She used to have such a bad opinion of Protestants but now she thought they were very nice people, a little quiet and serious, but still very nice people to live with.
The "Church" was used in the previous stories. Here it's the Protestant. It is also notable that as she grew more fond of them her behavior and attitude resembles that of Protestants. But like the Church, it could be a metaphor of superficial sanctity.
“Mamma is mamma but Maria is my proper mother.”
I wonder if these set-ups of Maria acknowledge by everyone (first she was a "veritable" peacemaker than it's the true, "proper" mother) going to backfire as the plot progresses. Given her status and reputation, she might quickly lose her reputation and people might turn their back on her.
Maria was a very, very small person indeed but she had a very long nose and a very long chin.
This is an interesting metaphors of physical characters to Maria's personality. She does small things but she also does her job of "keeping peace" well.
Mrs. Mooney glanced instinctively at the little gilt clock on the mantelpiece as soon as she had become aware through her revery that the bells of George’s Church had stopped ringing.
I think this could be an interesting juxtaposition of the business Mrs. Mooney is running and the supposedly sacrosanct place - Church as well as the bells ringing.
Polly was a slim girl of nineteen; she had light soft hair and a small full mouth.
The description itself suggest something more than a daughter and rather atypical description of one's daughter from adjectives like "soft hair" and "full mouth."
She governed her house cunningly and firmly, knew when to give credit, when to be stern and when to let things pass.
Mrs. Mooney seems like an archetypal strong woman character, who, because of the husband's irresponsibility, had to grow strong, get rid of her emotions, and singularly focused on achieving highest social success.
I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem the more real.
I think this sentence too aptly sums up the theme of this story. He tries to make his interest more "real" but at the base of his emotions uselessness and vanity resides.
The syllables of the word Araby were called to me through the silence in which my soul luxuriated and cast an Eastern enchantment over me.
The word Araby and Eastern (by East I conjecture it refers to Middle East?) definitely has consonant similarities.
The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns.
This type of colorful sentences, albeit in a different mood and purpose, reminds me of "It may have been these constant showers of snuff which gave his ancient priestly garments their green faded look for the red handkerchief, blackened, as it always was, with the snuff-stains of a week, with which he tried to brush away the fallen grains, was quite inefficacious." The sentence structure is rather complex but the structure itself serves as an instrument for heightened imagery.
She said he just looked as if he was asleep, he looked that peaceful and resigned. No one would think he’d make such a beautiful corpse.” “Yes, indeed,” said my aunt.
It's interesting how the characters are saddened and cared if he went peacefully yet all acknowledge that it was unexpected of him to pass away so peacefully. Beautiful and corpse often don't get along, but he looks beautiful only when his life is not there anymore. Perhaps the reason why would be unfolded as the plot advances.
I walked away slowly along the sunny side of the street, reading all the theatrical advertisements in the shopwindows as I went.
Sunny, theatrical aspects are just "alongside" and "passing by." His feelings are ambivalent.
It may have been these constant showers of snuff which gave his ancient priestly garments their green faded look for the red handkerchief, blackened, as it always was, with the snuff-stains of a week, with which he tried to brush away the fallen grains, was quite inefficacious.
The sentence structure is rather complex but it also feels rather beautiful, ridden with olfactory and colorful senses.
No, they were smart, good-looking girls, and Charlotte was a remarkable woman;
All of Neave's family - Harold, Charlotte, and his girls are described as good looking. This is really because they are innately/genetically good-looking or is good appearance a sign of carefree, unrealistic attitude of the entire family except Neave?
Enjoying himself! Old Mr. Neave stopped dead under a group of ancient cabbage palms outside the Government buildings! Enjoying himself! The wind of evening shook the dark leaves to a thin airy cackle.
This is humorously poetic. When the request is just so absurdly unrealistic, Mr. Neave is not mad but can only express his frustration with a dark humor.
And then Charlotte and the girls were always at him to make the whole thing over to Harold, to retire, and to spend his time enjoying himself.
