Imperial Propaganda and The Moonstone. Rnd 2
Imperial Propaganda and The Moonstone
In the opening and closing of the novel, The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, the location is set in British colonial India with the majority of the narrative occurring in England. In the prologue, a precious Jewel is stolen from a temple in India by a middle class English man. Wilkie Collins links the theft of the jewel to violence and in turn associates theft and violence with colonial administration. The Moonstone is accused of containing imperialist propaganda, yet if one looks closely, an alternate reading emerges which conveys disagreement with the imperial frame of mind.
Though Collins characters are stereotyped British colonists, Collins novel criticizes these characters as they speak. Towards the beginning of Moonstone, the character of Gabriel Betteredge states that the inviolability of the English house has been “invaded by a devilish Indian diamond.’ (p67) Yet the prolog clearly points out that it was the invasion of the Indian homeland by the British that resulted in the misplacing of the sacred Jewel. The three Indians charged with recovering the Jewel are also portrayed stereotypically with attributes given to them such as having ‘the patience of cats...the ferocity of tigers’ (p108); both cats and tigers are signs of the Indian culture. In the English culture, worth is estimated in terms of its monetary value, whereas in the Hindu culture the stone is measured only by its spiritual value. The colonial leaders rationalized their actions by reasoning that they were enlightening a culture they saw as inferior. The colonialists were taking control of the Indian markets and spreading Christianity through out the country. Collins used the Jewel to convey his thoughts of imperial British rule. The jewel comes to England and causes distress among all who come into contact with it, yet in India the Jewel is held as sacred and seems to bring peace and calm to everyone. English society can not deal with this jewel without backstabbing, lies and deceit ensuing. Collins seems to be asking what right the British have in viewing themselves as superior to the Indian society.
Collins shows that even the English social order cannot solve the case of the moonstone. Ezra Jennings, the man responsible for cracking the case, is an outcast in the English society. He wasn’t even raised in England but at an unnamed colonial outpost. The fact that a man raised in an English colony such as India was at the time, constructs the final plan for discovering the truth points to the deeper imperial meaning through out the novel. Collins seems to imply that maybe Britain isn’t capable of controlling other nations because it can’t even deal with its own problems. This is demonstrated overall with the problem the moonstone creates and not even British born sergeant Cuff can solve the riddle but a man from a colonial outpost, such as India was at the time, solves the case.
Opium, the drug that causes the problem in the first place, is that of the Asian origin. Collins himself was in a state of heavy opium usage himself during the period when he wrote the Moonstone which is very ironic that an Asian drug was helping the suffering of a British man, so it’s no shock that the drug gets a fair deal of attention in the story. While The Moonstone is primarily a tale of family secrets, religious corruption, and an English society with a central attribute of disregard, the use of colonial markers and the subversion of stereotypes reveal that for Wilkie Collins there was an inherent link between a malfunctioning society and colonial exploitation. Scott Hanley
In the opening and closing of the novel, The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, the location is set in British colonial India with the majority of the narrative occurring in England. In the prologue, a precious Jewel is stolen from a temple in India by a middle class English man. Wilkie Collins links the theft of the jewel to violence and in turn associates theft and violence with colonial administration. The Moonstone is accused of containing imperialist propaganda, yet if one looks closely, an alternate reading emerges which conveys disagreement with the imperial frame of mind.
Though Collins characters are stereotyped British colonists, Collins novel criticizes these characters as they speak. Towards the beginning of Moonstone, the character of Gabriel Betteredge states that the inviolability of the English house has been “invaded by a devilish Indian diamond.’ (p67) Yet the prolog clearly points out that it was the invasion of the Indian homeland by the British that resulted in the misplacing of the sacred Jewel. The three Indians charged with recovering the Jewel are also portrayed stereotypically with attributes given to them such as having ‘the patience of cats...the ferocity of tigers’ (p108); both cats and tigers are signs of the Indian culture. In the English culture, worth is estimated in terms of its monetary value, whereas in the Hindu culture the stone is measured only by its spiritual value. The colonial leaders rationalized their actions by reasoning that they were enlightening a culture they saw as inferior. The colonialists were taking control of the Indian markets and spreading Christianity through out the country. Collins used the Jewel to convey his thoughts of imperial British rule. The jewel comes to England and causes distress among all who come into contact with it, yet in India the Jewel is held as sacred and seems to bring peace and calm to everyone. English society can not deal with this jewel without backstabbing, lies and deceit ensuing. Collins seems to be asking what right the British have in viewing themselves as superior to the Indian society.
Collins shows that even the English social order cannot solve the case of the moonstone. Ezra Jennings, the man responsible for cracking the case, is an outcast in the English society. He wasn’t even raised in England but at an unnamed colonial outpost. The fact that a man raised in an English colony such as India was at the time, constructs the final plan for discovering the truth points to the deeper imperial meaning through out the novel. Collins seems to imply that maybe Britain isn’t capable of controlling other nations because it can’t even deal with its own problems. This is demonstrated overall with the problem the moonstone creates and not even British born sergeant Cuff can solve the riddle but a man from a colonial outpost, such as India was at the time, solves the case.
Opium, the drug that causes the problem in the first place, is that of the Asian origin. Collins himself was in a state of heavy opium usage himself during the period when he wrote the Moonstone which is very ironic that an Asian drug was helping the suffering of a British man, so it’s no shock that the drug gets a fair deal of attention in the story. While The Moonstone is primarily a tale of family secrets, religious corruption, and an English society with a central attribute of disregard, the use of colonial markers and the subversion of stereotypes reveal that for Wilkie Collins there was an inherent link between a malfunctioning society and colonial exploitation. Scott Hanley
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