Holy Allusions Throughout the story “Billy Budd,” the author Herman Mellville creates numerous biblical allegories with the events and characters that he devises. Billy Budd, a pure and innocent young man, is impressed by the “Bellipotent”. On the ship he is adored by all of his crewmates except the ship’s jealous master-at-arms John Claggart. Claggart’s dislike for Billy grows into an intense hatred. During a confrontation between the two, Billy’s stuttering problem …showed first 75 words of 1248 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1248 total…the bible including the stories of Ananias and the serpent. These two opposing characters, Billy and Claggart, represent the conflicting evils and purities in mankind. Melville also discusses the temptations of evil by using the story of Adam and the serpent. He creates a focus on evil’s corruption of innocence in Billy. Therefore, the biblical allusions throughout the story help to magnify the story’s meaning with Melville’s stress on good versus evil.