PrefaceThe text's view as gateway to Billy Budd -- The critical heritage -- Acceptance, resistance, and the struggle -- To define Billy Budd -- Brodtkorb: language, mystery and the acceptance of annihilation -- Scorza: Burke, Rousseau and the two narratives of Billy Budd -- Parker: the genetic text and the incompleteness of Billy Budd -- Garner: finding the kernel in the shell -- Wenke: Billy Budd and the pursuit of ambiguity -- The analyses. Billy; Claggart; Vere; The meta-dichotomies; Three dichotomies; "Dreaminess" and the master dichotomy; Winch and the private conscience -- Conclusion -- The moral world of Billy Budd.