# Billy Budd — Short Fiction character guide > Billy Budd in Short Fiction by Herman Melville. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Billy, William Budd, Baby Budd **First appearance:** 0029-billy-budd-foretopman ## Snapshot A handsome, guileless young foretopman pressed into the Royal Navy, whose innocence and one hidden flaw make him dangerously visible aboard the Indomitable. ## Who they are Billy is the 'Handsome Sailor' of the forecastle, admired by his messmates and instinctively trusted by most officers, yet he carries an occasional stutter that surfaces under strong feeling. When an afterguardsman approaches him with sly insinuations and offered guineas, Billy recoils without understanding the trap being laid. His inability to read malice, combined with his physical beauty and moral simplicity, sets him on a collision course with the ship's darker currents. ## Relationships ### [John Claggart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/john_claggart) _rivalry_ Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation. ### [Captain Amasa Delano](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/captain_amasa_delano) _social_ Billy Budd and Captain Delano share a brief, cordial encounter that highlights Billy's innocence and Delano's pragmatic nature. ### [Captain Amasa Delano](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/captain_amasa_delano) _social_ Billy Budd and Captain Delano share a brief, cordial encounter that highlights Billy's innocence and Delano's pragmatic nature. ### [John Claggart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/john_claggart) _rivalry_ Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation. ### [John Claggart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/john_claggart) _rivalry_ Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation. ## In the story ### [Billy Budd, Foretopman 3: What Befell Him in the Year of the Great Mutiny, etc.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/billy-budd-foretopman) The foretopman whose story is set during the Great Mutiny. ### [I: (An Inside Narrative)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/i-an-inside-narrative) Introduced as the 'Handsome Sailor,' a young foretopman impressed onto the Indomitable; described as innocent, cheerful, and a natural peacemaker. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/ii) Described as a young, handsome foretopman with a pure, unsophisticated nature, a foundling of noble descent, and possessing a vocal stutter. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/iii) Arbitrarily enlisted into the Indomitable; the chapter focuses on his individual career. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/v) Mentioned as swinging his hammock aboard the seventy-four, with little outward sign of the recent mutiny affecting the crew. ### [Life in the Foretop](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/viii) Content in the foretop, but disturbed by witnessing a flogging and by petty troubles; seeks advice from the Dansker. ### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/ix) Spills his soup and is playfully tapped by Claggart, remaining unaware of the master-at-arms' true malice. ### [The Enigma of Claggart's Antipathy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/x) The innocent and peaceable Handsome Sailor who is the unwitting object of Claggart's profound and spontaneous antipathy. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xi) Described as having heroic form, a bonfire in his heart, and a nature that never willed malice; his innocent beauty is the object of Claggart's envy. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xii) Billy is approached by a mysterious afterguardsman who tries to recruit him into a mutinous conspiracy. Billy reacts with anger and threatens to throw the man overboard. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xiii) Puzzled and disturbed by the afterguardsman's approach; he tries to smother his unease and partially confides in the Dansker. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xiv) Described as a child-man with simple-mindedness and innocence, unable to suspect Claggart despite the Dansker's warnings. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xv) Billy remains cheerful and popular, unaware of Claggart's growing malice and the suspicious glances from minor officers. ### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xvi) Foretopman accused by Claggart of being a dangerous and covert mutineer; Captain Vere initially thinks highly of him. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xvii) Accused of mutiny by Claggart, struck dumb by the accusation, and kills Claggart with a single blow. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xviii) Arraigned before the drumhead court, he admits striking Claggart but denies mutinous intent, expressing sorrow and explaining he could only answer the false accusation with a blow. ### [Chapter XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xix) Receives the sentence with apparent joy and bravery, possibly embracing Vere in a moment of profound connection. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xx) Lying in irons on the upper gun-deck, awaiting execution; exhibits a serene, childlike acceptance of death. ### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxi) Billy listens politely to the chaplain but does not truly comprehend or embrace the religious teachings; his innocence is highlighted as a quality superior to religion for facing judgment. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxii) Executed at dawn; his final words are 'God bless Captain Vere!' and he ascends without muscular spasm. ### [A Digression](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/a-digression) Subject of the post-execution debate; his body exhibited no spasmodic movement after hanging. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxiii) Executed and buried at sea; his hammock is used as a canvas coffin. ### [Chapter XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxiv) Mentioned in Vere's dying words; the officer who heard them knew Billy's identity and the court's reluctance. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxv) Described in the naval chronicle as the ringleader of an incipient plot and the assassin of Claggart. ### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxvi) The executed foretopman, remembered by the crew as the Handsome Sailor, innocent and incapable of mutiny or murder. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/endnotes) Referenced in endnotes regarding manuscript revisions and the omitted passage about 'innocence and infirmary'. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/billy_budd - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters