Now, the Lord of Misrule was a theatrical custom created by the old salts in bygone days, on crossing the Equator….
and ends in appropriate tragedy.įor a nautical Daemon is also a Lord of Misrule. Neither man is the picture of a stalwart seaman - they are both Odd Men Out.įor just so the clash of Good and Evil Daemons within us evokes a veritable supernatural storm of Misrule.
On one side, the dumbstruck adherence to painful honesty and virtue in young Billy, whom the captain of this 18th century Royal Navy Man ‘o War calls “the Angel of God,” and on the other, the slimy and envious maleficence of Master of Arms Claggart. Such is the title of a book on the enormous influence of an ancient Gnostic tenet on American writing of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by our preeminent critic, Harold Bloom.Īnd two faces of the Daemon rule this short but unfinished masterpiece by Melville. And, with Edgar Allan Poe, to Descend into the Maelstrom. Great little story.To read Melville, as the Buddha once said, is to finally Join the Stream. All that counts is keeping those in power in authority. A short novel, with multitudes of character interactions, deep seated conflicts in right and wrong, justice and equity and the disregard of those in control for the common man. Needless to say, the crew is in Billy’s favor, but the book next weights the need of the admiralty law to prevail and keep order and the crew’s demand for true and proper justice. Thus, Billy becomes unfairly charged, but being properly prosecuted for his violent reaction when unfairly charged. Billy is eventually put under false charges, and reacts violently. The presence of the devil is a strong force in this novella.
This book tells the story of the debased ravaging the pure because of incarnate evil, lodged herein, in the first officer, John Claggart. Billy is an impressed sailor who faces off with a ship’s first officer, antagonistic to Billy because of Billy’s goodness and appreciation by others. This is a magnificent story of a good wholesome and loved by many Billy Budd, and how his nature fuses with the drastic life on a sea ship at the end of the 18th millennium. Billy Budd, Sailor, written by: Herman Melville, Narrated by: William Roberts.
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