The Bounty

The story of the mutiny on HMS Bounty in 1789 has become a legend. As such, many accounts of this famous incident have portrayed Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian in black and white terms: the former as a tyrant, the latter fully justified in leading the mutiny against his captain. There is however, ample evidence of Bligh's courage an d compassion and of Christian's strange behaviour and instability. This then, is the basis on which this extraordinary story is told. The two protagonists are not simply as hero and villain, but as imperfect people: Christian a troubled and guilty man, but soft underneath; Bligh an admired and courageous leader, yet at the same time uncertain of himself, hot tempered, foul tongued.