Billy Budd: Perfect Character In Unjust Microcosm An allegory is a symbolic story. Herman Melville's Billy Budd is an example of an allegory. The author uses the protagonist Billy Budd to symbolize a superior being who has a perfect appearance and represents goodness. Melville shows the reader that a superior being can be an innocent victim of evil and eventually destroyed. In, Melville's Billy Budd, the main character is an allegorical figure who symbolizes all goodness in men. Billy Budd's image is symbolic. He symbolizes one who is perfect in appearance. Budd is strong and handsome. He is the center of attention and compared to the "Handsome Sail