The Effects of Colonialism on Marriage
The plot of the story turns on a classic love triangle. While some critics have tended toward an interpretation of the story as exploring the theme of the treacherous woman, it can hardly be said that the only female in this triangle was herself alone in treachery. The story is far better viewed as an analysis of the effects of colonialism and imperialism on the family dynamic. Had that treacherous woman been enjoying all the rites and rituals of Victorian-era British women back home rather than being exposed to the inevitable boredom and ennui of the colonial lifestyle far away (all other things being equal, of course) the likelihood of her falling for the newcomer would almost certainly have been significantly reduce. Treacherous she may well be, but the only part of the triangle so afflicted? Hardly.
Racism
The closest anyone in this murder mystery ever comes to actually being arrested and charged with a crime is an unnamed “Chinaman” who is immediately set up with suspicion after happening to find an expensive watch merely by happenstance in the jungle. Unfortunately for the Chinaman, that watch is the only evidence that even comes close to identifying the circumstances of the mysterious murder. Fortunately, his story is finally accepted and he avoids the gallows by perhaps the slenderest of luck. Meanwhile, the actual people involved in the murder are allowed to go free because the evidence is circumstantial, a year has passed since the crime and, after all, they are two of the most pleasant people anyone could ever want to meet.
Class Distinction
No class warfare is at issue in the story. A white man—almost certainly working in tandem with a white woman—kills another white man: the husband of the woman. This is not a case of Europeans getting away with killing a native; this is a case of Europeans getting away with killing one of their own. Were the situation somewhat different, however—the Chinaman turns out to have killed the white man or one of the other dark-skinned natives—the question is immediately apparent. Would the maddeningly lackadaisical police chief have been so quick to just let the matter go because the killer was “pleasant.” One has to doubt it very seriously. In the mind of the investigator, the two wealthy, white, European pleasant people are guilty beyond a doubt. But he still doesn’t consider it worth pursuing. Even with class warfare is not a direct issue in the narrative of colonialist literature, it is an omnipresent theme.
