but as stated earlier, with innocence comes ignorance. Billys innocence causes him to have problems with trusting people too much and only seeing the good in them. This creates an atmosphere where Billy can be taken advantage. He is blinded by his own naivety. Innocence does not exist without naivety and one can only be naive with a simple mind. Billy possessed that simplicity in which he preferred not to take a challenge and stay away from difficult situations. His simple mind in nature along with his innocence, balances equally with his ignorance, unlike in normal instances where as one develops, innocence become less,And yet a childs utter innocence is but blank ignorance, and the innocence more or less wanes as intelligence waxes. But in Billy Budd intelligence, such as it was, had advanced while yet his simple-mindedness remained for the most part unaffected. Experience is a teacher indeed; yet Billys years make his experience small. (39)Innocence also comes with more weaknesses, other than those of ignorance and naivetyAmong these was a reluctance, almost an incapacity of plumply saying no to an abrupt proposition not obviously absurd on the face of it, nor obviously unfriendly, nor iniquitous. And being of warm blood, he had not the phlegm tacitly to negative any proposition by unresponsive inaction. Like his sense of fear, his apprehension as to aught outside of the honest and natural was seldom very quick. (34)All things said previously are actions and reactions in which innocence exists not with out, causing Billy to stay pure, in a way, with his ignorance.This tainted innocence of Billys is portrayed through Herman Melvilles use of oxymorons and irony. This technique proves effective in showing that the labels on retains are not true in essence, but have falseness to them. As stated throughout this writing, Billys innocence is tainted, but hes not evil. His innocence is more directed into weakness rather than bei...