This sentence, albeit rather similar to the theme of Death of a Salesman, is perhaps intended to show how unrealistic their request is and how "dreamy" Neave's family are.
“Ah,” said the fat man, “that’s what it is to be old!”
I believe "old" is a rather blunt term to use in this setting, thereby showing the fat man's slightly ill-mannered aspect. But it could also be interpreted as realistic or even foreshadowing of how Leila too will one day become like the other older people.
Leila put two fingers on Laura’s pink velvet cloak, and they were somehow lifted past the big golden lantern,
I can't help but to notice colorful descriptions like "pink" and "gold." The title is "her first ball" and perhaps colors like gold signify extravagant nature of the setting.
the Sheridan girls and their brother.
It's interesting how Mansfield is pulling characters from other story and uses them in this one. So far the characters were distinct. Perhaps this is an attempt to tell a different, but extended version of Garden Party?
What about fruit? William hovered before a stall just inside the station. What about a melon each? Would they have to share that, too? Or a pineapple, for Pad, and a melon for Johnny? Isabel’s friends could hardly go sneaking up to the nursery at the children’s meal-times.
Fruit as a gift, along with William's scenarios and concerns, feels like a fleeting gift. Fruits cannot stay fresh forever - unlike toys for example. So perhaps this signifies the fleeting sense of happiness embodied as a gift. Still, William does not want others to consume his family's, albeit fleeting, happiness.
Really, if the poor pets have to spend their infant years staring at these horrors, one can imagine them growing up and asking to be taken to the Royal Academy.”
I think there are a lot of sarcastic humors from the onset of the story. It shows the personality of William. He is definitely dissatisfied (even with the kids) but he tries to swallow it or cope with it through dark humor.
“It’s so important,” the new Isabel had explained, “that they should like the right things from the very beginning. It saves so much time later on.
"The new" Isabel seems like a sentence that conveys dissatisfaction with the wife through sarcasm. Usually "new" is something good with improvement, but the narrator/William thinks she has just become so picky.
Dreadfully sweet
This stands contrast to what I just said above - her less overt preference of the sweet chocolate over other non-sweet tea and coffee. Also, dreadfully sweet can be regarded as an oxymoron, perhaps the oxymoron itself signifying the two hardly reconcilable aspects of the daughter.
“Chocolate!”
I think this "Chocolate" shows the remaining innocence of the daughter. She is definitely rude, but innocence could be less about being good or bad but more about being pure (and thus spoiled). The lists of drinks are coffee, tea, China tea - all non-sweet and drinks of adults. The daughter, however, opts for Hennie's request.
blue, blue eyes, and her gold curls pinned up as though for the first time—pinned up to be out of the way for her flight—Mrs. Raddick’s daughter might have just dropped from this radiant heaven.
Repetition of blue as well as reference to "sky" remind the readers of a clear, pure sky. So this blue is somewhat different from other blues employed in other Mansfield's story such as dark blue.
“But whey?” asked Nurse Andrews, beaming through her eyeglasses. “No one, surely, would take more buttah than one wanted—would one?” “Ring, Con,” cried Josephine. She couldn’t trust herself to reply.
This exchange shows the crudeness of Nurse Andrews (weird accents like Whey and Buttah) and Josephine is obviously irritated. But her somewhat harsh temperament is trying to reconcile with the gratefulness that Nurse Andrews took care of her father.
It was awful to think of it not finding anything. What would it do?
It's also notable that the main reason why Constantia is pitying a mouse is because it will not be able to find crumbs. It's already mentioned above. "It was awful to think of it not finding anything" is a repetition and a rather general statement - possibly drawing a parallel to the character's situation.
“But it doesn’t know there aren’t,” said Constantia.
Can this be a foreshawdowing of (possibly) Constantia's position? In other novels, when a character goes extra mile in sympathizing with an animal (or a mouse), it often is foreshadowing of one's position.
big pink flowers, wide open, radiant, almost frighteningly alive on bright crimson stems.
Lilies, as mentioned in other annotations as well, are associated with funeral, innocence. But even if it signifies death, the death here is far from violent, large-scale. The flower lilies gives a calm, contained yet still tragic and perhaps even powerless feeling.
