Billy Budd

A detailed Summary of Billy Budd

In society, when communicating to another person an idea which must be understood, the communicator must develop many strong points to express his/her idea. In Billy Budd, Herman Melville uses many different types of literary techniques and elements to express his idea. In Chapter 29 and "Billy in the Darbies" the power of language is communicated by the use of propaganda.

Many different literary devices are used between the two passages. One of which is the use of a hyperbole, which is defined as a deliberate exaggeration. In "Billy in the Darbies," Melville uses a symbolic hyperbole by saying "Fathoms down, fathoms down, how I'll dream fast asleep." This quote captures an image of Billy Budd's death being glorified, as though he were thrown into the sea like a piece of trash. In Chapter 29 Melville says "...Claggart, in the act of arraigning the man before the captain, was vindictively stabbed to the heart by the suddenly drawn sheath knife of Budd." The use of "vindictively stabbed" is a immense deliberate exaggeration of the truth

, in fact it is a lie. Claggart was not stabbed, he was punched in the head which was what caused his death. Melville is set out to show Billy Budd as being a satanic character and Claggart as an angel of god, which is the exact opposite The significance of these two hyperboles is that Melville wants to create the image that Claggart is the hero and Billy Budd is the villain.

The use of propaganda can communicate a powerful message to a reader. Herman Melville accomplishes this beautifully through the use of hyperboles, allusions, similes, and metaphors. The tendency of Melville presenting Billy Budd as evil, strikes an outrageous idea. A theory that Melville may have reexamined his own writing and when he read the chapter when Billy Budd killed Claggart, perhaps he saw it different. Perhaps he believed that Billy Budd consciously killed Claggart, and that indeed it was not a sudden reaction

Another way authors try to communicate propaganda is by the use of irony. Irony is the difference between what might be expected and what ac

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Approximate Word count = 706
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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Billy Budd

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