Billy Budd, a 19th century novel written by Herman Melville, involves three main characters: Billy Budd, John Claggart and Captain Vere. Throughout the first nineteen chapters, Melville portrays each character with distinct personality, in which case Billy Budd is represented as the simple-minded sailor, Claggart is viewed as the villain, and Captain Vere is seen as the honorable superior of the ship. However, chapter twenty contradicts or rather morphs the earlier images of these characters. …showed first 75 words of 637 total…

…showed last 75 words of 637 total…Claggart as the villain of the story, Captain Vere as the honorable and superior, and Billy Budd as the simple-minded sailor. Claggart morphed into an image of an alien. The handsome sailor turned out to be a brutal killer. Captain Vere's fatherly trait was taken over by his militarian role. Chapter 20 is no doubt contains the great denounement; the four pages became vital in the story because they uncovered the masks of these three characters.