Abstract This paper provides a critical analysis of a quote from Dostoevsky in "Crime and Punishment" concerning affronts. The author examines the reactions of Antigone and CaptainVere to affronts and explains how pride was a common motivating factor.
Abstract This is a paper on the moral dilemma faced by CaptainVere is Melville's "Billy Budd". The author examines the events and the plot in the novel as well as the major themes and focuses on one of the main characters in the novel, CaptainVere and the moral dilemma he faces when Claggart arrives and the captain has to decide whether Claggart is lying.
From the Paper "Melville in Billy Budd introduces his characters through an introductory sketch after which they enter into the narrative. These descriptive sketches provide the necessary background for each character and prepare the reader for the part each is to play in the narrative. The characters are further developed by means of words or phrases, which are repeatedly used to describe them, or by means of characteristic phrases, which they repeatedly utter. For example, Captain Vere by his nickname of "Starry" Vere. Then the characters are described through repeated references to their appearance. The 'aristocratic' Captain Vere is a reflection of the real character. (Mumford, 1929)."
Abstract The paper attempts to determine who was responsible for Billy Budd's death in Melville's short story of the same name. The paper shows how the characters of CaptainVere and Claggart, the rigidity of the naval system of justice, and Billy himself, all contributed to Billy's downfall.
From the Paper "Herman Melville's 1891 seafaring novella Billy Budd is a Christian allegory, transposed into the relatively contemporary setting of a British naval vessel. The Christian Bible details the death of Christ as a series of betrayals and injustices. The popular leader and teacher Christ is betrayed by one of his own followers, Judas, and is handed over by the leadership of his own nation to the Roman judge Pontius Pilate. Pilate washes his hands of his responsibility for a man whom he believes is innocent, because Christ will not verbally defend himself, and because the Roman authorities have charged him with preserving order amongst the populace. Pilate acquiesces, going against his better moral instincts."
Abstract This paper discusses the contrasts between the three central characters in the story, Billy Budd, Claggert, and CaptainVere. It explores the development in the plot and how each character's true traits come out through their ultimate actions. It focuses on CaptainVere's character as one that is seemingly noble and good, but his final decision proves him to be otherwise.
From the paper:
"A closer examination of the novel brings to light certain aspects of each character that are quite opposite to the ones that they symbolize. Billy Budd symbolizes Good. His character is not without fault. The aspects of simplicity and blind faith in the goodness of the world, in his personality lead to his demise. His immaturity breeds curiosity and lacks the far sightedness to listen to the good advice given by the Dansker. Hence, despite the Dansker's warnings he is unable to see Claggert as his nemesis. His stuttering is also portrayed as a fault that caused his death instead of accepting it as a handicap."
Abstract This essay focuses on the character of Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. This essay attempts to humanize Ahab by exposing the motivation behind his behavior, and placing him in his environment as a reactor to natural events. The paper looks at Ahab as a mirror reflection of the ugliest parts of humanity. By suggesting that Captain Ahab is in some ways a reflection of humanity, this essay attempts to humanize his monomaniacal characteristics. Ahab is the captain of the Pequod, but this essay also suggests that he is the captain of the novel, steering the fiction from beginning to end.
From the Paper "Captain Ahab appears to be a communion of man and man's perception of alterity. Man naturally detests and abhors all adverse characteristics to which he cannot deny he is akin. Captain Ahab seems to be the imperfect reflection that most would rather not acknowledge as their own. He is the modern "Everyman"-molded to encompass the raw nature that makes him human and intrinsically aligned with the industrial, religious, and economic paradigms characteristic of the nineteenth century. Captain Ahab is as mysterious and complex as all humanity, and one can no more hate him than he can hate himself. He is composed of "a thousand bold dashes of character" (Herman Melville's Moby-Dick MD 67) which makes him a virtual collage of human experience. He is a captain, an ever-branching tree of morals and virtues, and a deep mystic ocean many fathoms deep."
Abstract This paper examines the character of Captain Ahab as a tragic hero in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". The author discusses the criteria for a tragic hero and how Ahab fits each criterion. The paper looks at how Captain Ahab's weakness turned him away from success, and how he recognized his personal suffering.
