Herman Melville's Billy Budd as an Allegory of Good against Evil Herman Melville's Billy Budd tells an allegory of innocence against evil symbolizing Billy Budd, John Claggart and Captain Vere as Jesus Christ, Lucifer and God. The protagonist of the novel is Billy Budd. The experiences that Billy endures throughout the novel parallel what Jesus Christ endured in his life. Melville characterizes Billy Budd as an innocent man physically and mentally. The first feature sailors would have noticed about Billy was his schoolboy features, with blond hair and blue eyes. His suave appearance led some to call him "the handsome sailor" (16). Most often the sailors were men suffering from scurvy, often ill, who made no effort to maintain a good appearance. With his tanned complexion and healthy build he resembles Hercules, one of the impeccable Greek gods of mythology (17). Billy's full name is William, but the sailors thought the boyish name, Billy, was more appropriate. Usually only young innocent boys bear the name Billy, but the sailors see the man as an innocent boy. Billy's innocence prompted the Dansker to give Billy a nickname because "...whether for a joke of patriarchal irony that touched on Billy's youth and athletic build or for some other and more ulterior motive, from the first moment in addressed to him [the Dansker] always substituted 'Baby' for 'Billy'" (35). The characteristics mentioned above verify Billy's innocent nature, just as Jesus Christ had the same innocent nature. After Billy's capture by the Rights of Man, he appears to show no remorse towards his old captain and his shipmates for failing to protect him. Billy, as well as Jesus, cannot resist because their innocent nature makes them incapable... mid-paper... of paying for his sin. To comply with the law, Vere tells the jury, “The prisoner's act – we must do only this” (69). When the jury convicts Billy, as they were heavily influenced by Vere, Captain Vere takes it upon himself to tell Billy of his death. Melville doesn't touch the scene much, but it's a warm and sentimental scene with Vere playing Billy's father and comforting him. Captain Vere symbolically represents God. The classic battle between the righteous and the reprobate comes to life with symbolism in Herman Melville's allegory Billy Budd, with Billy Budd, John Claggart and Captain Vere depicted as Jesus Christ, Lucifer and God. cite Chase, Riccardo. Herman Melville: a critical study. New York: Hafner Publishing Company, 1971. Melville, Herman. Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories. Ed. Federico Busch. New York: Penguin, 1986.