Billy Budd is a Goldfinch

After finishing a novel, I always like to reread the first chapter and pick up subtle hints dropped by the narrator which I was previously unaware of. This was harder to do in Billy Budd, but Melville didnt dissapoint. When Billy Budd had just been informed that he was going to be changing ships, he does not protest, " any demur would have been as idle as the protest of a goldfinch popped into a cage" (Melville 45). This quote compares Billy Budd to the goldfinch in different ways. A goldfinch is a very beautiful and appealing animal, just as Billy is. A goldfinch also has a sense of innocene to it as well, which the reader is well aware of Billy's moral integrity also. But it is not the bird that is the only importatnt factor, the quote really gains dept when the bird is paired with the cage. This suggest towards Billy, that his beauty and morals are a fate for him. It demonstates that even with protest and uproar, that does not change his situaton.

Comments

[Jordan Golz]

This defenitely goes hand in hand with fate, but this seems like a different sort of fate than Meursault's fate in "The Stranger." Meursault realizes at the end that he can determine his fate, but the cage metaphor says that no matter what Billy does, his fate is set, and he is caged in for the whole thing. Very intersting.

[Ashley L.]

I agree that the metaphor closely represents Billy. It depicts Billy's sense of idle innocence and his fall was his inevitable fate. And even at the time of his death he died a pure and innocent man.

[Melissa F.]

Interesting discovery. I honestly did not pay very close attention to that sentance while reading it, but now that you've brought it up you can really see how the metaphor plays into the story and Billy's character in general.