Colonialism and Morality in The Moonstone and The Man Who...

Colonialism and Morality in The Moonstone and The Man Who Would Be King Let us presuppose to begin with that the cursed jewel is an impossibility and the powers of the Moonstone or any other gem for that matter only exist on an atomic level ( i.e. the energies which bind such objects together and make them what they are). Additionally it should be considered that no such object is the means by which a being exerts powers and no such object consciously exerts powers itself. Notions of the cursed or powerful jewel can be seen as a bi-product of what Said terms â€Å"Orientalism.† Said describes â€Å"The Orient† as â€Å"almost a European invention,† a place of â€Å"exotic beings and remarkable experiences.† (Ashcroft et al ed. p.87) This hypothesis†¦show more content†¦The Moonstone is a narrative device which illuminates the text in multiple ways. Such a device remains popular in western adventure literature and film, whether in the form of an Egyptian scarab or a monkey’s claw. The mystical object with powerful properties is involved in adventure tales from Conan-Doyle through Indiana Jones, even one of the most famous of modern legends the fates of Carter and Caernarfon excavators of Tutankahmun’s tomb involves a curse and shameful Orientalism. Perhaps the best indicator of such notions becoming part of western folklore is when they become utilised as simple metaphor. This is apparent in John Huston’s 1975 film version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King. The desire of the central protagonists; Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravitt to become â€Å"Kings† of an isolated region of the Indian sub-continent is built upon by the abundance of treasures that becomes available to them, an aspect absent from Kipling’s original tale. Huston’s version increases the greed of the t wo adventurers which in turn provides a more satisfying justification of their fates than we receive in the original short story. Whilst admiring giant rubies Huston’s Peachy remarks â€Å"All we need do is fill our pockets and we’d be millionaires.† Dravitt then retorts that if they stayed they would be â€Å"Kings.† Carnahan subsequently