Introduction

Indian Diamonds 183
reappearance of the Other in the metropolis and thus spell out fears of invasion.
As dead bodies uncannily preserved, they also suggest the confusion of animacy
and inanimacy which is perceived as uncanny (Freud 157). Both are strange objects
which come to life again to invade the familiar space with their colonial presence.
All in all, the perception of the diamonds as uncanny remnant relies on their
association with unacknowledged crime and the revelation of the brittleness of
boundaries between the Other and the Self.
Conclusion
Looking at the diamonds in the texts from many different angles shows that diamonds
as objects of detection are singular in many respects. They combine a
multi-layered imagery with a highly topical interest of the Victorian period. As
Indian objects, the fictional diamonds evoke their real life counterparts which are
themselves the subjects of story and legend. As objects, the fictional diamonds
find numerous parallels in named and unnamed diamonds in collections and trophies
of war, the most important being the Koh-i-Noor. Hence, the diamonds are
not a self-referential ‘MacGuffin’ but open up a large area of colonial objects with
their own stories.
In the discourse of detection, the diamonds appear as criminal as the thieves
themselves. In fact, one of the hallmarks of the diamond narratives is the confusion
surrounding the crime. Thefts depend often entirely on chance or on accidents
while the diamonds themselves are blamed for their ‘poisonous’ influence.
The problem posed by the circulating commodity in England is augmented by the
diamonds as individualised Indian artefacts with a distinct history of their own.
The multiple thefts and owners testify to the uncertainty and fear surrounding the
diamond. The detective’s presence owes to the Otherness of the diamond and the
impossibility of their smooth integration into imperial possession. They individualise
the otherwise anonymous flow of goods through their singular identity and
history, fashioned on existing stones. The diamonds’ socially and economically
disruptive presence is evident in their role as inheritances, a practice that is supposed
to grant stability and continuity but achieves the opposite. The diamonds
are imagined as parallel to opium, as sharing not only their provenance but also
their effect on society.
The social disturbance which the diamonds create is supplemented by foreign
intrusion in the form of Others who also desire the diamond. They threaten possession
and transport colonial crime into English society. The Jews in Trollope’s
realist novel fill the same place of the opposing party. The greed which motivates
the English characters finds its counterpart in the Orientals and depicts the desire
for the diamonds as a potentially corrosive and un-English threat.
Diamonds inevitably invite references to fairy tale and the intertext of the
Arabian Nights. These texts offer patterns of narratives revolving around treasures,