she was a young girl; and she looked with quaint affection at the diminutive body which she had so often adorned.
She is often looking to the past and reminiscing. She holds a positive front to all of her peers and superiors, but she is deeply depressed about her life.
Maria had to laugh and say she didn’t want any ring or man either;
Maria lives her life and has her thoughts very confined to social protocal. This is the first thought she has displayed that is negative.
From Ballsbridge to the Pillar, twenty minutes; from the Pillar to Drumcondra, twenty minutes; and twenty minutes to buy the things.
This repetition elongates the journey that Maria is taking. It also places more importance on Belfast as a place in Maria's mind.
it
"It" here must be his mind and subscounscious.
What could he do now but marry her
Both Mr. Doran and Mrs. Mooney are anxious and agitated by the affair, which means a smooth resolution is set to occur. However, we never here Polly's opinion. The lack of knowledge of what Polly thinks foreshadows that there will be a problem with the marriage.
George’s Church had stopped ringing.
I don't know if George's Churchs' bells ringing is a motif, but it is a signal as to if something good or bad is happening. The first time we see the bells is when the Summer day is being described and Mrs. Mooney is having breakfast.
priest, had died
Many of these short stories are about priests and death. Death can mean a lot of things, but a priest dieing carries a spiritual tone throughout the story.
being blind,
This abrupt interjection causes ambiguity in what is blind. The narrator wanting us to know something, whether himself or the street, is blind shows it will be central to the story.
The next morning after breakfast I went down to look at the little house in Great Britain Street.
There is an omninous tone because of the sudden switch between the narrator sitting in bed thinking about "it" and justing going about his day looking at a shop.
With Leo Dillon and a boy named Mahony
Leo Dillon does not sound like an Indian's name, but Mahony does. While this is depicting a colonized school, there is some sort of integration here that one would not associate with being colonized.
IT WAS
There is an emphasis to show that Joe Dillion is either great and wonderful for introducing them to the Wild West or he is to blame some how for introducing them to the Wild West. This phrase could also be emphasized because the narrator is reminicing about old times.
On either side of the carriage porch their hydrangeas—famous in the town—were coming into flower; the pinkish, bluish masses of flower lay like light among the spreading leaves. And somehow, it seemed to old Mr. Neave that the house and the flowers, and even the fresh marks on the drive, were saying, “There is young life here. There are girls—
Like Spring in the beginning, the perfect house with flowers is personified by talking to Mr. Neave. Everything from Spring, Harold, girls, and the now house is a juxtaposition of the old man Mr. Neave.
Why will you be so unreasonable, father? There’s absolutely no need for you to go to the office. It only makes it very awkward for us when people persist in saying how tired you’re looking. Here’s this huge house and garden. Surely you could be happy in—in—appreciating it for a change. Or you could take up some hobby.
Mr. Neave knows how old and tired he is, yet this is the first time it was said out loud. This statement by his daughter shows that Mr. Neave is prideful about his job and is stubborn.
“This is my little country cousin Leila. Be nice to her. Find her partners; she’s under my wing,” said Meg, going up to one girl after another.
This author repeatedly uses the word "heaven" in many of their stories. This idea that Leila is under the narrator's wing further's the idea that the main characters are angels.
Exactly when the ball began Leila would have found it hard to say.
This is an interesting construction of the sentence. I believe this is called passive voice, as opposed to an active voice? Using POS tagging we could see which sentences passive and active, possibly.
He’s sending you back your marriage lines as a gentle reminder.”
While a love letter is thought of as romantic and kind, here it is a gentle nudge of something bad underneath the service. This is shown by the choice of "gentle reminder".
When he looked up again there were fields, and beasts standing for shelter under the dark trees. A wide river, with naked children splashing in the shallows, glided into sight and was gone again. The sky shone pale, and one bird drifted high like a dark fleck in a jewel.
This scene is very descriptive, yet partially up to interpretation. I wonder if we go put this into a computer program and it out puts an accurate drawing based on the description or goes and finds an accurate image off the internet.
Really, if the poor pets have to spend their infant years staring at these horrors, one can imagine them growing up and asking to be taken to the Royal Academy.
Usually fancy toys and a higher class education like the Royal Academy would be sought after and based on the word "new" in front of Isabel they once were. This affair completely changed the direction of the family, but the father and children have not bought into it.
Hennie and I stood on the steps a minute, watching the people. He had a very broad, delighted smile.
