Goodman Misery

This short story depicts the Goodman Misery's conflict with the concept of Death, eventually ending with Goodman Misery triumph over Death, negotiating a deal to live until "all nature is desolation". Harper's Weekly did not casually choose this short story to bookend the novel chapter narrated by a character that is knowingly dying and laments for "oh Merciful death"( Colins, pp 394). Like Ezra Jennings' lamentation states, Death is both merciful and considerate in the short story. Willing to fulfil Goodman Misery's final wish of a pear from his tree, instead Misery is the conman (in moral context) by being deceitful and wrongfully trapping Death in his pear tree. In Ezra Jennings opinion he would mostly agree to the same, he has no guaranteed future, willfully accepting his imminent Death. Still, it is the misery associated with his pain and loss that haunts him, not the idea or fear of death. 

Harper's Weekly appears to be toying with the ideas of death and disability in context with The Moonstone. The narrative of Ezra Jennings foils against the moral of Goodman Misery. Goodman Misery is will to trick death into immortality, in contrast to how Ezra Jennings begs for death with open arms. By juxtaposing the two characters, the significance of Ezra Jennings disability is brought to light, even more, forcing the reader to become associated with the ideas of death, pain and misery in context with the story. Forcing the normalization of disability and illness makes the reader less sympathetic and numb to the shock effect of Collins serialization.

Works Cited: 

Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. July 18th 1868. Pp 430-464

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone, edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 2008.