What Hands Can Do

Although many liberties were lost by the children of indigenous peoples that were sent to boarding schools, there was some merit to the whole experience.  Probably one of the most important things these children gained from their assimilation was literacy.  Literacy, while not completely destroying the native tongue, allowed for better communication and defense against white men for future generations of native peoples.  Although the children had a choice to go with the white men, this choice was heavily influenced by factors outside of their control.  Some of these factors include culture, the effects of such a choice on a child’s reputation within their community, and the fact that the white men showed up at their doors to begin with.  Keeping this in mind, what transpires in Billy Budd puts Captain Vere in an equally sticky situation.  The narrator of the story makes it clear that Captain Vere does not want Billy to die, and that he has complete control over the ship.  Still, he lets Billy Budd die.  Like the Native American children, Billy Budd is innocent; his maiming of John Claggart was not a product of his choice.  Clearly some invisible hand was in the room, apart from Budd, Claggart, and Vere.  Throughout the book, Herman Melville gives us a sense of role play within his story; these things had to happen.  All that the officers on board the ship could see was that Claggart was dead and his blood was drawn by Budd’s fist.  Though Captain Vere could have and would have saved Billy, he did not for the sake of the stability of the crew.  It was clear that, while Billy had no animosity towards any of the crew, the crew no longer wanted him around, and thus, Billy had to die.  In connection to the seemingly unfortunate Native American children, perhaps the assimilation had to happen for the greater good.  The fact remains, what is undeniably unjust and perhaps just plain cruel resulted in literacy, a valuable commodity.  Could the white men have brought literacy and new cultural perspectives to the native peoples in an entirely non-destructive manner?  Yes.  But perhaps the gift of literacy was provided not by white hands but rather an invisible one, and the choices that humans use to block its path only change the route it takes in its deliverance.