor Chapters 13-20 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 21-25

Billy Budd, Sailor Chapters 21-25 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 26-30

Billy Budd, Sailor Chapters 26-30 Summary & Analysis

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Billy Budd, Sailor Character Analysis

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Billy Budd, Sailor Themes

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Billy Budd Sailor Important Quotes with Page Numbers

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