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The Discovery of the Truth 6: 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Moonstone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Detective Methods and Genre Standards
Intention, Identity, and Personality
Science and Religion
Gender and Victorian Morality
Class, Wealth, and Nobility
British Imperialism
Summary
Analysis
Mr. Candy’s letter to Franklin Blake includes a returned, unopened letter from Franklin to Ezra Jennings. Candy informs Franklin that Ezra Jennings “died in my arms, at sunrise, on Wednesday last.” Jennings asked Mr. Candy not to tell Franklin that his health was worsening and thanks Franklin for “some happy days.” During the painless final hours of his life, Jennings refused to write to his relatives or reveal any secrets to Candy—he wanted to “die as he had lived, forgotten and unknown.”
Astonishingly, despite his inability to speak or remember things, Mr. Candy can write fluently, which suggests that Ezra Jennings was perfectly right to see a difference between the ability to think clearly and the ability to speak fluidly. Franklin’s final letter to Jennings, a sign of their enduring bond, fittingly remains private to the reader. After a tragic, painful decline, Jennings’s peaceful and painless end suggests that he ultimately did find peace and redemption through his service to Franklin.
Themes
Before his death, Jennings sends Candy to examine his papers, including his diary and a partial manuscript of a book. He removes the section of his diary dealing with Franklin Blake’s laudanum experiment, and asks Candy to send those pages to Franklin. He then says a prayer for Franklin “and those dear to” him, and asks Candy not to write Franklin yet, so as not to “distress him.” Jennings asks Candy to put the rest of his papers and documents into the coffin with his body, and Candy affirms that “the promise has been performed.” And he asks that no tombstone or monument “mark the place of [his] burial.” He wants to “sleep, nameless,” to “rest, unknown.”
Jennings wants to take his secrets to the grave, including the book he was working on for a long while—but he also recognizes his work for and responsibilities to others, and so he sends Franklin the journal that becomes his narrative in The Moonstone. His prayer curiously suggests that religion and science are not necessarily at odds—at least, when the religion is not of Miss Clack’s sort. And although his insistence on dying “unknown” might seem like residual pessimism, it also gestures to the humble and anonymous character of true moral good—something that contrasts sharply with the outward performance of charity Godfrey Ablewhite used to hide his private vices.
Themes
Before his death, Ezra Jennings says the name “Ella” and asks Mr. Candy to kiss his forehead. Moments before his passing, “he lifted his head [and] the sunlight touched his face.” He says, “Peace! peace! peace!” and falls dead on Mr. Candy’s shoulder.
In the moment of his death, Ezra Jennings looks something like a saint, with the sunlight apparently affirming his true inner worth. “Ella” was most likely the love he lost due to his “terrible accusation.”
Themes
Mr. Candy writes that Jennings was “a great man,” although unknown, who confronted “a hard life” with a “sweet temper.” Candy feels lonely and wonders if he should give up medicine. In closing, he congratulates Franklin on his upcoming marriage to Rachel and explains that the pages from Jennings’s journal are preserved at his (Candy’s) house.
In Candy’s closing lines, he affirms the benevolence and strength of character that Jennings never seemed to realize in himself and points directly to the best evidence of that quality: Rachel and Franklin’s successful relationship.
Themes
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