INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER
A biography
WRITING CORNWALL
a Setting and plot
b Suspense and mystery
c Daphne du Maurier’s rewriting of Cornwall
d Fact versus fancy
DAPHNE DU MAURIER AND GOTHIC IMAGINATION
a Ghosts in Jamaica Inn
b The « uncanny »
c Boundaries of the self
SYMBOLISM AND lMAGERY lN JAMAICA INN
a Animal farm
b Escape
c Treasure island
b/ Suspense and mystery
One of the most obvious characteristics of Jamaica Inn lies in the fact that the author obviously spins out the story and holds back information in order to feed the reader’s interest and to arouse his curiosity. Thus, from the very first chapter of the novel, the reader is in a state of anxious expectancy concerning the outcome of Mary’s situation. Questions such as : What is going to happen next ? Will Mary survive the situation ? or, will she escape Jamaica Inn and return to Helford, and if so, how ? keep on arising in the reader’s mind. The reader’s imagination consequently races ahead of the story, creating possibilities and imagining answers to the numerous questions put by the narrative. The devices likely to arouse suspense derive from the dangerous situations in which the main character of the story is repeatedly involved.
ln the following passage, suspense heightens during Mary’s first real attempt to escape the squalid universe of her uncle’s inn. ln order to avoid being discovered and, having no time to climb the stairs back to her bedroom, she hides behind the door of the parlour :
« Trembling with excitement
and
fear,
she waited
in
the parlour, and she heard the landlord pass across
the hall and climb the stairs to the landing above.
His footsteps came to a halt above her head, outside
the guest-room, and for a second or two he waited,
as though he too listened for some alien sound. » (55)
The reader is anxious because he experiences Mary’s fear of
being discovered. This effect is extended by the point of
view of the narrative. Indeed, the narrative is restricted
to Mary’s point of view, everything is perceived exclusively
through her eyes and ears, and consequently, the reader is
more likely to identify with Mary’s feelings and actions.
Suspense, moreover, is reinforced by the extensive use of
sounds. The reader’s emotional response to the situation is
previously conditioned by the disturbing sounds which emerge
from the darkness. ln this particular scene, « the creaking
of the board » which occurs several times, « the footsteps of
the unknown guest », those of Joss Merlyn, the « loud beating
of [Mary’ s] heart » and the « slow shocking tick of the clock »
interplay to work on Mary’s nerves as well as on the
reader’s.
The use of stressful sounds is not only restricted to short
passages in the novel. The whole novel, in fact, seems to be
under the menace of time, symbolized by the strikes of the
clock which only momentarily cease at Joss Merlyn’s death,
to resound again in the vicarage, before the final climax (233). The endless echo of the passage of time certainly influences the reading of the novel because it gives an infernal rhythm to the story and consequently urges the reader to turn the page.
ln order to emphasize the growing fear experienced both by Mary and by the reader, the writer also makes constant use of words such as « sudden » or « suddenly ». These words surprise the reader and also give a steady rhythm to the narrative. Throughout the novel, many other gripping scenes keep the reader in expectation. For example, other devices combine to increase suspense towards the end of the novel :
« The scraping continued, persuasive and undaunted,
tap… tap… like the drumming of a beak :
tap… tap… like the four fingers of a hand.
There was no other sound in the kitchen except the frightened breathing of Aunt Patience, whose hand crept out across the table to her niece […] Mary swallowed, her throat dry as dust ; whether the thing behind the window was friend or enemy to herself made the suspense more poignant, but in spite of her hopes the thumbing of her heart told her that fear was infectious, as were the beads of perspiration on her uncle’s face. » (178-179)
ln this extract, the writer uses punctuation, consecutive dots, to be precise, to create suspenseful expectation. As a result the mysterious and frightening sound successively associated with « the drumming of a beak », with the fingers of a hand and finally with « the thing », intensely plays on
the reader’s curiosity.
Moreover, the sound is not only described, but is also
imitated with the use of the onomatopeic « tap » so that the
reader’s imagination is intensely stimulated.
Daphne du Maurier’s skill in the creation of suspense also
lies in her ability to withhold information. As clearly
shown in the previous extract, the reader is kept in
suspense until the last moment when the writer finally
decides to reveal the identity hidden behind the enigmatic
sound. « It was Harry the pedlar… » (179).
Compared to the long and descriptive passage which gradually
arouses the reader’s interest, the short sentence delivering
the long-awaited information acts as an unexpected lash on
the reader’s nerves. Several short sentences, built on
exactly the same pattern, which follow passages of intense
suspense in the same way, punctuate the whole novel up to
the very last page. « It was the Vicar of Altarnum » (143) or
« I am the Vicar of Altarnum » (227), for example, appear many
times throughout the story to keep up the suspense and also
to create an intense sense of mystery.