It is not clear who "I" is. I is an omniscient narrator because he sees and hears everything, as well as knows the thoughts of the mother in the beginning when she thinks her daughter comes from heaven.
Oh, do come in! I want to make money,
She is characterized as pure, innocent, and young in the first paragraph, but based on her needing money the daughter must be older and from a less wealthy family.
Another thing which complicated matter
While their father is deceased and they have logistical things to figure out, it is unclear what is so "complicated." This statement foreshadows a deeper, bigger complication to come.
But it doesn’t know there aren’t,
Constantia has a funny way of seeing things. It is as if she put herself in the mind of a mouse and looked at their point of view.
indefinite
This is an interesting adjective to describe her shoes. Is it the shoes that are indefinite or the green that is indefinite? Indefinite is meant to be indescribable.
Kitty
Previously, "kitty" was said like a nickname, but here it is a first name. This first name makes this character seem sweet, niave, and taken less seriously by the rest of the characters and by the reader.
But it all seemed blurred, unreal, like a picture in the newspaper.
Making it seem like the picture is from a newpaper allows Laura to distance herself from the reality of the death. This makes it easier to have the party and make her mom and Jose happy.
Also, "it" here refers to the picture of the family and the dead man. I wonder if we could use the NLTK to figure out what "it" means based on the words around it.
You won’t bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental,”
By calling him "drunken", Jose intends to make the death seem less significant or even justified. Yet, saying this softly shows that she is a little conscientious that it is insensitive to degrade the character of a dead man.
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite in view,
What does it mean to keep him in "view"? Keep an eye on him or to inform him?
As to your cousin’s death, then, first.
This is said so casually by Sergeant Cuff. He does not say it as if he is talking about a family member that Franklin lost. Being insensitive makes him seem better at his job as a detective.
I am authorised to tell him that Miss Verinder willingly consents to place her house at our disposal; and, that said, I am desired to add no more.
Since this is in a format of a diary it is weird and unusual that she would not share everything she has been told in her personal diary. Since she is very cautious of what she says, this leads to the conclusion that this is likely not straight from her personal diary.
short a letter as I could have wished.
The fact that she wishes her text could have been shorter shows that she is not as devoted to finding the moonstone as others who write a large amount. She is treating the narrative like an inconvienence.
My last chance was to write to Rachel.
The story of the moonstone and who Rachel will marry are occurring in parallel to each other. They are not explicitly entertwined at the moment, only in the characters that both stories share. I wonder if we could use NLP methods to pick up on two different plots occuring in one novel
one Mrs. Merridew–whom her mother’s executors had requested to act as guardian, and who had accepted the proposal.
Up until now, I don't believe we have learned of Rachel's age. The issue of guardian makes it sound like she is very young. However, put in context it could be that even young adult women need a guardian.
Franklin Blake
It is suprising that he did not write a narrative sooner, considering that he was invested in finding the moonstone from the beginning.
of the more harmless and amiable of the weaknesses incidental to humanity
Buff is note saying Sir John is without weakness, but all of his weaknesses are the usual kind or even pleasant. This sets the scene to justify the lack of instructions in his will as not having ulterior motives.
he whim has seized him to stir up the deplorable scandal of the Moonstone
This shows that Mr. Franklin is now, presumably independently, looking for the moonstone.
we all inherit from Adam
While Betteredge was a Christian he said so directly. Miss Clack seems to integrate Christianity into her casual thoughts and activities. This leads one to believe she is more committed to Christianity as a lifestyle.
I am indebted to my dear parents (both now in heaven) for having had habits of order and regularity instilled into me at a very early age.
Right from the start we are urged to sympathize and empathize with the reader because she is thanking her late parents. By asking for our sympathy we are more likely to believe the rest of the her narrative.
If this man,” said the Sergeant (apparently meaning me), “only understood the growing of roses he would be the most completely perfect character on the face of creation!
Sergeant Cuff has previously said that roses are the opposite of what he does, catch criminals. Sergeant Cuff sees roses as the embodiment of innocence and sees roses as a victim of mishandling. If Betteredge could grow roses he would wipe away his naivety and mean he is less hostile to Sergeant Cuff.
But somehow or other, when I come face to face with the women, my practice (I own) is not conformable.
He recognizes his views of women don't work in the real world, but does not indicate that he wants to change. He is pretty stubborn.
Going into the house to get a light to read it by, Samuel remarked that there seemed a change coming in the weather.
