Billy Budd †Foreshadowing Essay

Foreshadowing in which a certain image or event may hint at something that becomes more significant later on in the story.Authors often use different literary devices to grab the readers attention, or to establish derriere for plot development later on in the novel. In Herman Melvilles billy goat Budd, Melville uses the literary device of foreshadowing to allow the audience to be cognisant of Billys inevitable fate before the characters in the novel, thus creating a feeling of suspense within the novel.In chapter one, the incident with the ruby-red render (12) functions as a foreshadowing of Billys confrontation with Claggart. This is very similar to what happens later between John Claggart and Billy (58). Melville uses the incident to show that although Billy Budd is a gentle man, unwilling to quarrel, he can become aggressive if provoked. This makes the later incident more believable, since the reader has already seen Billy behaving in this way. The Red Whiskers is similar to Claggart in a number of significant ways. Like Claggart, the Red Whiskers dislikes Billy, and out of sheer envy he bestirs himself to pick a fight with Billy.Melville begins using foreshadowing early in the novel when he describes Billy Budd as a tall handsome sailor that was well adore by mostly all who knew him. Melville makes Billy seems flawless until he informs the audience using straight, matter of fact sentences that Billy has a speech impediment that exclusively seems to rear its ugly head whenever Billy has something of importance to learn (17). The fact that Billys speech impediment only shows when he has something significant to say helps inform the audience that something of significant importance will happen later on in the novel (57). Billys inability to speak during generation of emotion will mean that later, he can non speak the truth and save himself.Veres nickname is ironic in a second way, although the narrator does not point this irony out explicitly. The cha racter referred to as Starry Vere in the Marvell poem is a severe disciplinarian (24), whereas Captain Vere is anything but harsh or brutal in his conduct. But while the name seems ironicat this point in the story, the passage quoted from the poem provides an important piece of foreshadowing. Vere does indeed chatter an unexpectedly harsh discipline upon Billy, and his commitment to principle is what prompts him to be severe (60).Without the element of foreshadowing within Billy Budd it seems almost incoherent that the events of the novel would ache come together. Melvilles use of foreshadowing allows him to take the audience on an unforgettable journey through the life and troubles of Billy Budd and allows the audience to get a full understanding of the situations leading up to Billys tragic end.