Written by Herman Melville, Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative) describes the story of a sailor named William "Billy" Budd who is exchanged for another sailor to work aboard the warship. HMS Bellipotent. Billy is portrayed as the handsome sailor and his innocence is revealed through his actions. However, his innocence leads to his ignorance when he is suspected of being part of a mutiny by his rival John Claggart, who is the master-at-arms aboard the ship. Claggart reveals his accusations to Captain Edward Fairfax Vere. Unable to defend himself with words, Budd hits Claggart in the head and kills him. Captain Vere and the Drummer Court, the First Mate, the Marine Captain and the Sailing Master then decide Billy's fate. Even though they recognize Billy's innocence, Captain Vere and the court decide that he should be hanged for his actions. Billy Budd, Sailor ends with the hanging of the Handsome Sailor and ends with a ballad called "Billy in the Darbies". During the 1840s, Melville was a deckhand on several merchant ships and whaling ships. Subsequently, he wrote several novels including his novel The Whale, later renamed Moby Dick. After writing the novel Peter and several short stories and poems, Melville's fame as a writer diminished considerably and he began working at the New York Customs House in the 1860s. After retiring from his Working at the New York Customs House, Melville began writing his poem “Billy in the Darbies,” using his experience as a sailor to found his foundation. When Melville read an article entitled "The Mutiny of Sumers", which condemned three sailors for mutiny, one of the officers who convicted them being his cousin, he decided to expand his poem into longer prose to reveal the he inside story of... ... middle of paper ...... Budd, Claggart went to Captain Vere and accused Budd of being part of a mutiny. Unable to respond due to his “vocal handicap,” Budd punched Claggart in the head and killed him instantly (Melville 61). Captain Vere assembled the drum court and, from the narrator's reflection on the men's point of view, they believed that Budd was "the last man they would have suspected" of mutiny or murder (Melville 67) . Budd admitted that he "did not intend to kill [Claggart]," and Captain Vere declared, "'I believe you, my man'" (Melville 68). However, Captain Vere decided to follow the mutiny law and announce Budd's death sentence by hanging. Illustrating events throughout the novel, the narrator represents the characters' conflicting viewpoints from a third-person perspective. Through this representation, Billy's innocence as well as society's destruction of innocence are revealed..