ipl-logo

The Importance Of Homosexuality In Herman Melville's Billy Budd

1479 Words6 Pages

By using ambiguous language, Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor explains homosexuality and the issues the group had in society. It can be assumed that at least three of the Bellipotent’s crew were homosexual and other members of the crew knew this as well. Through the time period there was constant fear and persecution of homosexuals which led to the crewmen being silent in their justice just as homosexuals were silenced in their prosecutions by others. By using historical aspects, Melville has hidden under everyone’s nose the implications of homosexuality on the ship. Captain Vere is seen as a scholarly figure who keeps to himself until the end of the novella where he is forced into the conflict of a potential mutiny brewing. However, Vere is not all what he seems to be. In 1810, Vere was a name known prominently for the Vere Street Coterie. It was an event where eight men were hanged for sodomy after a raid in a male brothel with several others having been arrested and freed. It can be deduced that Vere’s name is then either a reference to the fear against homosexuals or perhaps he was indeed a homosexual himself as at the end of the novella. Captain Vere dies with Billy’s name being his last utterance, a sign of affection for …show more content…

In a later scene, when Billy and Claggart are speaking alone, Claggart accuses Billy of trying to charm him. Charm in this sense was not to be used as a liking as a family member or friend but an even closer relationship. Claggart did not wish to like Billy as all the other sailors did as Claggart pointed out. It is a constant push and pull scenario with the master-at-arms wishing to commune with Billy and be “charmed” by him but continues to be repulsed by the idea. He is then also seen bullying Billy more as if to punish Billy for the feelings that he had for the foretopman in

Show More
Related

The Wordy Shipmates Chapter Summary

1054 Words | 5 Pages

Eras Book Reporting Form AP English Language and Composition Name: Hadley Cabitto Date: October 26, 2015 Period: 5 Book Title: The Wordy Shipmates Genre: Non-Fiction Original Publication Date: October 7, 2008 Your Edition’s Publication Date: 2008 Author: Sarah Vowell Number of Pages: 250 Brief Summary and Arrangement of the Book: The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell is a telling of the Puritans during the 17th and 18th centuries. She uses witty one liners and immense sarcasm to explain the division between groups of Puritans. She also uses examples from important documents and events to illustrate the contrast in the groups reactions.

Read More

Rum Sodomy And The Lash Chapter Summary

1651 Words | 7 Pages

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash by Hans Turley explores the intersectionality of masculinity, sexuality and identity within the British Royal Navy from 1660 to 1820s. The book sought to explore the connections between sexuality, gender and authority within the historical context of this period. It utilized several pieces of work, including diaries, letters, and popular literature during this time. Further, Turley’s work explores how these cultural forces that shaped sexuality and masculinity throughout the eighteenth century have continued to shape ideas about gender and sexuality following this era and even into society as we now know it. For example, Turley sought to explain that culture within piracy contained hypermasculine ideas which were built

Read More

Comparing The Boys In The Boat And Elie Wiesel's Night

1437 Words | 6 Pages

The troubled mother who was determined to live a normal life. The wise man who dedicated his life to building boats. The young boy who played his life on the violin. And the beloved father who carried on only for the sake of his family. They were all resilient, holding onto their faith, strength, and integrity.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Wordy Shipmates

165 Words | 1 Pages

The Wordy Shipmates is Sarah Vowells humorous version of the Puritan’s journey to America, and the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans people became John Winthrop’s “city upon a hill”. Vowell defines what it really means and what it should mean to be a “puritan nation”; America still views itself as a Puritan nation. She mentions founders of the Massachusetts bay colony to be, John Winthrop, Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, John Cotton and others. Vowell explains how these people’s ideas contributed to the settlement of America.

Read More

Summary Of Villains Of All Nations By Marcus Rediker

1543 Words | 7 Pages

Both pirates are sensitive and driven by emotion and love, as Rediker characterizes them largely as being capable of being in love on the ship, and being able to genuinely love one partner, not common of their compatriots. Early sailors believed that in order to successfully do the work of a pirate ship, sexual repression was necessary. If this is true, then Read and Bonny are being portrayed as specifically not participating in the gruesome work of handling their prey, which would be an attempt to further segregate the sexes, assuming then-women would never do such a thing. Whereas it is common for pirates to have multiple lovers, prostitute’s, etc., Rediker sheds light on Anne Bonny’s marriage to her husband, whom she followed to the Caribbean and further began dressing as a man to join a band of pirates. Upon being a sea-faring woman, Calico Jack Rackam is described as becoming the object of Bonny’s affections, which is a more romantic, sensitive way of caring for someone, as opposed to how a typical pirate portrays a familial love to their fellow pirates.

Read More

Holden Caulfield Maturity Analysis

585 Words | 3 Pages

Holden “‘[does not] like the idea” of boys doing “crumby stuff” to girls without liking them; such ideas “stink” in Holden’s eyes, but he does not put all of the blame on boys. He says that girls “[are not] too much help, either.” Holden speculates that both sides, male and female, have faults and that there could be improvement. His realizations further bolster his stature on relationships and human tendencies. In conclusion, Holden’s ethos on girls and sexuality tied to them is very unique in comparison to other coequals he encounters in The Catcher in the Rye.

