Solar Materialism in Billy Budd, Sailor

Abstract: This essay builds upon recent discussions of the nonhuman in Melville studies by foregrounding the materiality of the sun and its accompanying meteorological effects as vital nonhuman forces in Billy Budd , Sailor . This reading has three key implications: firstly, that, behind the text’s metaphorical figurations, the sun is embodied within Billy himself, who acts as a conduit for its energies; secondly, through a solar material lens, Billy Budd and John Claggart form a solar assemblage, creating a confederacy with the nonhuman and signaling a non-hierarchical and open ontology. The final section turns to Captain Vere and the questions of judgment that have perpetually been asked of the text in order to posit instead, following Jane Bennett, a “solar judgment” that is sympathetic to and incorporates the nonhuman. As a result of these implications, I argue that Captain Vere, in his hasty decision to execute Billy, disavows and suppresses the vital force of the sun that permeates the Bellipotent , an attempt that ultimately fails. The essay thus affirms the omnipresence and potency of nonhuman forces within Melville’s texts and beyond, advocating for an empathetic and open reading that accounts for such forces, especially those related to the sun.