Her whole time was spent in rescuing him, and restoring him, and calming him down
This is a true source of conflict, which I think a lot of people today still sympathize with. Her real source of agony is not confronting evil but having her time (and life) consumed by someone who is loyal and honest. This maximizes the inner conflict.
mania for conversation irritated Stanley beyond words. And it was always the same—always some piffle about a dream he’d had
The endless mention of "dream" has hitherto been considered as a mania. But precisely because of this, it gives a sense to readers that maybe this time the dream will actually be realized.
Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite’s life had two sides to it.
As I have mentioned during the discussion, it reveals the meaning behind "ablewhite" in a very straightforward manner. The color White signifies purity, innocence - especially in light of then European standard. But Godfrey was only able to appear white, until he was found out that he isn't.
heard nothing
This shows a distorted sympathy of Cuff. He goes far to vindicate the servant girl and landlord by repeating "heard nothing" yet still accuses the Indians without any sympathy. This shows the two-sidedness of Cuff - especially reading from today's moral standard.
There is here, moral, if not legal, evidence, that the murder was committed by the Indians.
In line with @sophiey's comment, this line reflects a bigoted view of Cuff. Especially given his profession, he is ought to judge by legal and tangible evidences, but he is dragging a very subjective moral view to denounce Indians.
I have been compelled once more to give up my dose of opium.
Frequent mention of opium in Jennings' narrative somehow reminded me of the Opium War. Although China and India is very different place, characters here seriously lack knowledge to distinguish Asia (and calling it Oriental). So in light of this, perhaps both diamond and opium have Asian elements?
Mr. Franklin Blake.
It's only the beginning of the fourth section but there is already a number of mentions on Franklin Blake. Does Jennings draw a parallel of himself to Blake? It seems as though he is more attached/relating to him than just because of work reasons.
With some interruption from patients, and some interruption from pain,
Juxtaposition of Ezra Jennings as a doctor taking care of patients but also as an addict who as a doctor fully knows the effects and side effects of opium yet still relies on it - or perhaps precisely because he knows it so well he became reliant on it.
My own name. Plainly confronting me–my own name.
This repetition of "name" obviously reveals his shock and the unfolding of the event as he will be suspected, but the "name" also connotes his honor, his dignity - and they are tainted.
We went back to the yard, in which I had left my travelling-bag. After putting a stick through the handle, and swinging the bag over his shoulder, Betteredge appeared to relapse into the bewilderment which my sudden appearance had caused, when I surprised him in the beehive chair.
This is a recurring style of Franklin Blake's narrative. He goes into detail of others move and describes it rather than interprets it for the most of the time, as opposed to Miss Clake for example.
I was wandering in the East,
Totally agree with @jamesjefferies. I too think this is India, and from the cultural depiction of West, India is a place where you really "wander" around and meditate without clear purpose but you gain wisdom from doing so (like Steve Jobs allegedly)
He smiled resignedly, and gave up the name of his client:
Structurally speaking, I like the line breaks of these three lines. It creates a space, a pause for the moment where tensions are resolved. Also, from "without a moment's hesitation" and "resginedly," Mr. Smalley wanted someone to push him so that he can give up the name.
Worse even than that, I took an unwarrantable advantage of my position. “Choose, sir,” I said to Mr. Smalley, “between the risk of losing your client’s business and the risk of losing Mine.” Quite indefensible, I admit–an act of tyranny, and nothing less.
Mr. Bruff's inner conflict is noticeable. He creates a tone of guilt and self-admonishment by using "worse," "unwarrantable," and "tyranny." It also creates an effect of readers sympathizing with Mr. Bruff as he preemptively criticized himself to attain his goal.
said Sir John.
Whenever Mr. Bruff recalls the conversation, he by and large simply writes someone says/asks rather than inserting his own personal observation or opinion as well as keeping it brief. In other words, briefness gives his words a factual sense.
