# John Claggart — Short Fiction character guide

> John Claggart in Short Fiction by Herman Melville.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Claggart, envy Claggart

**First appearance:** 0029-billy-budd-foretopman

## Snapshot

The Indomitable's master-at-arms, a man of polished manner and secret malice whose fascination with Billy Budd curdles into something like hatred.

## Who they are

Claggart keeps the ship's discipline and its gossip, his messmates serving as convenient ears throughout the crew. He watches Billy with a gaze that shifts from melancholy yearning to a red flash of loathing, a contradiction Billy cannot begin to construe. His too-fair-spoken courtesy and his quiet tampering with other officers' opinions make him the story's engine of insinuation, turning ordinary shipboard life into a field of unseen traps.

## Relationships

### [Billy Budd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/billy_budd)

_rivalry_

Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation.

### [Billy Budd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/billy_budd)

_rivalry_

Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation.

### [Billy Budd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/billy_budd)

_rivalry_

Claggart, the master-at-arms, harbors an irrational hatred for the innocent Billy Budd, leading to a fatal confrontation.

## In the story

### [I: (An Inside Narrative)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/i-an-inside-narrative)

Not directly present in this chapter; mentioned as a figure to be introduced later.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/vii)

Introduced as the master-at-arms; described as a man of about five-and-thirty, with a notable face, small hands, and a mysterious past. Rumors suggest he may have entered the Navy to escape a swindle charge.

### [Life in the Foretop](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/viii)

Referred to as 'Jemmy Legs'; the Dansker indicates he is hostile toward Billy.

### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/ix)

Feigns humor after the spill but reveals his bitterness through a grimace and later strikes a drummer-boy.

### [The Enigma of Claggart's Antipathy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/x)

Revealed as possessing a 'depravity according to nature,' an innate, intellectual, and secretive malignity that is not continuous but evoked by specific objects like Billy Budd.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xi)

Portrayed as intellectually capable of appreciating Billy's moral phenomenon, yet consumed by envy and antipathy; he despairs of attaining innocence and uses Squeak to persecute Billy.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xiii)

Referenced indirectly as 'Jemmy Legs'; the Dansker implies he is behind the afterguardsman's approach.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xiv)

Implied as the source of Billy's troubles, though Billy remains unaware and ascribes pleasant words to him.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xv)

Claggart's hidden monomania intensifies, showing conflicting emotions of soft yearning and fierce hatred toward Billy.

### [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xvi)

Master-at-arms who reports suspicions of mutiny to Captain Vere, specifically accusing Billy Budd.

### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xvii)

Falsely accuses Billy of mutiny, is struck and killed by Billy.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xviii)

The deceased master-at-arms; his false accusation is central to the case, and the court notes the irony that the apparent victim was the true aggressor.

### [Chapter XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xix)

Dead; his body is delivered for burial and committed to the sea with full naval honors.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/xxv)

Portrayed in the chronicle as a respectable, patriotic master-at-arms who was stabbed to death by Budd.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in endnotes concerning manuscript revisions and the 'heretic thought' note.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters/john_claggart
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_28_se/characters