From the Paper "Captain Ahab is a man of substance, or outstanding in a positive way. He is also turned aside from success due to his own weakness of character. This weakness of character causes him to suffer which in turn this suffering causes Ahab to find recognition of himself and discover what is happening to him. He also causes the sensitive and intelligent reader to feel a sense of waste. Ahab causes a disruption in a system of order as well. He is classified as a paradoxical figure and shows sign of humanity. With two proofs or more for each of the eight criteria of a tragic hero Captain Ahab proves himself to be a more than adequate tragic hero in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick. "
Abstract In "Moby Dick", Herman Melville uses Captain Ahab to describe and critique the romantic hero. It shows how Melville establishes Ahab's superiority in several ways and shows how Captain Ahab is the perfect example of a romantic hero.
From the Paper "Captain Ahab is the perfect example of a romantic hero. He pursues the whale that in a previous voyage had caused him to lose a leg, with a murderous obsession. He wants only information about the whereabouts of Moby Dick. All civilities and pleasures are dispensed with, as Ahab gives his razor away and even throws his pipe overboard. The quadrant is smashed; and compass and chart are jettisoned, as Ahab, with the instinct of a maddened hunter, makes his own magnet, log, and line and pursues Moby Dick across the Pacific by dead reckoning. As the weeks and months pass, Ahab becomes ever more obsessive."
This paper provides a book review and critique of the work "Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream" by Thomas Hoobler and Dorothy Hoobler.
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that the colony of Jamestown in Roanoke, Virginia, often remains a shadowy period of American history in most Americans' understanding of their nation's origins. The writer maintains that if they know anything about Jamestown and its founder Captain John Smith, it likely comes from romantic tales of Smith's rescue from death by the Indian chief's daughter Pocahontas, rather than knowledge about how and why the colony experienced such difficulties during its early years. However, the the writer discusses that historians Thomas and Dorothy Hoobler suggest in their text "Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream" that the ideals, values, and principles of America can be traced back to this early effort of colonization.
From the Paper "The Hooblers' thesis is that Jamestown's founder, even though the colony itself was ultimately, famously unsuccessful, was a kind of an early embodiment of the ideal of the self-made man. Smith, in the portrayal of the Hooblers, emerges from the text as both a pirate and a pioneer, and a true, budding entrepreneur even though he was born an Englishman. Smith came to America after living a life more akin to an action hero than an administrator of the Crown. He had battled upon the high seas, and even been sold into slavery. He was born in a seafaring English community where regular maintenance of the dikes was necessary to keep the town, quite literally, afloat. This was an early example of the value of hard work and effort to the young Smith."
Abstract This paper explains that Sandy Troy's "Captain Trips" tells the story of the life of pop cultural icon and musician Jerry Garcia of the rock band The Grateful Dead. The author feels that the prose style of this book, which reads like a very long encyclopedia article, is not the most interesting style to read; however, the author was looking for this type of detail about Garcia's life. The paper includes three quotations from the chapter on Garcia's childhood to illustrate themes found later in the biography.
Table of Contents:
Summary
Rationale for Choosing the Book
Recommended or Not
Three Representative Quotes
From the Paper "I have been interested in Jerry Garcia because he is a pop cultural icon. Most people know who he is, and can picture his face. He even has a Ben and Jerry's ice cream named after him. But I realized that while I could picture his face and I associated him with the Grateful Dead, I didn't know that much about him. I knew some stray facts here and there and things I had seen in rock documentaries. But I really wanted to explore his life in more detail, to see what made him such a legendary musician who was able to touch so many people."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the book "Billy Bud" by Herman Melville. Melville makes many allusions to Christianity and Jesus in his book. The paper examines the main characters Claggart and CaptainVere and how they connect to these analogies.
From the paper:
"In many ways, Melville's "Billy Bud" lends itself to a religious or biblical interpretation. For example, the life and death of the main character, Billy Bud, shows striking parallels to the life and death of Jesus Christ. As well, Claggart and CaptainVere further implicate "Billy Bud" in the story of Christ. But Melville, in interesting ways, moves beyond a strict re-telling of the story or mythology surrounding Christ. Melville sets in motion a certain expectation in the minds of his audience through the obvious parallels between the story of "Billy Bud" and that of Christ, but then, at key moments, the author turns away from the traditional story, disrupting our expectations, in order to critically comment on Christianity and the legacy of Christ in the minds of humanity."
Abstract This paper provides a brief summary of Herman Melville's classic novel, "Billy Budd". The author discusses one of the main themes of the tale- an individual's need to choose between following orders and following the heart.
