Jamaica Inn door Daphne du Maurier

Jamaica Inn:

1 Main character:

Mary Yellan: she was 23 years old when her mother died and came to Jamaica Inn. She didn’t like her Uncle. She was a strong woman who dared to stand up to her uncle. She loved her Aunt Patience. She stayed at Jamaica Inn because of her Aunt. She was in love with Jem in spite of the fact that he was a Merlyn.

Uncle Joss: he was the landlord of Jamaica Inn. He was a great big man, nearly seven feet high, with a lined face and a dark brown skin. His thick black hair hung down over his eyes and round his ears. He looked like he had the strength of a horse, with large powerful shoulders, long arms that reached almost to his knees, and big hands. His nose was hooked, curving to a mouth that might have been perfect once but now was sunken and fallen, but there was still something fine about his great dark eyes, in spite of the lines around them. The best thing left to him were his teeth, which were all good still and very white, so that when he smiled they showed up clearly against the brown of his face; but he had a cold evil smile. He was a wrecker and had killed several people. His weakness was drinking. Francis Davey killed him.

2 Supporting characters:

Aunt Patience: she wore a cap on her thin grey hair, which hung to her shoulders. Her eyes were large, as though they were continually asking questions, and she had a little habit of moving her mouth, tightening her lips and then relaxing them. She wore an old striped skirt that had once been red and now a pale pink. She looked twenty years older than she was. She knew of Joss’s business and did nothing to stop him. Strictly speaking she was a murderer too: she had killed by her silence and did nothing to stop Joss. Francis Davey killed her too. Mary stayed at the Inn because of her Aunt. Mary loved her.

Jem: he was Joss’s brother. He had heavy eyes, had also a curved mouth and the same shape of his jaw like his elderly brother. He was very rude to Mary in the beginning but fell in love with her later. He was a horse thief who stole someone’s horse, painted it a different colour and sold it on Launceston market. He sold his brother out to Mr Bassat and bettered his life for Mary.

Francis Davey: he was an albino man with white hair and strange eyes, like glass and so pale in colour that they seemed near to white. He wore a black hat. He had an unlined face. Mary had told him the whole story and thought he was her friend but he wasn’t. He was a friend of Joss and a wrecker too. He wanted to kill Mary, but he didn’t succeed. He let her go and was shot and killed by Jem.

3 The time:

The events in Jamaica Inn took place at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

4 the places:

Jamaica Inn, an inn at the top of the moors nears the road. At the Launceston market. At Francis Davey’s house. At Jem’s house at Trewartha Marsh. At the coast with the wreckers.

5 Course of time:

The story was chronological with several flashbacks.

6 perspective:

There were many thoughts but also many conversations. Though I choose the I-form because there were more thoughts than conversations.

7 SUMMARY:

When Mary Yellan’s mother died, she got a letter from her Aunt Patience who asked her to come and live in the inn. So in November Mary left to live with her aunt Patience and her uncle Joss Merlyn. Joss owned Jamaica Inn, which Mary found a lonely place: it stood at the top of a hill and was a strange building with tall chimneys on it.

It was the only building in the area. The inn had a very bad name in the villages Launceston and Bodmin, because they all were afraid of Joss Merlyn. Respectable people didn’t go to Jamaica Inn. Mary had to help in the kitchen and in the house. Sometimes she had to serve. In exchange she got clothes, food and a bedroom.

Joss told Mary about his youth: That there had never been a Merlyn who died peaceful in bed. His father was hanged. He was the oldest of three brothers, who were all born under the shadow of Kilmar: A rock like a devil’s hand sticking up to the sky. If you were born under that rock you’d start drinking. The drinking was like a curse. His brother Matthew was drowned and they would catch and hang his brother Jem in time. He warned her to stay in bed every Saturday, and cover her head with the bedclothes when she would hear wheels and voices in the night.

Mary discovered that none of the bedrooms were occupied; they were all dusty and dirty. One room door was locked, but her Aunt didn’t want to tell Mary much about it.

