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" Paul Scott's The Jewel in the Crown: A Novelist's Philosophy of History and the End of the British Raj "
Kathryn A. Hughes Nedegaard
Iseminger, Gordon
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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803965
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| Doc. No
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TL48775
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| Call number
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1796968893; 10125552
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| Main Entry
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Aryal, Parmeshwor
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| Title & Author
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Paul Scott's The Jewel in the Crown: A Novelist's Philosophy of History and the End of the British Raj\ Kathryn A. Hughes NedegaardIseminger, Gordon
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| College
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The University of North Dakota
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| Date
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2016
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| Degree
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M.A.
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| field of study
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History
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| student score
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2016
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| Page No
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122
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| Note
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Committee members: Broedel, Hans; Mochoruk, James
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| Note
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Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-83624-9
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| Abstract
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ABSTRACT<br>This thesis is a study of Paul Scott’s best-known novel The Jewel in the Crown,<br>published in 1966. Scott noted that much of the research and writing on the British<br>Raj that ended in 1947, lacked an adequate understanding of the union that had<br>endured for more than three centuries. Scott believed too that many interpretations<br>of why the Raj ended relied too heavily on monolithic categories of “us and them”<br>and that they over-emphasized the socio-political and economic influences of<br>empire. He also believed that many scholars of the Raj ignored the love that existed<br>among all the people who lived in India (including Hindu, Muslim, British, and<br>Eurasian) and that, by failing to acknowledge the love, writers deprived their<br>readers of the joy inherent in those memories. Therefore, they were unable to offer<br>satisfactory explanations of why the Raj ended the way it did.<br>With his skill as an author, Scott used his novel to explain his philosophy of<br>history and to discuss the end of the British Raj by including the voices of the<br>individuals who experienced the Raj, those who represented it in all its complexity.<br>He placed his characters in a setting in northern India where they, and not the sociopolitical<br>and economic climate, played center stage. Through their interpersonal<br>exchanges, the characters revealed the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that<br>explained why they acted as they did during this period. The places in which they<br>did so retained their history and influenced the thoughts and behaviors of those<br>who followed, connecting past to present and having an impact on the future.<br>vii<br>Scott used symbols and metaphors to reveal these connections, the two most<br>prominent being the MacGregor House and Bibighar Gardens. Both reflected<br>important aspects of Indo-British history, and they helped to explain the<br>relationship that existed at the end of the Raj. By relating the actions of those who<br>inhabited and visited these places, together with the histories of the places, Scott<br>allowed his readers to experience the past and, thus, to understand, not only how<br>the Raj had ended but, more significantly, why it had ended.<br>Paul Scott not only used his unique philosophy of history to explain why the<br>Raj ended the way it did, but also showed that decency and integrity were the acme<br>of human interaction and that both could be found in all humans, no matter their<br>race or their station in life. In his novel the characters revealed their intentions and<br>character and Scott believed that both were foundational to history because the<br>consequences at the nexus of personal interactions could not be predetermined.<br>They could only be recorded by the places in which they occurred and then<br>remembered by people in the future who frequented these places.<br>Scott was not dogmatic in his approach, but he metaphorically guided his<br>readers through the novel in order to explore, not only what had happened, but also<br>why. By revealing his unique philosophy of history, he succeeded in sharing with<br>his readers the joy of the Indo-British relationship, with all of its love, complexities,<br>and concurrent difficulties.
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| Subject
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History; British and Irish literature
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| Descriptor
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Language, literature and linguistics;Social sciences;British empire;British raj;End of british empire;Historiography of british empire;Paul scott;The jewel in the crown
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| Added Entry
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Iseminger, Gordon
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| Added Entry
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HistoryThe University of North Dakota
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