"Only the protest of the World"

“They seem to be in conspiracy to persecute you,” she said.” What does it mean?”

“Only the protest of the world, Miss Verinder— on a very small scale— against anything that is new.”- Wilkie Collins- The Moonstone
Page 413

 

I think that we have all had the experience of a quote just hitting us square in the eye. A quote can be found in a newspaper, book, or even a Facebook post! A memorable quote most of the time hits us at an unexpected moment. One moment you are happily and speedily reading through a mystery novel because the suspense is driving you up the wall. Then you read through one little snippet and it causes you to pause. For a minute you just stare at it and think, “Wow…That is some deep stuff right there.” And for hours the quote keeps coming back to your mind and causes you contemplate why it was put in the novel and why it is so important. When Mr. Jennings said, “Only the protest of the world, Miss Verinder— on a very small scale— against anything that is new.” I got this overwhelming feeling that Wilkie Collins incorporated this idea of people being fearful of anything new or different because he felt that way too! The protest of anything that is new is without a doubt a theme throughout this novel that is represented by Gabriel Betteredge.

Betteredge describes Rachael’s personality as, “Unlike most other girls of her age, in this—that she has ideas of her own, and was stiff-necked enough to set the fashions themselves at defiance.” This is considered a fault in his eyes. Later on the novel he says how likes Godfrey better because he settles women down and puts them back in their proper place.  Betteredge loves Franklin but he dislikes how Franklin has characteristics that are not British. Many times he refers to Franklin acting on his Italian, French, or German side.

 

When Ezra Jennings entered the Moonstone I was intrigued. The first words we hear of Mr. Ezra Jennings are from old Betteredge, “The work all falls on his assistant. Not much of it now, except among the poor. They can’t help themselves, you know. They must put up with the man with the piebald hair , and the gypsy complexion…”(pg.320) Betteredge is a good man but in his mind anyone who is not white and holds his ideas and values is not equal to him. Betteredge is not the only one who mistreats Mr. Jennings. Most of the characters are unsure of him when first meeting him. They are frightened of his appearance and inquisitive about his professional opinions.

 

Wilkie Collins novel the Moonstone brought to light how his society protested people and things that were different and new. To us this idea seems backwards in our seemingly accepting society. But I think Collins quote still rings true today. As a whole I think all humans have the tendency to be weary of something new in their lives. We judge whatever the new thing maybe by first impressions and if we can’t find a commonality we declare it as weird or something that doesn’t need to be dealt with. It is interesting to see how we can find commonalities with our society in a mystery novel written in the 19^th century.