Moral Shades of Gray in Billy Budd's decisionVere, under the laws of war to which he was subject, was legally justified. To do anything else would be a direct violation of the law, and therefore of the situation in which he found himself. The captain could not follow any pang of conscience he felt, for it was not his position to do so. As Vere says: “But do these buttons we wear attest that our allegiance is to nature? No, to the king. » He and the judges were forced to fulfill their duty, which was to apply the law. As agents of such a law, the morality of the decision was not their choice, since that same law dictated to them what they should choose. The decision ultimately fell to Vere when he gave a speech condemning Billy. “Our responsibility is this: even though this law is ruthless, we adhere to it and apply it.” But that wasn't the only factor to consider. The options they had do not dictate the morality of an act, they are only part of a larger whole. The law is, in itself, morality, because defying it results in chaos. Law was originally created to serve as a means of exercising justice, but the mere fact that it has since, as in the present case, acted in a manner other than upholding such a concept proves that it is a separate entity. to himself. Rather than considering the morality of a decision in the administration of justice, it is now reasonable and necessary to consider the law as a factor in determining the morality of a decision. When the virtue of the decision is determined, then justice, and therefore punishment, can be considered. It is important to understand this notion: the law is no longer a means of carrying......middle of paper......choice, its decision is justified. Justification is as close to virtue as can be expected in this case. Life is not black and white, as moral theories would have it, but simply a complex set of shades of gray. Vere's final choice was all about the reflections of a painting, the end of a process, and the selection from a set of unpleasant colors on a palette of grays. Works cited and consulted: Chase, Richard. Herman Melville: A Critical Study. New York: Hafner Publishing Company, 1971. Melville, Herman. Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories. Ed. Frederick Busch. New York: Penguin, 1986. Richards, Lawrence O. The Bible Reader's Companion. Wheaton: SP Publications, Inc., 1991. Stern, Milton R. The Fine Hammered Steel of Herman Melville. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1968. The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Dallas: Thomas Nelson, Inc..., 1979.