BILLY BUDD ESSAYNameInstitution Billy Budd is a novel written in 1888 by Herman Melville, and published in 1924 after his death. The novel is about a man known as Billy Bud, who chosen to join a ship known as HMS Bellipotent, and has to leave the one he was in, The Rights of Man (Melville, 1962). The book has the setting of 1797 and most of it is on Billy’s new ship. This paper aims to show that the most fruitful approach to this novel is as a religious allegorical reading.In the novel, Billy can be compared to the Biblical Adam, before he fell. The novel describes Billy as untampered with a flavor similar to berries (Melville, 1962). The author of the novel, Melville, chooses to act as a “creator” since he gives Billy various superhuman characteristics which give him the traits of God’s servants. Due to his peace-making qualities, Billy appears Christ-like. The novel also has religious symbolism when Billy shifts from the ship “Rights of Man” to the Bellipotent; it looks like the ordaining of a minister to become a Bishop. Bellipotent suggests a good ship, since belli- stand for kind and –potent stands for strong.At the time of this novel, wars were raging, which was later known as the Great Mutiny (a period when most sailors rebelled). This explains most of Melville&rs...