Read More

Examples Of Authority In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

1014 Words | 5 Pages

The men have a party with prostitutes McMurphy is familiar with; they get drunk, take pills, and engage in sexual activities. The morning after, the men face Nurse Ratched, who is targeting Billy Bibbit. She plays on his fear of his mother, she threatens to tell her what he has done. Big Nurse uses her authority and relationship with his mom to put Billy to shame and emasculate him. Big Nurse’s attitude towards Billy causes him to accuse the men of forcing him to engage with the lady.

Read More

Ray Bradbury's Use Of Literary Techniques In The Veldt

553 Words | 3 Pages

People can be good at many things, and sometimes they are the best at those things. I believe that Ray Bradbury, focused on multiple craft moves in The Veldt such as dialogue, personification, and flashbacks to show that he can be one of the best, when it comes to adding craft moves into his writing. He made the writing more interesting and described and showed the moments in different ways. He also used many different craft moves throughout the story, but I think that these three, dialogue, personification, and flashbacks are the most important, and I believe that without these craft moves the story wouldn’t have as big of an impact on the reader as it did with them. Ray Bradbury used dialogue to show how the characters are feeling at that exact moment, and is shown throughout the story to show interactions between characters in that moment in time.

Read More

Examples Of Masculinity In Catcher In The Rye

903 Words | 4 Pages

Holden’s failure to embrace the masculine stereotype is epitomized in his idealized and naive views on romance and sexulaity. When Holden enters the upscale Edmont Hotel and sees a young couple on a date, he remarks, “I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all …. It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes” (Salinger 70). Holden’s belief that a man should not engage in a casual relationship with a woman unless he truly loves her, stands in stark contrast to masculine standards which encourage and congratulate men’s sexual exploits. Holden’s asexual beliefs

Read More

Piety, Courage, And Industry In Early American Literature

167 Words | 1 Pages

The values that early American writers considered most important were piety, courage, and industry. They were highly honored by the large Puritan population, and these values helped them survive the beginning of the colonies. Overtime, however, different values were stressed more than others. For example, in “Of Plymouth Plantation,” written around 1620, Bradford chooses to write about the piety, courage, and industry of all the settlers in his settlement. In 1630, Winthrop gave his sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” and in it he motivates his audience using piety and industry as reasons to succeed.

Read More

Literary Criticisms Surrounding E. L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate

295 Words | 2 Pages

The current literary criticism surrounding E. L. Doctorow’s compendium of literary genius ranges from discussing Doctorow 's ability to mix the historical with fiction resulting in a concoction that reveals truths one might not have previously been able to discern, and to the explication of his works by looking into the growth of the characters in his novels both psychologically and morally and what it might mean on a grander scale. In Minako Baba’s “The Young Gangster As a Mythic American Hero: E. L. Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate” he analyzes the novel of Billy Bathgate and examines the character of Billy’s growth over the period of the story. This allows for Baba to argue, that based on the growth, both psychologically and morally of the character,

Read More

Misogyny In Rip Van Winkle And The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

584 Words | 3 Pages

Misogyny is the dislike of, contempt for, or prejudice of women; Washington Irving has been accused of misogyny because of the treatment of women in his stories and their content. Washington Irving was a writer during the 1800’s, and some of his most popular works include “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Within these tales and other works of Irving’s, aspects of misogyny is discernible, though there is debate about whether the author himself was a misogynist. I believe that the misogyny that is shown throughout a select few of Irving’s works is due in part to the time period, not entirely Irving, himself.

Read More

Examples Of Sex In Catcher In The Rye

563 Words | 3 Pages

Holden says, “I’m not kidding, the hotel was lousy with perverts. I was probably the only normal bastard in the whole place- and that isn’t saying much. [...] The trouble was, that kind of junk is sort of fascinating to watch, even if you don’t want it to be” (62). The couple

Read More

Literary Analysis Of Rip Van Winkle

952 Words | 4 Pages

While reviewing the list of masterpieces of the spoken time, on the top of the list we can see the name of “Rip Van Winkle”. This short story combines the abovementioned Gothic features and attracts the reader to see the realities through finding the hidden ideas. Step by step we’ll review the main and key points of the short story, Rip Van Winkle, to clear up some hidden ideas. Other yields of Irving’s pen similar to “Rip Van Winkle” are full of with Gothic elements. As the best examples such as “The Devil and Tom Walker”, “The Spectre Bridegroom” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” etc. are full of mysteries and enigmas.

Read More

The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway Analysis

1138 Words | 5 Pages

The novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, describes the life of some people from the Lost Generation in post-World War I Europe, but mostly in Paris, France and Pamplona, Spain. This novel rotates around Jacob, or Jake, Barnes’, the narrator’s, life; which mostly includes drinking with his friends, Robert Cohn, a Jewish man who is often verbally abused by his “friends”, Ashley Brett, an attractive woman who Jake is in love with, Bill Gorton, a good friend of Jake’s, and a couple others. Their life in dull Paris seems to revolve around spending money and drinking, but when they go to colorful Pamplona, Spain, they have an amazing time during the fun-filled fiesta. Ernest Hemingway uses the “iceberg theory” when he presents Jake Barnes to the reader; he does not directly tell you a lot about Jake, but through Jake’s thoughts and emotions, one can tell that he was injured in the war, he is not a very religious person, he would rather do what he loves, instead of what he must, and he does not like to be honest with himself, despite the fact that he is one of the more honest characters in the novel. Ernest Hemingway does not directly let the reader know that Jake is injured in a special place; he allows the reader to interpret that from Jake’s thoughts and memories.

Read More

More about The Importance Of Homosexuality In Herman Melville's Billy Budd

Related Topics

Open Document