From the Paper "Often a person is torn between doing his duty, and doing what is right. This is a common problem to many people in everyday life, a problem that can have terrible results, such as death. Many authors have had to deal with making a tough choice, and so they try to capture the struggle between duty and heart in their books. A prime example of this is Billy Budd by Herman Melvill e. In this novel, Captain Vere was the man who found himself in a difficult position, where he had a hard decision to make. Billy had murdered the master-at-arms on board the ship, and so his punishment in military law was for Billy to be hung. It was the captain's duty to see this sentence carried out. On the other hand, Captain Vere cared a great deal for Billy."
Abstract This paper discusses the human struggle between freedom and moral responsibility as represented in 5 different works of literature over time. The author looks at the inner turmoil within such characters as Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Melville's "CaptainVere", and Toni Morrison's "Pecola". The paper also discusses moral values in the works of Plato and Dante.
From the Paper "The concept of freedom and responsibility has eluded most writers in time and they try their best to present their own versions of the freedom they conceive and the responsibility they have. Through these concepts the debates of morality and values interrelated to create philosophies that transcend time. Basically most authors suggest that the moral and ethical bases of life are what determine our choices and sense of responsibility and become the vital focus of freedom. Freedom is then a conflict between the sense of responsibility of the social and moral needs."
Abstract The paper reviews the themes, conflicts, symbols and characterization in Melville's novel "Billy Budd" that relates the different elements in the novel to ideas of the Enlightenment.
From the Paper "During the Age of the Enlightenment, Gay maintains that the men of the Enlightenment united on a vastly ambitious program, a program of secularism, humanity, cosmopolitanism and freedom. From a growing reliance on science and reason over faith and emotion to formation of political philosophies that asserted a balance between individual and State rights, many of the ideas associated with the Enlightenment can be found in a reading of Herman Melville's "Billy Budd.""
Tags: individual rights, state rights, law and order, CaptainVere, John Claggart, chaos, anarchy, Social Contract, Rousseau, reason
Abstract The paper examines how Vered Amit-Talai's article "The Waltz of Sociability: Intimacy, Dislocation and Friendship in a Quebec High School" takes an innovative look at adolescent friendships. The paper describes how Amit-Talai successfully takes issue with many of the commonly touted assumptions held by anthropologists as to the nature of friendship. The paper is of the opinion that this is a well-researched and thought-provoking article, which deconstructs some widely held beliefs and points the way towards further research.
From the Paper "Amit-Talai prefaces her discussion of her observations of these students by telling the reader what her aims are. She wants to deconstruct the perception that adolescence and friendship are tautologous, by examining four features that are commonly assumed to be part of friendship. These are that "true friendships are private, free-floating relationships;" that adolescents have plenty of time on their hands for friendship; that friendship in adolescence has a particularly intimate nature; and that adolescent friendships are "necessarily transient as a function of life cycle changes" (Amit-Talai 236)."
Tags: transience, time, disjunction, compression, relationships
This paper compares the character Captain Kurtz from Francis Ford Coppala's film "Apocalypse Now" and the character Mr. Kurtz of Joseph Conrad's book "Heart of Darkness", which inspired the film.
Abstract This paper explains that the mission of Captain Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now" was embarked upon because a supposedly good government led him to the jungle, rather than an avowedly rapacious company as in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", making 'the horror' of what occurs even sharper to the viewer as well as to the captain. It points out that Captain Kurtz thus seems more sympathetic in the film, as opposed to the novel's Mr. Kurtz. The author shows how the movie scene, with the grotesquely deployed human body parts, highlights the inability of the native population, whom Kurtz has been sent to help, to understand the Americans; in contrast, the heads upon the poles by Conrad's Mr. Kurtz merely stresses the dark brutality of the African continent and Kurtz's willingness to make use of native techniques of warfare to enact psychological control over his populace. The paper relates that the madness of Marlon Brando's Captain Kurtz becomes a symptom of the madness of the Vietnam war rather than an act or symptom of a supposed leader's private psychological disintegration as in the book.
From the Paper "Marlow finds Mr. Kurtz in an obscure location in the interior. Human heads mounted on poles surround Kurtz. But unlike "Apocalypse Now," which also has a scene featuring human body parts, grotesquely deployed, Captain Kurtz's heads were not won in a hypocritical attempt to improve the populace. Mr. Kurtz used them to establish his domination and control over fearful and cowering natives. In contrast, Coppala's Captain Kurtz, although calcified in his heart, and turned brutal and mad by the events he has witnessed, shows a more compassionate side to Willard when the two men discuss Coppala's even more horrific scene of native, human dismemberment."
Tags: horror, governmet, war, corporation, psychological
