Misplaced Trust: Examination of Assumptions

Misplaced Trust: Examination of Assumptions

Jill Hughes

English 200C
Dr. Shlensky
October 30, 2006

“It’s only in books that the officers of the detective force are superior to the weaknesses of making a mistake” – Sergeant Cuff (Collins 434).


One of the main functions of a mystery novel is to engage the characters and the reader in deciphering who committed the crime (Shlensky 2006). The reader is led to make certain presumptions about the plot, especially in regards to the reliability of specific characters. In “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins, this theme is deliberately questioned and the reader’s deductions challenged by occurrences in the plot. Cuff’s statement during his final appearance about detectives making mistakes in real life (Collins 434) alludes to the oversights made by Cuff himself, the other characters, and the reader, resulting in the questioning of generalizations that each makes.

Throughout the first half of the novel, the narrative seems to be designed to inspire the reader’s faith in the character of Sergeant Cuff. It is repeatedly mentioned that “his eyes… [expect] something more from you than you were aware of yourself” (Collins 96), encouraging the reader to believe that this character has knowledge beyond their own. This deceptive assurance leads the reader to take Cuff’s actions and beliefs as truth. His behaviour around Betteredge, acting as if he always knows something about the theft that Betteredge does not, supports this assumption. This is shown when Cuff says that he “had better not tell” (Collins 115) Betteredge if he thinks Rosanna is connected with the Moonstone’s disappearance. It is also encouraged earlier when he informs Betteredge that if he were in Cuff’s position he would have already “formed an opinion” (Collins 111) about the disappearance. When it is shown that Cuff is wrong in his theories, it sets the entire plot off balance, and damages the constructed faith in the Sergeant.

This initial betrayal causes the reader to hesitate in trusting later characters who take on the detective role. When Rosanna, for instance, accuses Franklin Blake of being the thief because of the paint-smeared nightgown (Collins 316) or when Rachel Verinder claims that she “saw [Blake] take the diamond with [her] own eyes,” (Collin 340) the reader may still doubt their evidence. These accusations are later proved to be correct, but still not completely without fault, as Blake “took the Diamond, in a state of trance, produced by Opium” (Collins 381), and was neither the final nor the true thief. The doubt that was originally cast on the situation is reiterated with these events, leaving the reader with little indication of who the true culprit might be. Even in the end when Sergeant Cuff once more theorizes about who the thief may be, he does not reveal his theories to the reader, placing the “name [in a] sealed letter” (Collins 434) instead. The reader’s distrust of the Sergeant and the rest of the characters is not dispelled.

It is this doubt on which Collins acts, when Cuff mentions that “only in books… officers of the detective force are superior to the weakness of making a mistake” (Collins 434). It brings the reader’s attention to their own assumptions that have been made. The revelation that each character, in their beliefs and hypotheses, has the ability to be wrong despite evidence, intelligence, and knowledge, causes the reader to examine their own ability to grasp the sequence of events. Cuff, when he hands the letter to Blake, states that he “may be suspecting the wrong person now” (Collins 434). This causes the reader to second guess their final assumptions and shrouds the final scene in mystery.

In “The Moonstone” Collins creates a plot that constantly keeps the reader uncertain; he produces a strong theory from what should be a trustworthy character, Cuff, and then causes this initial character to be proven wrong. Despite Cuff’s own confidence in his ability to decipher the mystery, he ultimately fails, and thus casts doubt on the trustworthiness of many of the other characters that follow. The mistaken assumptions of not only the other characters, but the reader, are shown in a sense of mistrust and suspicion throughout the rest of the story. This may result in the reader examining the reasons for their own faulty theories and misplaced trust in the outcome of the mystery, and the assumptions that lead to those beliefs.

Works Cited

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Shlensky, Lincoln. “Victorian and Edwardian Literature.” English 200C, Lecture. University of Victoria. Victoria, 19 October 2006.