Who Followed The Captain's Duty

Have you personally ever had to choose between being a friend or doing your duty? Many people believe that Billy was a decent and dandy guy to have as a friend. These people believe that the captain should not have followed the law nor let his friendship cloud his judgment. Since Billy did kill someone, he had to be punished by the captain because it was his duty. Therefore,the captain should have followed the law and not been a friend to Billy for three reasons: The captain had an obligation to his crew, no one can receive special treatment, and the law demanded it from him as a captain. The first of the three reasons why the captain should have followed the law and not allowed his friendship with Billy to blind him was that he had …show more content…
The crew would be pleased to still have Billy with them. Being like a brother to the crew, Billy could make them laugh to break up tension. Furthermore, Billy's hard work had earned him a place with the rest of them. However, the feelings of the men are irrelevant to naval operations, and the Captain was justified in his ruling. In addition, people argue that the Captain should have shown leniency to Billy because the Captain was unaware of the tense relationship between the master-at-arms and Billy. Because he was young, his actions were often misinterpreted by Claggart, who saw Billy's happiness as insubordination. As the alpha male Claggart constantly felt threatened by Billy's charisma. Since killing the master-at-arms was a accident, the captain did not need to enforce the full extent of the law. The faultiness of this reasoning is that if one person were pardoned then everyone else could get away with disobedience. Therefore, neither the crew's opinion nor the captain's lack of awareness of the tense relationship between the master-at-arms and Billy are reasons to disregard the law of the sea. In conclusion, the captain should have followed the law and not have been a friend to Billy. He had an obligation to his crew, no one can receive special treatment, and the law demanded it from him as a