Misleading Introductions
Paula Shyba
0530840
Close Reading
Wilkie Collins’ “The Moonstone”
In a novel where descriptions of characters and their interactions with one another are prominent over the actions that take place, it was necessary for Wilkie Collins to spend a great deal of attention on character development. Because the story’s objective is to provide clues through characters insights of each other in order to “solve” the mystery, the impressions that different characters have of each other are extremely important. People in the novel tend to easily judge a person to be good or bad based solely on first impressions, but because the details we are provided about each character are filtered through the narrator’s biases, it is up to us, as readers, to deem who is and who is not to be trusted.
Godfrey Abelwhite and Ezra Jennings, two key characters in Collins’ novel, are initiated into the story with very different opening descriptions. As inhabitants of the social setting that the novel takes place in, the two could not be on further ends of the spectrum. Betteredge’s description of the eligible Godfrey Abelwhite almost exactly opposes Franklin Blake’s depiction of the Jennings. Godfrey’s “beautiful red and white colour” (54) is contrasted with Ezra’s “gipsy-complexion“ (364), and his “head of lovely long flaxen hair” (54) is the other extreme of Ezra’s “extraordinary parti-coloured hair” (364). Descriptions exaggerating the differences between the two characters go much further than appearances; their appeal to the general public also differs greatly. Betteredge, in describing Godfrey Abelwhite’s social role, states, “He loved everybody. And everybody loved him” (55). Ezra Jennings, however, fits poorly into the social populace, being perceived as Franklin Blake as seemingly “unpopular everywhere” (364). Upon examination of only the first impressions of the two characters that are provided by Gabriel Betteredge and Franklin Blake, it might not be unreasonable to label Godfrey Abelwhite as “good” and Ezra Jennings as “evil”. After all, these are the intuitions that the general social environment has of the two.
As the novel progresses and the true natures of both men are gradually revealed, the reader is forced to re-examine the existing judgments that have been placed upon the characters. Franklin Blake is quick to decide that Ezra is a person “in whose delicacy and discretion [he] could trust” (365-6). This makes the reader adopt the same views, but only if they already have assumed the Blake himself is a trustworthy character. Interestingly, Ezra Jennings is an excessive opium user. In most instances, such a heavy addiction to the drug would hinder a person’s credibility, but as the product of an author who was a user himself, Ezra Jennings is actually given more reliability because of parallels drawn between himself and the author. Abelwhite, however, is plainly revealed to be a fraud, leading a double life and attempting to rob the Verinder’s of their heirloom. The man who Betteredge felt has everything going for him ends up being the malevolent, immoral antagonist.
Wilkie Collins goes against conventions by emphasizing the fact that appearances may not always be how they initially seem. Because the reader is so involved in deciphering the clues that are presented throughout the novel, Collins manipulates the facts in order to keep them guessing at the true motives of each character. In the end, the real appeal of the novel is not the reveal of the culprit, but the level of engagement that the reader must adopt in order to work out each fact’s importance and each character’s trustworthiness.
0530840
Close Reading
Wilkie Collins’ “The Moonstone”
In a novel where descriptions of characters and their interactions with one another are prominent over the actions that take place, it was necessary for Wilkie Collins to spend a great deal of attention on character development. Because the story’s objective is to provide clues through characters insights of each other in order to “solve” the mystery, the impressions that different characters have of each other are extremely important. People in the novel tend to easily judge a person to be good or bad based solely on first impressions, but because the details we are provided about each character are filtered through the narrator’s biases, it is up to us, as readers, to deem who is and who is not to be trusted.
Godfrey Abelwhite and Ezra Jennings, two key characters in Collins’ novel, are initiated into the story with very different opening descriptions. As inhabitants of the social setting that the novel takes place in, the two could not be on further ends of the spectrum. Betteredge’s description of the eligible Godfrey Abelwhite almost exactly opposes Franklin Blake’s depiction of the Jennings. Godfrey’s “beautiful red and white colour” (54) is contrasted with Ezra’s “gipsy-complexion“ (364), and his “head of lovely long flaxen hair” (54) is the other extreme of Ezra’s “extraordinary parti-coloured hair” (364). Descriptions exaggerating the differences between the two characters go much further than appearances; their appeal to the general public also differs greatly. Betteredge, in describing Godfrey Abelwhite’s social role, states, “He loved everybody. And everybody loved him” (55). Ezra Jennings, however, fits poorly into the social populace, being perceived as Franklin Blake as seemingly “unpopular everywhere” (364). Upon examination of only the first impressions of the two characters that are provided by Gabriel Betteredge and Franklin Blake, it might not be unreasonable to label Godfrey Abelwhite as “good” and Ezra Jennings as “evil”. After all, these are the intuitions that the general social environment has of the two.
As the novel progresses and the true natures of both men are gradually revealed, the reader is forced to re-examine the existing judgments that have been placed upon the characters. Franklin Blake is quick to decide that Ezra is a person “in whose delicacy and discretion [he] could trust” (365-6). This makes the reader adopt the same views, but only if they already have assumed the Blake himself is a trustworthy character. Interestingly, Ezra Jennings is an excessive opium user. In most instances, such a heavy addiction to the drug would hinder a person’s credibility, but as the product of an author who was a user himself, Ezra Jennings is actually given more reliability because of parallels drawn between himself and the author. Abelwhite, however, is plainly revealed to be a fraud, leading a double life and attempting to rob the Verinder’s of their heirloom. The man who Betteredge felt has everything going for him ends up being the malevolent, immoral antagonist.
Wilkie Collins goes against conventions by emphasizing the fact that appearances may not always be how they initially seem. Because the reader is so involved in deciphering the clues that are presented throughout the novel, Collins manipulates the facts in order to keep them guessing at the true motives of each character. In the end, the real appeal of the novel is not the reveal of the culprit, but the level of engagement that the reader must adopt in order to work out each fact’s importance and each character’s trustworthiness.
posted by Paula at 12:24 AM
1 Comments:
I apologize for the lateness of the post- I had some trouble logging in to blogger. I might need to get some help with it, or try from another computer.
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