Jamaica Inn

Mary is disconcerted by Joss’s size, harsh demeanor, and mocking attitude. She asks for Aunt Patience, and Joss mocks her. Joss roars for Patience to come downstairs. Mary is shocked by her aunt’s appearance: She has aged beyond her years and has a nervous tic of working her mouth. Patience is delighted to see Mary and starts crying, until Joss yells at her to make Mary some supper. Joss takes Mary’s trunk upstairs, lifting it easily.

Patience apologizes and makes excuses for Joss’s behavior as she prepares supper for Mary. Patience describes the respect that people in the area have for Joss, but Mary notices that Patience speaks “much as a child does who tells her­self a sto­ry and has a tal­ent for in­ven­tion” (25). Joss returns and berates Patience some more. Marry is disturbed by the sudden care and delicacy that Joss demonstrates when he cuts her a slice of bread. Joss offers her alcohol, but Mary asks for tea.

Joss drinks brandy for a while, then suddenly exclaims that he will never lay a hand on Mary, but if she fusses about life at the inn, he says, “I’ll break you un­til you eat out of my hand the same as your aunt yon­der” (27). Despite her fear, Mary tells him that she will keep his secrets and not complain, but if he lays hands on Patience, she will report him to the local magistrate. Joss is pleased that Mary stood up for herself. He tells her that one day he will have work for her at the inn involving life and death. Patience starts to panic, and Joss makes her go to bed. When Joss and Mary are alone, he tells her that he drinks compulsively. When he drinks, he reveals his secrets, so he has Patience lock him in a room. He tells Mary that Patience was lying about their good reputation. The gentry and Squire Bassat avoid the inn. On the weekends, the bar is full of raucous customers.

Joss describes the violent deaths of most of his relatives. Only his brother, Jem, is alive. He warns Mary that there will be times when a carriage will stop in the middle of the night, and she must pretend to be asleep. Joss tires of talking and sends her upstairs, threatening to break all of her bones if she asks questions. In her dismal room, Mary flirts with the idea of leaving despite the dangers of crossing the moors at night. She feels trapped and knows that, if she waits, she will not have the will to escape Jamaica Inn. She hears Aunt Patience crying, and she resolves to stay for her aunt’s sake and bring Joss down.

Mary is relieved to find that Joss is gone in the morning. She spends some time with Patience in the kitchen; Patience is not as nervous as when Joss is around. Mary explores Jamaica Inn. The bar is the one room with any vitality—the rest are in various states of disrepair. The inn stands alone in the desolation of the moors. However, something about the setting invigorates her: It calls her to adventure.

Mary questions Patience directly about the inn, which never seems to have customers; the parlor is always empty and most of the rooms are not fit for habitation. Patience stubbornly deflects from Mary’s questioning, making up excuses to cover for Joss.

Finally, Patience cannot take it anymore and shuts down entirely. Mary immediately regrets pushing her aunt in her fragile mental state. Patience warns Mary that evil things happen at Jamaica Inn. She cannot tell Mary the details and begs her not to question her or Joss when she hears strangers arrive in the night. She warns Mary that her hair will turn grey, and her peace of mind will be destroyed if she were to find out what Joss does.

Joss is gone for a week, and in his absence no customers come to Jamaica Inn. After chores, Mary is free to explore the area. The moorlands are desolate and vast, save for scattered tors—large rocky prominences. The tors are ominous and vaguely mystical, reminiscent of “pagan” times.

Mary wonders how growing up in this landscape influenced Joss. She comes upon the massive Kilmar Tor across the vast East Moor, where Joss and his brothers grew up and where Jem still lives. She imagines Matthew Merlyn’s death in the boggy land and spooks herself. Mary returns to Jamaica Inn. Joss has returned. Mary tries to greet him pleasantly, but she cannot hide her displeasure at seeing him. Joss tells her that there will be work for her at the bar tonight.

The people of the moors arrive one by one, moving furtively through the evening. Mary observes the “filthy” group of “poachers, thieves, cattle-stealers” from behind the bar (44). Mary washes drinkware and refills glasses as needed as Joss hands out drinks, lording over the company, completely in his element. The crowd hardly acknowledges Mary, either out of respect or fear of Joss.

The night wears on, taking on a nightmarish quality to Mary’s fatigued mind. Some men pass out, while others crowd around a pedlar (peddler) making fun of a drunk man. Mary tells Joss that she cannot take it anymore. Despite drinking all night, Joss is sober. He threatens Mary by saying that the only reason she is in one piece is that the men of the bar respect him. He bends her wrist painfully behind her back, whispering in her ear that if she meddles in his business, he will break her, body and mind. The contempt in Mary’s eyes causes Joss to lose his temper. He instructs the crowd to strip the man the pedlar was making fun of and send him naked into the night.

Mary creeps to bed, haunted by the image of the man wandering naked through the moors in the November cold. She dozes fitfully, only to be awakened by the sound of wheels and heavy things being dragged along the floor downstairs. Mary peers from her window—against Joss and Patience’s warnings—and sees the pedlar joined by others from the bar along with strangers, standing in the moonlight.

The men load up cargo into waiting carriages. The steaming horses indicate that they have come a great distance. They work quietly and furtively, leaving burdened with loot. Joss and the pedlar oversee the process.

The clock strikes three in the morning, but Mary is too alert and curious to sleep. Joss is a smuggler on a grand scale. Jamaica Inn’s position on the high road makes it an ideal rendezvous point. Because of his brutality and lack of subtlety, Mary wonders if Joss is smart enough to be the mastermind of the enterprise.

Mary swears not to show fear in front of Joss, and to prove it, she goes into the hall. She creeps toward the bar, spying on the remaining men. She hears a man protesting that he will not participate in murder, no matter what the consequences. Joss instructs Harry, the pedlar, to bar the door. The man swears that he will not inform against them. Joss threatens to hang the man. He tells Harry to leave and abandon the man’s horse on the other side of Camelford.

Mary stumbles to the parlor door and opens it, fainting. Despising herself for her momentary weakness, Mary considers her options. She hears soft footsteps in the empty guestroom upstairs. Whoever it was remained concealed throughout the whole evening. Terrified, Mary hears Joss quietly ask the newcomer what to do with the man. Mary strains to listen. For a long time, she hears nothing. The men are gone. Mary looks in the room and sees a rope hanging from the ceiling beam.