Billy Budd - Conflict

Conflict is a truly prominent feature existing throughout Herman Melville's novella, "Billy Budd." Although the major conflict exists between Billy Budd and John Claggart, there are several internal conflicts found within certain characters. One of the most prominent internal conflicts is John Claggart's.
One of Claggart's main internal conflicts is his jealous envy of Billy Budd. Billy's overall makeup as a character is everything that Claggart wants to be. Billy is a healthy sailor, large in size, and not afraid of hard work. On the other hand, Claggart is small, with a dark pallid face and a weak chin, and not built for hard work, of which he constantly avoids. The young sailor's personal beauty deeply offends Claggart. Billy Budd is always popular with the crew, whereas Claggart is disliked by the crew members. Billy's goodness and innocence irritates Claggart. When the crew shows great interest in the Handsome Sailor, it reminds Claggart of how much they don't like him. Claggart also dislikes the power that Billy is able to possess. Billy Budd is not only referred to as a cynosure, but he also is able to gain respect from the seamen, by showing he has ability to show strength to other seamen. One incident in the story, Billy knocks out another sailor for insulting him. This incident results in this sailor's love and respect for Billy, along with all the other sailors.
Another internal conflict found within the antagonist, John Claggart, is his difficulty of understanding Billy Budd. Claggart represents everything that is evil in the world, and he doesn't apprehend Billy's innocence. Claggart's background is not quite evident in the story, but it can be suggested that he comes from a criminal background, based on the fact that he came on the ship and was immediately assigned to the least honorable section of the ship. Claggart made it to his position of "master at arms," through what is referred to in the story as an "ingratiating deference to