There is much to be said about innocence. If one is with innocence than one can do no wrong. But that is not all to be said. Innocence is not always a good thing. It could make one naive or blind to certain evils. Like in the case of Billy Budd. Billy was innocent from evil and therefore could not see the evil of John Claggart approaching him, out to destroy him. It is known Billy"s innocence was his down fall by hiding the true evil from his eyes. But why was John Claggart out to destroy Billy?. There are...
He was just jealous of Billy"s popularity.

There are several reasons why John Claggart attempts to destroy Billy Budd. One might ask why and come up with the obvious and not so obvious answer, even though we know the real reason for his downfall. That was his innocence. Yes, Billy Budd was innocent of evil, but that innocence is what made him unable to see the evil out to destroy him in Claggart. Too much innocence is not always a good thing, but a little helps from doing wrong. There is quite a bit to be said about innocence.