Billy's greater authority was British naval law as well as the moral law that all people should obey. Both acted without thinking because of an evil that provoked them.
In this story of the fall of man, there are also many parallels between the serpent and Claggart. Claggart functions as a satanic figure by tempting Billy into committing an evil and working to destroy him throughout the novel. "Like the serpent Claggart is ruled by envy, which in the case of the master-at-arms is directed toward Billy Budd, the fair, outstanding, nearly perfect man-(Padilla 1). Both the serpent and Claggart are also liars. The serpent lies to get Adam to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, which results in Adam's death. Claggart lies to Captain Vere that Billy Budd is conspiring to commit mutiny on board the H.M.S. Bellipotent, which ultimately results in his death. When Claggart falls dead due to Billy's striking him, Captain Vere realizes that the petty officer was killed because of his lying about Billy. "The captain exclaims, It is the divine judgment on Ananias! Look!'-(Padilla 1). Another parallel that is hard to miss is that as the serpent's head will be bruised one day, Claggart ends up dying as the result of a blow to the head. The narrator also makes Claggart's connection to the serpent in Genesis more explicit by comparing Claggart's dead body to the corpse of a snake. Satan is not part of the story of Christ's Passion, and Claggart's temptation of Billy more closely mirrors the serpent's temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden than anything in the Gospels (Watson 1). Like the Serpent, John Claggart represents all that is evil in man.
There are not many similarities between God and Captain Vere regarding the story of man's fall; however he does symbolize God in his decision concerning the fate of Billy. He is the character who must deal with the struggle between good and evil, and must try to act in a non-partisan manner (Burris 1).