Another obvious characteristic of the plot concerns the
Vicar of Altarnum’s true identity which is not revealed
until the end of the book. The Vicar’s identity is not only
linked with the witholding of information. Indeed, Daphne du
Maurier cleverly introduces clues implicating the apparently
innocent character in order to send the reader off on the
wrong track and to intensify the mystery.
At first convinced by Mary’s suspicions which present Uncle
Joss as the villain of the story, the reader is primarily a
victim of the author’s strategie manipulation. But as the
story progresses towards the dénouement, the reader is given
discreet clues and thus wonders about the Vicar’s true
identity. The stranger in the guest room is the first
disturbing element introduced in the story, for the reader
is deluded by Mary’s suspicions : « Could it have been Jem
Merlyn who had hidden in the empty guest-room that Saturday night ? » (107). Then the Vicar’s strange attitude heightens
the mystery in the story. The impression of mystery is
indeed closely connected with the Vicar’s enigmatic physical
appearance. Mary is therefore extremely disturbed by her
first encounter with the alleged saviour : « They were
strange eyes, transparent like glass, and so pale in colour
that they seemed near to white ; a freak of nature she had
never known before » (87).
It is not only his physical appearance which apparently
seems to belong to another universe, but also the enigma
concerning his origins that set the reader thinking. The
description of the interior of the Vicarage is in keeping
with the Vicar’s strange personality :
« Here it was different. The room in which she was
sitting had the quiet impersonality of a drawing
room visited by night. The furniture, table in the
centre, the pictures on the walls, were without that
look of solid familiarity. » (88)
Different, abnormal, impersonal, unfamiliar, belonging to
another age, are the adjectives and expressions which sum up
the Vicar’s identi ty. Later in the novel, and before the
reader entirely manages to solve the mystery concerning his
identity, the Vicar defines himself as « a freak of nature
and a freak in time » (243).
If the mystery is undoubtedly built up around Mary’s
discovery of the smuggling process, it is largely thanks to
the characters’ possible involvement in suspicious murders
that the reader is likely to wonder who the real murderer is
and why the Vicar is so mysterious. The plot is in fact
carefully organized around possible crimes and murders
committed by possible criminals such as Jem Merlyn or Joss
Merlyn because of their dubious line of descent. For example, Mary is convinced that Jem Merlyn plays a role in
this macabre business :
« The stranger in the bar that night had talked of
murder, and now Jem himself had echoed his words
[ … ] What part Jem Merlyn played in all this was
hard to say, but that he was concerned in it
somewhere she did not doubt for a moment. » (108-109)
It is only in chapter seventeen that the reader finally
resolves the enigma linked to the Vicar’s real identity.
As a consequence, Daphne du Maurier’s compelling storyline
skilfully creates a sense of suspense and mystery which
reigns throughout the novel and constantly calls upon the
reader’s logic. However, these elements are inextricably
linked with the narrator of the story. Indeed, the feelings experienced by the reader are also due to the omniscience of
the narrator. The following extract establishes the status
of the narrator which remains constant throughout the whole
novel :
« Jem was silent. The news had evidently come as a
surprise to him, and he was turning it over his
mind. Mary watched him, tortured by doubt and
indecision ; she was thrown back now upon her old
suspicion of him. » (192)
As the narrator is all-knowing, not only does he reveal the
characters’ behaviour (« Jem was silent » ; « Mary watched
him ») but he also takes the reader into the characters’
innermost feelings and thoughts (« turning it over his mind »
« tortured by doubt and indecision »). The characters are
focalized internally and emotional identification is thus
made easier for the reader. The narrator also has the
knowledge of what happens in the past, present and future
and is thus able to manipulate the reader and to create a
feeling of immediacy.
ln Jamaica Inn, suspense, mystery, point of view and
characterization complement each other, as we have tried to
demonstrate, encouraging the reader to get involved in the
story. Yet there is no doubt that any reader could also
suspect the subjective view of the main character and even
refuse to be caught out by this fictional story. However,
behind these elements, quite obvious to detect, lies a very
special atmosphere, which discreetly infuences the reader’s
reactions and makes his involvment almost inevitable. The atmosphere carefully drawn in the background does not, contrary to what one might think, emanate from any Cornwall in existence. Daphne du Maurier’s Cornwall is undoubtedly imaginary and, paradoxically, the main character directly emerging from this atmosphere seems to be more real than imaginary.
A suivre…
Copyright : Ombeline Belkadi (odalavie@wanadoo.fr).