“I’m coming, I’m coming,” said old Mr. Neave.
It seems like he felt that he was lonely and forgotten right before he was called for dinner, but, to hear that someone was calling for him felt like a sort of a sign of relief or happiness to realize that he is remembered.
No, mother, you spoil father, and it’s not right. You ought to be stricter with him. He’s very naughty
There's a turn of parenting dynamic here; generally, it's the child that is spoiled or acting rowdy, but, in this case, it's the father, which is an interesting change.
Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing
This is a drastic downturn for the emotions running through this story; at first, it was high with naïve and young energy, but, when the much more wise man drags her off the dance floor, then it's quite sad, which I wonder why he ruins her fun.
the fat man
Mansfield uses this term across all of her stories and it makes me wonder if she is using the term kind of like how a movie has a cameo
“I brought them down for the kiddies.”
the diction is quite different from Manfield's other stories. Using "kiddies" is rare for me to see when reading her story. I wonder if Manfield just wants to show that the character that uses these colloquial words to display a sort of childish/playful character.
“Ah, you know!”
William already doesn't want to go home at all and realizing that he doesn't know his wife at all makes this situation worse and it frightens him.
black-and-gold town like a pair of scissors tearing through brocade
they went through the town very smoothly. I believe the black-and-gold town refers to the town having some valuable possession that makes them rich, such as the casino.
(My God!)
I am curious what this means. Is it the facial expression that Cyril made or is it an internal narrator who's made that reaction? I believe it was Cyril's facial expression that has been embedded into text to reveal to the readers.
And now they were going to open the door without knocking even
It's interesting that they put loads of emphasis on this part with the ellipses at the end. It shows how significant it is to open their father's door in the morning without even knocking as it is considered rude and they probably have been lashed out in the past about this.
But what life was she couldn’t explain.
I believe Mansfield left this thought intentionally as it was self explanatory but also leaves room for the reader to interpret on their own if they felt like adding in an element of reasonable surprise.
The green baize door that led to the kitchen regions swung open and shut with a muffled thud. And now there came a long, chuckling absurd sound. It was the heavy piano being moved on its stiff castors. But the air! If you stopped to notice, was the air always like this? Little faint winds were playing chase, in at the tops of the windows, out at the doors.
The author uses personification to describe the surroundings around the protagonist, which gave me the idea in creating some program that analyzes the use of personification within literature and determine how accurate the findings are.
three men; suspected of murder, and described as Indians
these men seem to be the men that have been following the Moonstone and showed up to the Verinder estate and to Rachel's birthday.
and he knows no more of the Moonstone than the babe unborn.
It appears that Mr. Blake and Mr. Bruff had been duped. They didn't seem to have been paying careful attention to the transaction and have mistaken the person as a carrier of the Moonstone. I wonder how they got their detective licenses, if they even have it.
Two o’clock.–
I noticed that Ezra uses these dates and times as a transition or an introduction to the next step into his day. He also uses it as a summary for what happens at that time and then explains some other events that occur at the same time.
“When you see a poor girl in service, do you feel no remorse?”
Lucy seems to have quite the angry and hatred for Franklin being so heartless and Franklin seems to have no interest in this debate and continues his ways, which is an interesting characteristic to have.
My mind is made up, my old friend
Franklin Blake shows no emotion after Betteredge denounces his need to investigate the Moonstone thief and is cool, calm, and collected and is focused on that only goal.
She affectionately reminds Mr. Franklin Blake that she is a Christian, and that it is, therefore, quite impossible for him to offend her.
Miss Clack has a default argument to use Christianity as her protector from common situations and to use it to say that Christianity ensures that she cannot be offended is quite interesting to hear. She uses Christianity as a default solution to her issues and it has helped her on numerous occasions.
On gaining the door, he encountered a gentleman–a perfect stranger to him–who was accidentally leaving the office exactly at the same time as himself.
This encounter seems odd to note because it could be an event to be suspicious of, since, there might be a transaction that occurred or an exchange of secretive words. It's interesting how Miss Clack notes this though.
You will agree with me that the necessary information about persons in the position of Lady Verinder and Mr. Blake, would be perfectly easy information to obtain.
It's important to note that it is perfectly legal for anyone to see the will of any dead person as it's considered a public document. The person requesting the will would just have to pay a fee at a public office.
Indian made me a last bow
It's interesting to see that they bowed so many times to Mr. Bruff and it's worth considering whether they were out of actually out of respect or if its to show that they are trustworthy and they respect the listener, so that they are more likely to trust them.
Little did my poor aunt imagine what a gush of devout thankfulness thrilled through me as she approached the close of her melancholy story.
Miss Clack seems to be a bit too excited that Lady Verinder told her that she's terminally ill, which might mean that she is trying to squeeze her name into her will or she truly is trying to spend more time with her before she passes.
mamma! mamma! mamma!
I would like to see the variations that Rachel uses to call her mother seeing as she uses an informal word momma to call her, but, it's interesting to see whether she changes her name depending on the situation.
what Robinson Crusoe found in his experience on the desert island–namely, “something to comfort yourselves from, and to set in the Description of Good and Evil, on the Credit Side of the Account.”
Throughout the entire First Period, the narrator mentions Robinson Crusoe, showing that it has great significance and impact on them and that it has the answer to all things. It's the one source that should be trusted and any sentence taken from it will provide great wisdom for the reader.
the Shivering Sand
the sand is a constructed phenomenon as it seems like a superstitious magical substance that can reveal one's pasts and lurk beneath the surface.
I beg to congratulate you for the third time!
Mr. Murthwaite presents repetition as he began the last three responses with "I beg to congratulate you...", which sounds sarcastic and doesn't mean to congratulate Mr. Franklin on his acts, but, means the exact opposite.
“We have got three things left, sir–Love, Music, and Salad”
It's fun to see this statement that lightens the mood of the event. Mr. Franklin has many things to consider as the most important and worthwhile and one of them has to be salad, which is interesting.
‘It’
We can create a program that can determine how many times the author decided to use 'The Moonstone' in comparison to 'It' using a title case because that's usually when the author talks about the Moonstone using It and I wonder how that comparison will turn out.
We were not a happy couple, and not a miserable couple.
In these paragraphs, we see that the narrator seems to be thinking deeply about his relationship with his wife, Selina, and I believe that he is unhappy with his current married situation because it seems that they are never on the same page and it makes me wonder what he expects more of out of this relationship.
I beg to inform you that I did what you would probably have done in my place.
I find it interesting how the author pulls the reader into this story. The author is addressing the reader directly and saying to think about how the protagonist must've felt and place themselves in their shoes. Many stories don't call out the reader like this, but it's a unique style that The Moonstone is going for.