This paper discusses the moral implications of Herman Melville's "Billy Bud," a story in which When Billy Wudd unintentionally kills Claggart; he is brought to trial and convicted, with Captain Vere leading the way by encouraging the jurors to make their decision based solely on military law and not on any concern for Billy or sympathy for his position. He insists that this is the only way to apply the law, and once Billy is to be executed, Vere carries this out on the belief that a "greater good" is to be served by the act.
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