Use Of Irony In Billy Budd

Irony is a literary figure of speech, oral or written used by writers and speakers to create suspense, contradiction for the readers and audience while they are longing for a different outturn in a piece of work. With irony, the intended purpose of the writer can’t be deduced from the literary meaning of the words, but from the contextual meaning of the whole passage or writing. Hence, irony can be further defined as writer’s choice of words that connotes the opposite of the literary meaning of the words chosen.

Herman Melville, author of “Billy Budd” used vast numbers on irony from the beginning of the play to the end. The predominant irony adopted by Melvin is in the actions and traits of the main characters i.e. Billy Budd, Claggart and

Captain Vere asked Billy about this accusation, but he was surprised. He believed he has a smooth relationship with Claggart not know that the pest destroying the plant lives with it. Billy tried to defend himself, but while trying to explain himself not guilty, he began to stutter he, he lost control of himself and hit Claggart. The surgeon was summoned, and he confirmed the death of Claggart. This was when captain Vere said “Struck dead by an angel of God! Yet the angel must be hang!” The angel of God is a symbolic representation of Billy Budd, an innocent saint man like angels. The second part of the quotation served as the irony of the story. Billy was put to trial, locked away and later sentenced to death. The innocent man dies for the sin he didn’t

The audience didn’t expect a situation where Billy will be killed, and if he was going to die, it was not expected that Claggart will be involved. But he was killed evidence that sometimes, evil prevails over good. Furthermore, the audience didn’t expect a man like captain Vere to make an irrational decision especially when it is about life and death. Melville’s adoption of this type of irony is associated with the fact that in recent centuries, our society has transformed from a just society to an unjust one. We have become a group of people that can’t spot the difference between what is fair and what is not. A representation of this irony in today’s life can be seen when a police officer shoot common unarmed civilian or when the government of a state is found guilty or corruption. We tend to ignore this issue prioritizing others minor and irrelevant issues. This, in a long run will destroy our society beyond what we can comprehend or understanding, because the people, mainly affected are people with good deeds, but hopefully it won’t be late for us to amend our wrong