tonga Flashcards
“Holmes had already drawn his revolver, and I whipped out mine”Chapter 10 - Watson’s narrative
imperialism, victorian fear
The descriptions of Tonga are clearly racist and link with the idea that black people are inferior to white people. Tonga is once again characterized as “animal” rather than human. Tonga dies here, having been a prominent part of the novel without once having any of his own input. This means he represents the ultimate “other,” never brought into the close circle of the plot’s development and embodying the fear of the other. His weapon is no match for the more advanced Western pistols, subconsciously echoing the means by which the British Empire was able to extend such a vast network of power across the world (which was also highly dependent on the psychology of Imperialism)
this exchange symbolizes the conflict between Britain and ‘hostile natives in the empire the effectiveness of the revolver against tonga symbolizes Britain’s superior military power. Watson describes the horrible death that passed so close to them when tonga fired his dart. this reflects the victorian fear that people from the colonies posed a threat to the security of the British empire
“unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face, and his strong yellow teeth gnashing”
victorian fear
Thaddeus also had ‘yellow’ teeth but it was not portrayed in such a hellish and problematic way. by using evil imagery ‘unhallowed dwarf with his hideous face’ makes the reader imagine such a vivid distressing image retracting the reader from tonga. making tonga seem like such an unearthly and scary person makes us view all of his actions in a negative light.
the noun ‘dwarf’ heavily relates to the fear of the unknown in the victorian era as ‘dwarf’ connotes something mystical, indicating that tongas’ appearance is so peculiar that it seems almost unreal relating to why they associate them with evil. A modern interpretation of this would be that Tonga is inferior to the dominant white males within the victorian era.
the adjective ‘hiddous’ and ‘unhallowed’ stimulate a semantic feild of iniquity suggesting that Tongas feature within the victorian era would create a sense of fear. the adjective ‘hiddeus’ relates to the conventions of physignomy within the victorain era that meant that ones appearence was determined by the morality of their soul possibly why so much fear was built around them as people of the time assumed that they must be evil. which doyle makes readers do throughout the novel by giving tonga no dialogue only allowing us to vie him in s nrgative light instead of connecting with him
The tone and content of the passage is undeniably racist, portraying Victorian attitudes of the West as superior to “the East.” While the description of the listed actions of the Andaman peoples might have some accuracy—in that there are documented conflicts between them and Westerners attempting to land on the islands—there is no hard proof of cannibalism. The physical descriptions are also clearly prejudiced, implying inferiority and sub-human status. In essence, the entry paints the Andamanese as the precise opposite of the Victorians, setting them up as the “other” to be feared. Tonga is thus positioned to be the purest “evil” in the novella, his blow darts representing his deadly foreignness.
“features so deeply marked with bestiality and cruelty”]
victorian fear
the negative metaphorical phrase reflects the victorian fear towards people outside of the UK. tonga is presented as a violent character as he embodies evil in the novella. Watson’s racist perceptions of tonga make the reader fear tonga’s appearance and immediately makes them align tonga with the evil aspects of the victorian era.
this reflects the victorian prevelant belifs of physignomy. they believed that a mans features determined the morallity of his soul and the features of an outsider matched the descriotion of one who committed immoral deeds. so Tonga is an intentionally paradoxical character. According to Small, there is no one more loyal and faithful than his small friend. However, Tonga is nonetheless a bloodthirsty and brutal character, taking great pride in the murder of Bartholomew.
‘great misshapen head and a shock of tangled, dishevled hair’
victorian fear
This quote comes during the climax of the novella—the boat chase. Holmes, Watson, Jones, and some policemen follow the Aurora ship down the Thames.
Onboard the latter are Jonathan Small (the wooden-legged man) and Tonga, the “savage.” This telling passage encapsulates the racism at the heart of the novella, mapping Tonga’s blackness onto the idea of him as more animal than human.
His physical appearance was intended to frighten Doyle’s Victorian audience, playing into their Eurocentrism and fear of the foreign “other.” Throughout the novella, Tonga, deprived of dialogue, is portrayed as more animal than human. Apparently, he is only acting as Small’s accomplice out of a dog-like loyalty based on Small’s kindness to him during a period of sickness
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Passages like this make for extremely uncomfortable reading for a contemporary reader, though to a degree reflect dominant, Eurocentric attitudes of the time.
