chapter 8-14 response

6. What characteristic of Billy's leads him to the forechains? Is this character a strength or weakness?


Billy is awakened by one of the afterguradsman during the middle of the night. Without much of a second thought of whom it may be or why he may be waking Billy up. Billy obediently meets the guardsman where he was instructed to. As mentioned before, one of Billy's biggest weaknesses is that he is naive and often oblivious to the true motives of other people. For example, in this situation, the guardsman is attempting to corrupt Billy and even offers him money. As questionable as it may be to the reader for the reason behind the guardsman's action, Billy does not even recognize the fact that this man is trying to get Billy into trouble. His innocence/naivety/obliviousness is a really big obstacle for Billy, even when the forecastlemen arrive, he does not explain to them the situation that has just happened because he does not want to "tell on" the guardsman, so he can protect him from getting into trouble.This characteristic is definitely a weakness.


7. Discuss the spilled soup as a revelation into Claggart's character and motivation.


Claggart was definitely unpleased when he saw Billy spill the soup on the recently cleaned deck. Claggart's attitude towards Billy is an example of dramatic irony, as Billy, even when warned by the Dansker, believes that Claggart favors him and praises him when they pass each other. The Dansker can read Claggart quite well, and cautions Billy that he is planning something evil against him. Claggart complimented Billy "Handsomely done, my lad! And handsome is as handsome did it, too!" as he passed by the spilt soup, however, his expressions quickly change into a bitter and unpleased face, even scaring a drummer boy causing him to spill his soup. The reasoning behind Claggart's hatred for Billy is envy. He is jealous of Billy's goodness and his appearance, and this jealousy is what feeds his strong animosity towards him. Later, Squeak reports to Claggart that Billy has been talking behind his back, and falsely accusing Billy's dislike towards Claggart. Obviously, Claggart would not defend Billy, so he almost encourages what Squeak says and takes every word as he truth. In Claggart's mind, because of Billy's apparent attitude, this calls for revenge.


I chose this photo of the devil because the devil and Claggart have a very similar characteristic, which is that they feed their hatred (for Billy/God) because of jealousy.