The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Introduction
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" was Charles Dickens last novel. Unfortunately, by the time Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870 the novel was unfinished. Despite the fact, the story named after Edwin Drood, it focuses a lot on his uncle John Jasper. John Jasper is an opium addict, and a choirmaster who is in love with his nephew’s (Edwin Drood) fiancée Rosa Bud. Rosa bud is also a pupil to John Jasper, which quickly brings forth the conflict in the story. To make the conflict even more intriguing, Neville Landless also falls in love with Rosa Bud instantly, and dislikes Edwin Drood, who later disappears under unexplainable circumstances. These writing seek to establish the tension, the conflict, the mystery, and the murderer in the story.
Tension and conflicts
It is clear that the connection of Edwin Drood to his fiancée brings nothing but tension. Edwin is not as interested with the relationship and is scheming how to see to it end. However, there is fear that by ending the relationship with Rosa he would be disrespecting his parent’s wishes. Despite these, Neville and Jaspers are in love with Rosa and all the reader can see and feel is conflict brewing. Jasper is Edwin’s uncle and a teacher to Rosa, who he has fallen in love with in secret. However, the appearance of Princess Puffer in the story throws Edwin into an even bigger spin. Reason being she say that “Ned” is in great danger this statement throws even more tension into the story since Edwin is Ned. However, when Edwin disappears the tension shifts from Edwin to Jasper, who realizes that Edwin was not interested in Rosa. For some mysterious reason jasper is, anguish stricken by the news that Edwin was leaving Rosa than the news that Edwin was dead. In this story, we see how love for one woman becomes the center of the conflict. The author uses love to spin a tale of jealousy and murder. Edwin and Rosa are continuously in conflict, and held together is the vows their parents made to each other. They both want to quit the relationship, but they don't because of the thought of going against their parents’ wishes. However after deliberations we see the conflict between these two characters come to an end when they decide to amicably end their childhood betrothal. To avoid conflict, Edwin and Rosa decide to ask Mr. Grewgious to inform Jasper they have broken up. However, Jasper, who is Edwin's uncle, is in a conflict of his own. He is in love with Rosa, who is Edwin’s fiancée. He knows the society expects different behavior from an uncle, and thus he is in conflict with himself. However, the love he feels is deeper, than the fear of the conflict. We see Jasper as he plans to deal with the “uncle-nephew” conflict at the same time Edwin and Rosa decide to stop seeing each other. We see him visiting the cathedral crypt where he provides potent wine to Durdles, who loses consciousness after drinking. Mysteriously these happened after Durdles pointed to a heap of quicklime, which the narrator makes certain, were Jaspers main goal. The question that comes forth is why Jasper needs the quick lime knowing that Quicklime was, believed to cause bodies to rot faster. Knowing that Jasper is in love with Rosa the quick lime, he points to him being as a suspect to the death of his nephew. But then again there is Neville, who is smitten by Rosa on sight. He is in love with Rosa. Soon or later he fears his friend Edwin will know of his love to his fiancée. Unfortunately, for him his biggest problem is not Edwin from the reader’s point of view, but Jasper, who is also eying Rosa and promises.
Mystery
The fact that the story never ends makes the story even more mysterious it leaves more questions than answers. The main mystery in the story is who is behind the disappearance of Edwin Drood. What did Princess Puffer know about Jasper? The questions keep coming especially when we know Neville was the last person seen with Edwin after buying a thick walking stick purposed for Christmas hiking. However, we also know that Jasper was acquiring quick lime in pretense. The question of death in the absence of a body is difficult to answer and thus we are left to entertain the possibility Edwin is not dead. These are a real mystery, which drives the story. Neville is accused of murder, but Jasper is also a suspect. The death of Charles Dicken leaves the story unsolved. Another mystery is the question of who will marry Rosa is it Neville. If it's Neville what will happen to jasper who has vowed to hurt him. Will Rosa fall under pressure and marry Jasper to safeguard Neville? What if Rosa finds out that Neville is responsible for Edwin’s death. What if Edwin comes back after being purported dead will him and Rosa changes their minds? All this questions only make each turn in the book mysterious. Each character introduced leaves a trail of questions a good example of this is MR. Datchery a stranger who turns up with no clear explanation of why he is visiting. However, like Princess Puffer who he meets later in the story he seems very interested with Jasper. Perhaps he is a family member to Edwin the question lingers on, and the only clue is his walking he walks like a naval officer. Unfortunately, the story never ends and thus Datchery never comes through completely. What is clear is Datchery is, disguised intentionally and Jasper is his main mission
The Murder
While there is a possibility, that Neville might have killed Edwin. The mounting evidence unmistakably points to John Jasper. These lead me to conclude that Edwin’s Uncle John Jasper is the murderer because he had a motive. First, the book describes John Jasper going secretly with Durdles to graveyard in an odd hour. During their visit, Jasper sees quicklime, which at that time was, used to hasten body decomposition. His action of giving Durdles potent wine and struggling, a boy he perceived to have been spying on them makes this belief of him being a murder even greater. To add to this Princess puffer tells Edwin that “Ned” who she does not know its Edwin is in danger. These follow John Jaspers’s outburst after intoxication. The narrator points out John Jasper as the only one who refers to Edwin as “Ned". Jasper however is, shown to be concerned of the opium, which he suspects to cause users to spark more than they intend. These acts as a forewarning by the narrator that Jasper will be a victim of the same. Before long, Princess Puffer, who has been with Edwin, is suspicious of Jasper, who during intoxication talked about Ned. Lastly, we see Jasper positioning himself in the choir acting out the day to look busy. These are unlike him it is not his norm, but he needs to make sure he is not a suspect and the best lullaby is he was in practice.
Conclusion
Tension and conflict play a huge role in the mystery of Edwin Drood. We see the main characters Edwin and Rosa come through the first conflict only to land in a deeper conflict. Rosa Bud is the backbone of the conflict. Edwin does not want her, but his uncle Jasper does, and so does Neville. These create another conflict between Neville and Jasper, who believes Rosa belongs to him. Unfortunately, Rosa fears him and wants nothing to do with him. The way the conflict is designed magnifies the mystery in the story. More questions arise at every turn the narrator keeps the reader tied in search of the next answer. With the question of who killed Edwin lingering on, alongside the mystery of love and jealousy. Then there is a question of who had killed Edwin and all the evidence seem only to point to at John Jasper.
