Conflict In Of Mice And Men And A Pair Billy Budd

Exploring How Literary Classics Become Infamous Through Themes That Are Driven By Conflict Created By Setting
Every great story has a central theme that gives life and meaning to the piece and is supported by the author’s development of the characters, setting, and conflict. As Ayn Rand put it: “The writer who develops a beautiful style, but has nothing to say, represents a kind of arrested esthetic development; he is like a pianist who acquires a brilliant technique by playing finger-exercises, but never gives a concert.” Without an overarching purpose an author’s words can quickly become meaningless and forgetful. So when looking at the American classics Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and “A Pair

Bellipotent. The main conflict of this novel is one of jealousy and some would argue injustice. The main character Billy Budd is a young sailor who is beautiful, kind and very well liked. It would seem that Billy Budd has no conflict with anyone until John Claggart (the master-at-arms) enters the picture. John Claggart quickly develops a jealousy and hatred for Billy Budd upon his arrival on the ship and decides that he is going to use his authority on the Bellipotent to frame Billy Budd for mutiny. Through a series of events following the accused mutiny Billy Budd accidentally kills the master-at-arms and he is ultimately sent to hang. It is only through the setting at sea which drives the conflict of mutiny and injustice that the author, Herman Melville, is able to establish the theme of the severity and often immorality of the law. The sea provides the perfect setting for this theme because it is isolated and confined. Without the barrier of the ocean it is likely that Billy Budd would or could have had a proper trial on land which may have resulted in a different sentence. Being at sea, the naval ships had to create their own justice system and principles that they would enforce, sometimes out of line with the justice system back on land. Without the confinement of the men it is also likely that the hatred shown by Claggart and the hysteria of Budd’s actions would not have escalated in the way that it did, because Claggart could have escaped Billy Budd or vice versa. The setting of confinement created the ideal atmosphere for both of their irrational actions. It is also important to note the time period in which this story takes place and how that could relate to the conflict. During this time period a number of mutinies were taking place on British ships causing the entire navy to be on edge and sensitive to the threat. The