My diary informs me
The repetition of "diary" makes it less informative and objective, in fact. It seems as though the diary is where she vents, but it has actually become more than that. The diary - which is by nature very subjective - seems to have consumed Miss Clack's reality as well.
The latter habit–hitherto mainly useful in helping me to discipline the fallen nature which we all inherit from Adam
This line shows fundamentally pessimistic view of human nature - that we are corruptible and fallible. But it can also be seen as the self-defense mechanism and trying to cope with a sudden tragedy (after "papa was ruined") just like Adam and Eve once lived a happy, distress-free lives.
In that happy bygone time,
It could be seen that Miss Clack is always drawing fondness from the past -almost to a degree of being sarcastic ("indebted to my dear parents", "that happy bygone time") and could be inferred she is definitely in a constantly unhappy mood.
Sergeant Cuff, however, took it a step further, evidently (as you shall now judge) with the purpose of forcing the most painful of all possible explanations to take place between her ladyship and himself.
This is an interesting development, rather than an anticlimax, started from the atonement. The atonement gave Sergeant Cuff a perfect setting and even disarmed him to go over a long lines of excuses (the paragraph above and this one) - which signifies that there is something more to be revealed.
We learn to put our feelings back into ourselves, and to jog on with our duties as patiently as may be.
The tone of the sentence has significantly changed. This sentence ruminates on the harsh reality in a very composed yet downcast manner. The tone of sentences like this has been rather light or exaggerated.
“No boat that ever was built,” he answered, “could have got to her through that.”
I think this will runs counter to the actual conclusion - so reverberating zfhusted's comment that she is still alive. "that" is italicized for a reason and "that" could have been described in a detail "rollers tumbling in on the sand-bank, and to the great waves leaping up in clouds of foam" to underline remarkable survival.
in consequence of your head being too high to see it.
Just a small thing, but this remarks by Superintendent and Sergeant shows that the former is little more nuanced and respectful (regardless of the actual personality) while the latter, albeit trying to maintain composure in front of the Superintendent, had to say something extra.
“Do your duty by yourself–and don’t allow Mr Franklin Blake to help you!”
This sudden outburst shows the frustration of Miss Rachel, not because she doesn't have any clue to retrieve the Diamond but because Franklin (and possibly other third party) would meddle with the issue. So after all, this shows there is more intricacy of relationships than simply finding the lost Diamond.
Instead of making any reply, Miss Rachel went on with her questions, as if he had not spoken, or as if she had not heard him.
One can infer from how someone answers - or not answers. As written above, she addressed herself without introducing - which signifies the urgency of the matter - but pretends not to hear Sergeant's inquiry. It can be thus inferred that the smear on the door could be a useful clue.
Here I should have protested again. But my daughter had got the hair-brush by this time, and the whole strength of her feelings had passed into that.
Again, the repetition of daughter's reaction first through tie and now through hair brush. And since it has been repeated twice, it not only intensifies the moment but also highlights the contrasting reaction (the narrator's inner thoughts vs. the daughter's implicit reaction).
But my daughter happened to be improving the tie of my cravat at that moment, and the whole strength of her feelings found its way into her fingers.
I love how the opinion/reaction of the daughter is expressed in an implicit, metaphorical way of fixing a tie. The strength from her fingers is apparently an intensification from the news.
I say, let Art have them!
We can all sense that this (consumed by Art) is not what the narrator wants, but interesting way of underlining by saying the opposite of one's intention.
It is reported that he means to exchange into another regiment, avowedly for the purpose of separating himself from me.
From the italicized "me," it could give a sense of irony and little bit of sarcasm - especially given the situation of "separating himself from me."
The private difference between my cousin and me took its rise in a great public event
Great Observation by @geneyoo! I also felt like the scales of event gradually increase from private (between two people) --> public --> storming (something even bigger than the public) and therefore fits the word "rise."
The deity breathed the breath of his divinity
The repetition of deity and breathe, albeit in a slightly different form, is interesting. "breathed the breath" and "deity... of this divinity" (ABBA structure) seem like deliberately repeated to set the tone and scale of what would come next?