Billy Budd was an angel of both life and death. He possessed eyes of justification with which he often saw as flaws of absolute perfection. His ears never did once try to use the mouth to fight back, not even when something disagreeable was uttered. And his spirit was as if he was a slave, who had tried repeatedly to escape, but nevertheless had only found himself with a submissive spirit of acceptance; knowing that he would never beat the chains that bound him. Captain Vern had to weigh what was right for himself, Billy, and the entire crew in sentencing Billy to death.
Natural human instinct puts oneself before even the thought of others. if the captain did not place that rope around Mr. Buds neck, surely the recent sparks of mutiny would
