Billy Budd, by Herman Melville. Billy Budd is an allegory of good vs. evil, with innocence standing by as the helpless victim. A naive young man is pressed into the service of the British Navy at the very end of the 18th century. He views first hand the cruelty and extreme brutality of the ship sadistic master-at-arms, and accidentally kills him. He is then tried for his murder.

Billy Budd, by Herman Melville. Billy Budd is an allegory of good vs. evil, with innocence standing by as the helpless victim. A naive young man is pressed into the service of the British Navy at the very end of the 18th century. He views first hand the cruelty and extreme brutality of the ship sadistic master-at-arms, and accidentally kills him. He is then tried for his murder.