Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is a story about true goodness. It entails the conflict of good and evil, but more than that it portrays innocence in its’ most purest form. Innocence is an exploitable commodity. While this is universally recognized, there are many different ways people confront it. Some people choose to embrace and protect it. While others choose to abuse it and corrupt it. Those who choose the latter are evilplain and simple. By making this choice they are reflecting not upon the innocent, but upon themselves. This reflection is humanity in its darkest configuration. Billy Budd and John Claggart are oppo