The Jewel in the Crown: Plot
 

The [B][I]main plot[/I][/B] is the story of a rape. An English girl, Daphne Manners, is raped by a gang of half a dozen Indian hooligans in Bibighar Gardens, Mayapore, on 9th August, 1942.

Another event, no less significant from the existing socio-political point of view, occurs almost simultaneously with the rape. Miss Crane, superintendent of mission schools in Mayapore District, is [B][I]manhandled by a gang of rioters[/I][/B] on the road leading from Dibarpore to Mayapore. Her car is burnt down and her companion, Mr. Chaudhuri, an Indian teacher, is thrashed to death.

In time-sequence this event precedes the rape by a couple of hours. Daphne Manners was on duty at the hospital when Miss Crane was brought in.

This event is placed in Part One of the novel with some other relevant details.

The rape is placed in the last part, Part Seven. The five parts in between Part One and Part Seven provide details of the [B][I]socio-political background[/I][/B] as well as a [B][I]multi-source narration[/I][/B] of the events.

Part Two – [B][I]The Macgregor House[/I][/B] – starts with the [B][I]description of the house[/I][/B] where Daphne Manners was living with the owner, a rich Indian lady, Lili Chatterjee. The rest is a long, rambling narration by Lili Chatterjee, supposed to be an interview with the writer. It covers a wide range of themes and events – the tragic end of Miss Crane and some details about Daphne Manners, social gossip about Anglo-Indian relationships and two letters by Daphne Manners to her aunt, Ethel Manners, in Rawalpindi.

Part Three – [B][I]Sister Ludmila[/I][/B] – starts with an [B][I]introduction to the strange white woman[/I][/B], Sister Ludmila, and the Sanctuary, a big old house where she lived, and carried out her acts of charity.

Then in an interview with the writer Sister Ludmila giver her [B][I]version of the events[/I][/B]. She tells how Mr. Merrick had hustled away Hari from the Sanctuary some time before the Bibighar incident, on the day following the night Hari was picked up drunk and brought to Sanctuary. Then she tells the rest of the story – what she knew of Bibighar and the riots and what followed.

In Part Four – [B][I]An Evening at the Club[/I][/B] – the writer introduced by Lili Chatterjee, [B][I]interviews Mr.[/I][/B] [B][I]Srinivasan[/I][/B], a lawyer of Mayapore. The chapter starts with a [B][I]description of Mayapore[/I][/B] by the writer Mr. Srinivasan mostly speaks of Anglo-Indian social life in Mayapore with some allusions to the causes of the end of the Raj, much to the chagrin of Lili who thinks the writer might take offence.

Mr. Srinivasan also acts as [B][I]guide[/I][/B] during the writer’s tour of the city to visit the various places related to the Bibighar affair – the Temple, aunt Shalini’s house where Hari Kumar lived, and finally the Bibighar Gardens.

Part Five – [B][I]Young Kumar[/I][/B] – is a [B][I]patchwork of various details[/I][/B] about Hari Kumar’s family, his arrival in Mayapore, frustrating experiences and some other events. Some of the details of Hari’s life in Mayapore are provided by Sister Ludmila to whom Hari sometimes confined his little secrets. This part also contains some letters that passed between Hari Kumar and his English friend Colin Lindsey.

Part Six – [B][I]Civil and Military[/I][/B] – comprises [B][I]written statements by three of the characters[/I][/B] involved in the tragic law and order situation which surrounded the Bibighar affair. The first statement is Brig. Reid’s account of the military action against rioters in Mayapore on and after 10th August, 1942. The second is Mr. White’s account of the measures taken by Civil Administration in collaboration with the military. The third is Mr. Vidyasagar’s account with a second-hand description of the torture inflicted on Hari Kumar in connection with the Bibighar rape case.

Part Seven – [B][I]The Bibighar Gardens[/I][/B] – opens with [B][I]Daphne Manner’s journal[/I][/B], a detailed written account of her [B][I]love-affair [/I][/B]with Hari Kumar, [B][I]love-making and rape [/I][/B]in the Bibighar Gardens. It is a frank and straightforward confession with no touch of remorse about it.

The journal is followed by an [B][I]Appendix comprising[/I][/B] [B][I]three letters by Daphne Manner’s aunt,[/I][/B] Lady Ethel Manners, written to Lili Chatterjee on various dates after Daphne’s death. These letters pertains to Daphne’s affairs – disposal of her property and trusteeship of her daughter, Parvati.

The novel ends with a [B][I]nostalgic account[/I][/B] of the writer’s departure from Mayapore. He bids farewell to Lili Chatterjee and Parvati. Lili’s driver, Shafi, drives him to the airport. The flight takes off at night. As the plane circles over the town he can see all the lights in Macgregor House turned on as Lili had promised him. He imagines Parvati sitting in her room practicing her music lesson, singing the popular song in which bride calls upon the palanquin-bearers to come and carry he to her husband’s house.

The plot of [B]“The Jewel in the Crown” [/B]may be termed as a [B][I]three-tier plot[/I][/B]. The incident of rape is the [B][I]main plot[/I][/B]. Miss Crane’s incident the [B][I]sub-plot[/I][/B] and the socio-political upheaval sparked off by the Congress is the [B][I]over-plot[/I][/B].

The [B][I]main plot and sub-plot result from the over-plot[/I][/B]. The three plots pivot on the same date, 9th August, 1942. The rape of Daphne Manners and the incident of Miss Crane occur almost simultaneously amid general turmoil caused by the arrest of Congress leaders and activists. Miss Crane’s incident is a direct result of the riots, whereas the rape is the outcome of heat of the moment caused by the riots. Had the socio-political atmosphere been normal, there was little likelihood of these sad incidents. The general tension between the English and the Indians could not have pushed the Indians to these extremes.

The story is a [B][I]charming specimen of patchwork[/I][/B]. The events are [B][I]interwoven [/I][/B]into a beautiful pattern.

The writer makes it all look like a [B][I]product of investigative journalism[/I][/B] – details collected from various sources through various [B][I]media, interviews, letters and autobiographical notes[/I][/B] of various characters, all pieced together by hardly perceptible narration.

To critics interested in modern technicalities the plot offers a [B][I]pretty rich menu[/I][/B].