Short Fiction · Chapter
Chapter XXIV explained
The narrator reflects on the ragged edges of truth in factual narration, then recounts the fate of Captain Vere after the events of the Great Mutiny.
What happens
The narrator reflects on the ragged edges of truth in factual narration, then recounts the fate of Captain Vere after the events of the Great Mutiny. During an engagement with the French ship Athéiste, Vere is mortally wounded by a musket-ball. He is taken to Gibraltar, where he lingers for days before dying. On his deathbed, under the influence of a drug, he murmurs 'Billy Budd, Billy Budd,' which the attending officer—a member of the drumhead court who was most reluctant to condemn Billy—interprets as not remorseful.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Free Will
Vere's ambition is cut short by a random musket-ball, and his dying words suggest an unresolved fate with Billy.
Justice and Injustice
The drumhead court's reluctant condemnation of Billy haunts Vere, as reflected in his final murmur.
Characters to notice
- Captain the Honourable Edward Fairfax Vere
Mortally wounded in battle with the Athéiste; dies in Gibraltar after murmuring Billy Budd's name.
- Billy Budd
Mentioned in Vere's dying words; the officer who heard them knew Billy's identity and the court's reluctance.
Key passages
“The symmetry of form attainable in pure fiction cannot so readily be achieved in a narration essentially having less to do with fable than with fact.”
A story based on real events cannot be as neatly structured as a purely fictional one.
The narrator acknowledges the messiness of truth-telling in historical narrative.
“Unhappily he was cut off too early for the Nile and Trafalgar.”
Sadly, Vere died before he could participate in the famous naval battles of the Nile and Trafalgar.
Vere's death prevented him from achieving the fame he might have earned.
“Not long before death, while lying under the influence of that magical drug which, soothing the physical frame, mysteriously operates on the subtler element in man, he was heard to murmur words inexplicable to his attendant—'Billy Budd, Billy Budd.'”
Just before dying, under the effect of a painkiller that also affects the mind, Vere whispered 'Billy Budd, Billy Budd,' which puzzled his nurse.
Vere's final words reveal his lingering preoccupation with Billy.