This shows that the Sergeant was right when he predicted a change in weather. The fact that he was right about the weather foreshadows that he will be right about the moonstone.
The Sergeant got on the subject of roses and the merits of grass walks and gravel walks immediately.
This is the third time that the issue of gravel was brought up by the Sergeant. This is a metaphor for something, but I dont know what.
This
The capitalization of this and the italicization of only "his" shows the uniqueness of Sergeant Cuff. This also makes it look like two different words, this and his.
if I can tell them I am going to examine the wardrobes of everybody–from her ladyship downwards–who slept in the house on Wednesday night. It’s a mere formality,
Sergent Cuff has already shown that he will mind the psychology of the servants by suspecting that they will hide their dresses if he searches their rooms. This means he is also aware of the psychological tricks he needs to play to search the Lady's room. It is likely that his main object is to search the Lady's room.
stolen
There is a strong effort by Sergeant Cuff to make a distinction between stolen and lost. These are two distinctly different ideas and cannot be interchanged. It is not clear yet why this distinction is so important.
A fly from the railway drove up as I reached the lodge; and out got a grizzled, elderly man, so miserably lean that he looked as if he had not got an ounce of flesh on his bones in any part of him.
Although Sergeant Cuff is revered by all of England, he is described as sickly and even scary. This juxtaposition of looking villanous, but also being a savior family makes Cuff have a mystery around him.
And that, let me tell you, was becoming a treat of the rarest kind in our household.
This is an abrupt break in the story, indicating that the pony is less benign than it looks. The pony's harness fitting together and understanding each other is a metaphor for the family understanding each other.
But I have never, in all my experience, seen her so strange and so reserved as she is now.
This must be because of the moonstones magical powers. Her reaction could have something to do with why she was given the moonstone in the first place.
Before I could leave the room in my turn, Miss Rachel, always considerate to the old servant who had been in the house when she was born, stopped me
This is the first time we understand that stature of the narrator in the family.
had one defect, which strict impartiality compels me to acknowledge. She was unlike most other girls of her age, in this–that she had ideas of her own, and was stiff-necked enough to set the fashions themselves at defiance, if the fashions didn’t suit her views.
The importance that the narrator puts on this "defect" means that this could be a very important reason why Rachel was given the moonstone. Since this "defect" seperates her from all the other women this would be a logical reason why she was chosen.
sweet-smelling ink
This is described as sweet as if you could drink it, but it is also described as an ink, something you would not drink. This description and the mystery behind the ink indicates that this bottle is magical or mystical.
Question the first: Was the Colonel’s Diamond the object of a conspiracy in India? Question the second: Has the conspiracy followed the Colonel’s Diamond to England? Question the third: Did the Colonel know the conspiracy followed the Diamond; and has he purposely left a legacy of trouble and danger to his sister, through the innocent medium of his sister’s child? that is what I am driving at, Betteredge. Don’t let me frighten you.”
This looks to be the pain problem facing the characters in the plot.
Here follows the substance of what I said, written out entirely for your benefit. Pay attention to it, or you will be all abroad, when we get deeper into the story. Clear your mind of the children, or the dinner, or the new bonnet, or what not. Try if you can’t forget politics, horses, prices in the City, and grievances at the club. I hope you won’t take this freedom on my part amiss;
I wonder if we could use NLP methods to track the change in point of view through the story and what this could tell us about the plot.
plate-basket
Is the plate-basket the moonstone or is it something else monetarily valueable?
It
The "It" must be the Moonstone
Diamond
It is interesting that the Diamond is still capitalized, but no longer called The Moonstone.
I have been to the lawyer’s about some family matters; and, among other things
Talking about the Indian moonstone as a family matter demonstrates the conflict between colonialists and the colonized that is likely to continue throughout the novel.
It is reported that he means to exchange into another regiment, avowedly for the purpose of separating himself from me.
It is not clear why Herncastle is so afraid of the narrator. It is made out to seem that Herncastle did cause plunder and the narrator could reveal that, but the italicization of the word "me" indicates that there is a deeper, more significant reason why Herncastle is afraid of the narrator.
We were each attached to a party sent out by the general’s orders to prevent the plunder and confusion which followed our conquest.
This seems like a coincidence that the narrator and Herncastle were sent with the same purpose at the same time. This coincidence could be a foreshadowing that there will be plunder and confusion following their conquest or that this is a turning point in their relationship.