『빌리 버드』 -제국의 위계질서, 그리고 민주적지도력의 가능성
Billy Budd : The Possibility of Democratic Leadership within the Rising Empire’s Hierarchy
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Herman Melville’s Billy Budd examines the possibility of democratic leadership in the increasingly hierarchical and imperial American society at the end of the 19th century. On the surface of the narrative, Melville envisions the grim fate of democratic leadership, as represented by the tragedy of an 18th-century British naval warship, the Bellipotent . Terrified by the prospect of mutiny under the necessity of impressment, military commander Vere and policeman Claggart try to “terrorize” the lower-class citizens on the Bellipotent into “base subjection.” Billy—the symbol of democratic leadership—is therefore ruthlessly consumed to gratify the military leaders’ secretive political ambition and homosexuality. In the subtext, however, Melville subverts this realistic conclusion, first, by describing the innocent boy’s death as a sacred ritual of apotheosis; second, by revealing how powerfully his fellow sailors are affected by this holy scene; and, third, by suggesting that Nelson’s victorious military career relies on the ordinary seamen’s voluntary allegiance to him, whereas Vere’s career fizzles out due to the utter lack of it. By inserting the romantic element of Billy’s apotheosis into his realistically tragic novel, the author thus emphasizes that democratic leadership as shown by Billy and Nelson is the only key to the survival of the rising American empire.
Abstract
Herman Melville’s Billy Budd examines the possibility of democratic leadership in the increasingly hierarchical and imperial American society at the end of the 19th century. On the surface of the narrative, Melville envisions the grim fate of democratic leadership, as represented by the tragedy of an 18th-century British naval warship, the Bellipotent . Terrified by the prospect of mutiny under the necessity of impressment, military commander Vere and policeman Claggart try to “terrorize” the lower-class citizens on the Bellipotent into “base subjection.” Billy—the symbol of democratic leadership—is therefore ruthlessly consumed to gratify the military leaders’ secretive political ambition and homosexuality. In the subtext, however, Melville subverts this realistic conclusion, first, by describing the innocent boy’s death as a sacred ritual of apotheosis; second, by revealing how powerfully his fellow sailors are affected by this holy scene; and, third, by suggesting that Nelson’s victorious military career relies on the ordinary seamen’s voluntary allegiance to him, whereas Vere’s career fizzles out due to the utter lack of it. By inserting the romantic element of Billy’s apotheosis into his realistically tragic novel, the author thus emphasizes that democratic leadership as shown by Billy and Nelson is the only key to the survival of the rising American empire.
참고문헌 (15)
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