"The Moonstone will have its vengeance yet on you and yours"

"The Moonstone will have its vengeance yet on you and yours"

In this illustration, the second of three that cover part one of Harper’s printing of The Moonstone, the American editors are keen to represent the aggression of the British Empire, while fostering sympathy for the Indians. We know from the text that Seringapatam has been plundered and desecrated by British soldiers. The image depicts John Herncastle in British military uniform, towering over an Indian, arm raised with dagger in hand, poised to slay his victim. The image gives us full access to the illustrators’ recreation of the scene. We see Herncastle from the front. We are able to witness the impending murder, and even Hernacastle’s emotionless face. It is key to point out that, in the novel, Herncastle is approached by the narrator from behind, and it says nothing about his being poised to strike: the Indian “was sinking at the feet of a man whose back was towards me. The man turned at the instant when I came in, and I saw John Herncastle, with a torch in one hand, a dagger dripping with blood in the other” (Collins 4). This alteration of the novel’s description of this event was a conscious choice meant to emphasize Britain’s imperial aggression. Indeed, as Leverenz points out, “[t]he evocative nature of the images and their prominence necessarily framed readers’ first experience of the novel”(Leverenz 29). It is clear that the American editors made a conscious choice for a deliberate effect.

Archives and Special Collections

Calgary: University of Calgary

Migliarese, Mico

http://livrary.ucalgary.ca/copyright/images

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