Analyzing Cultural Erasure and Colonized Voices in Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone

The Moonstone, published in 1868, is a work of Victorian literature that has received little attention but is profoundly important. It sheds a definitive light on colonialism and the theme of othering set in the backdrop of a detective story. This paper discusses and attempts to unravel how the novel engages with the theme of British imperialism and the associated cultural considerations in its simplest form: a diamond is stolen from an Indian temple and brought to England. The Moonstone is a physical item, but its meaning expands to the symbol of the cultural and spiritual plundering requisite for colonial conquest. It prompts thinking around the notions of loss and belonging and the consequences of having imperial power. The novel's multi-narrative approach has been cited as a way of understanding how differing views on the same topic, in this case, colonialism and othering, can be affected by class and race. This argument is significant for understanding the different responses by British people to the curse of the diamond and the muted responses from Indian priests who wanted the diamond back. The article covers the erasure of the voices of the British-colonized Indian subjects and the moral dilemmas posed by the treasure mentioned above. It pursues the very goals Collins was critiquing by restating the divide between the rational West and the mystical East and how they embellish colonial rule. With a postcolonial view, this article explores the themes of guilt, cultural restoration, and displacement embedded in the text.