... the novel’s action. Melville’s treatment of Claggart is representative. What should be noticed is how much we depend on the commentary for our under- standing of Claggart. His every action persuades us that Claggart is “the direct reverse of a saint” (p. 74),4 but it is the narrator who provides...

.... 115 116 ‘Billy Bud&: Testament of Redstance the story and to demonstrate that the “testament of acceptance” theory is essentially self-contradictory. The body of the story is concerned with the relationships of three men: Billy Budd, John Claggart, and Captain Vere. Whatever...

.... Melville’s evasion of the dramatic scene is perhaps here most striking, for Billy Budd, more than any of the previous novels, has a subject demanding drama. The metaphysical theme is conveniently embodied in the tensions between Billy, Claggart, and Vere. The men need only be put...

..., for instance, Melville’s focus goes curi- ously askew. Figures like Jackson and Claggart never really emerge as convincing psychological types, as fully realized individuals who shock and overwhelm us with the sheer weight of their malice. They are translated rather into metaphysical enigmas...

... 179 Melville quite openly takes sides in Silly Budd-ith angelic Billy against diabolic Claggart; with Nelson’s panegyrists against his detractors. . . . Confronted with a choice between highly imperfect socio- political systems, Melville now preferred...

... from the normal men around him. That person is John Claggart. At the same time, every impulse of every person in this book that could at all be called desire could be called homosexual desire, being directed by men exclusively to men.” In her insistent repetition of could be called , Sedgwick...