SOURCE: “Billy Budd: Political Philosophies in a Sea of Thought,” in Arizona Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer, 1970, pp. 164–72.

In the following essay, Kinnamon explores the various political ideas referred to in Billy Budd and assesses their impact on the story.

The ideals embodied in the novel Billy Budd are much like the hidden currents of the sea; under the surface of the printed word the concealed meanings flow.

In exposing one current of thought that moves beneath the water's surface, this perception should not by implication negate the presence and the value of so many others. For amidst the pages of Billy Budd, the political thought and the other currents of thought bring forth a confluence that portrays the essence of life itself. Though this sea of thought is seemingly endless, this vastness need not compel us to deal in general terms, for if man does not perceive what...