Strange things happened at Jamaica Inn. Joss mixed with strange people. At Saturday-evenings Mary did what her was told and went to bed. In the middle of the night she woke up and looked out of the window. She saw several coaches with people who were unloading smuggled goods.

After this she didn’t trust her uncle anymore. She heard people laughing at the bar but could not see them. Then she heard Joss talking to someone and heard a cry. Then someone fell to the floor. Two weeks went by and there was no Saturday night like the first one.

One morning Mary met Jem, Joss brother. He was very rude to Mary. He was a horse thief. He lived at the other side of Trewartha Marsh.

One day, when Joss went to the moors, Mr Bassat, whom represented the law came to search the house but did not find anything, not even in the locked room. Mary lied about the Saturday nights, about Jim and about the room with the locked door to protect her Aunt.

A few days later Mary followed Joss, but lost sight on him soon. She met an albino man who took her to his house. His name was Francis Davey and he was the Vicar of Altarnun. Mary told him the whole story, because she thought she could trust him. He brought her back to Jamaica Inn.

Joss was drunk for five days. Mary took a walk on the moors and accidentally saw Jem’s house. He had stolen Mr Bassat’s horse and asked if she would like to join him to sell it on Launceston Market on Christmas Eve.

When Mary arrived at home, the drunken Joss told her about his dreams: dreams, which showed all the man he had ever drowned, let them torn and beaten on the rocks, hanged and rotting in the water, he saw the flesh hanging on their bones.

On Christmas Eve they sold Mr Bassat’s horse to Mrs Bassat with out her knowing it. Jem bought Mary golden rings for her ears and then he kissed her. But the horse was recognised and Jem fled away while Mary was still on the market.

The Vicar of Altarnun was there too. Mary told him that Joss and his men were wreckers: they had murdered woman and children with their own hands. That those were death wagons that travelled the road by night, and the goods they carried were from wrecked ships, bought with the price of blood. That was the reason that the people feared and hated her Uncle Joss.

Francis gave her a lift to Launceston, but they came across Joss. He shot the servant tied Mary up and took her to the coast with him. There he lured a ship onto the rocks and took all the goods from the ship.

The men on the ship drowned. Joss and his men shot two men. Then they went back to Jamaica Inn and made up a plan: they would leave the next night.

Harry the Pedlar, who was also a wrecker and friend of Joss, came to claim his part of the loot, but Joss didn’t give it to him and locked him up.

That evening Jem came to rescue Mary and brought her to Launceston and left her there. He promised to kill his brother for the way he had treated Mary. She crossed through Altarnun but Mr Davey wasn’t at home so she left him a note.

Then she went to North Hill, to Mr Bassat’s house but he also wasn’t home. His wife told Mary that he had left that morning immediately for Launceston to get help.

She went back to Jamaica Inn. She found Joss dead on the floor: the clock had fallen on him and he was killed with a knife. Then finally Mr Bassat came with several men and found her Aunt also killed with a knife on her bed.

They found Harry the Pedlar, who was still in the locked room. Mary thought that Jem must have murdered her Uncle and Aunt, but because she loved him she didn’t tell Mr Bassat.

Then the Francis Davey came, took Mary to his house and told her about Jem: he had told Mr Bassat about the things that Joss did, he was the proof that Mr Bassat had against Joss. Francis was the murderer of Mary’s Aunt and Uncle and he and Joss were partners. He wanted to kill Mary but let her go.

Jem had followed them and shot Francis; he fell from the highest rock and was dead. Jem kissed Mary and she promised to live with him for the rest of her life, because she loved him.

8 title explanation:

Jamaica Inn is an inn, which have a bad name in the villages Bodmin and Launceston, because they were all afraid of Joss, the owner. Joss was a wrecker who stole things and killed the crew from wrecked ships. That’s why they called the book Jamaica Inn.

9 own opinion:

I think it was a nice story, but it was very difficult to read. It was well written and very exciting to read. It wasn’t boring at all. I liked the person Mary, because she had a lot of courage and dared to stand up to her uncle.

10 the best part:

The best part of Jamaica Inn was the last part, where Mary’s Uncle, Aunt and “friend” Francis Davey were killed and Mary went to live with Jem. It’s a happy end.