This wouldn't have been a problem if Billy Budd wasn't well liked by the team. Every time he saw Billy's love, he was reminded of the loathing he had for himself. An old sailor from the ship also noticed this and warned Billy, saying, "Jimmy Leggs is coming after you." Jimmy Leggs refers to Claggart. An instance that happened in the kitchen only made things worse when Billy spilled the soup he was making and it spilled down the hallway just as Claggart walked by. Claggart didn't openly get angry at Billy for the accident, but he felt like he did it on purpose. As the soup flowed down the hallway, it seemed to symbolize a real line drawn between the two. Claggart's resentment towards Billy made him view him too critically. This is a good reason why Claggart might have thought that Billy was planning a mutiny and would want him destroyed. He was just jealous of Billy's popularity. There are several reasons why John Claggart tries to destroy Billy Budd. We might ask why and find one obvious answer and one less obvious answer, even though we know the real reason for his downfall. It was his innocence. Yes, Billy Budd was innocent of evil, but that innocence is what kept him from seeing evil to destroy it in Claggart. Too much innocence is not always a good thing, but a little innocence helps avoid doing wrong. There is a lot to say about