Billy Budd: The element of conflict

div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;"> There is no conflict in the usual sense in this tragic story. The hero, Billy Budd, does have an adversary in Claggart but he puts up no fight against his adversary for the simple reason that he is not even aware of Claggart’s hostility towards him; and when Billy does become conscious of Claggart’s hostility when Claggart’s openly accusation him for something he has not done. Billy’s reaction is to give Claggart a blow, which kills the man. This blow is an altogether impulsive and unpremeditated action on the part of Billy. So we cannot say that there is any conflict between the hero and the villain. In the case of Captain Vere, the adversary is the situation in which he finds himself. But even here there is no conflict because Captain Vere is not shown to us as debating Billy’s case in his own mind. Captain Vere’s mind about the punishment to be awarded to Billy is made up from the very start. Thus no inner conflict in Captain Vere is depicted. Of course, Captain Vere’s anguish, after the sentence has been pronounced, is depicted, and depicted unambiguously. Captain Vere is compared to a father who feels compelled to offer his son as a sacrifice but who acquiesces in the sacrifice as an act from which there is not escape. It is Captain Vere’s subsequent agony and anguish, which makes him a tragic figure; and his tragedy, as well as that of Billy, makes a powerful impact upon our minds and hearts.