A Division of the Spoils
Encyclopedia
A Division of the Spoils is the 1975 novel by Paul Scott that concludes his Raj Quartet
.
, The Day of the Scorpion
, and The Towers of Silence
. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels.
:
and Proverbs 16.18-19
:
and the United Provinces
. The names of places and people suggest a connection to Bengal
; however, the physical characteristics place the setting in north-central India, rather than in northeast India. The province has an agricultural plain and, in the north, a mountainous region.
The capital of the province is Ranpur. Another large city in the province is Mayapore, which was the key setting in The Jewel in the Crown. The princely state
of Mirat is a nominally sovereign enclave within the province. Pankot is a "second class" hill station
in the province which serves as a headquarters for the 1st Pankot Rifles, an important regiment
of the Indian Army, who fought the Axis
in North Africa. During the cool season, the regiment moves to Ranpur, on the plains. At Premanagar there is an old fortification that is used by the British as a prison. Another town, Muzzafirabad is the headquarters of the Muzzafirabad ("Muzzy") Guides, another Indian Army regiment.
Having come to India, he finds a place where he can be on top and he has developed a sophisticated justification for a virulent brand of racism. Merrick strongly believes that whites are the natural rulers of the world and non-whites must be made subject to them. He also believes that non-whites cannot ever improve their position and that they must be reminded of this.
For his own part, however, Merrick seeks to climb the ladder of British society. He is intelligent, resourceful, and ruthless in both his quests: to keep Indians in their place and to improve his own social rank. Merrick uses the appearance of frankness and honesty as a tool to impress his social betters. He often reminds them that he is "only a grammar school boy" and not, for example, the product of an exclusive school like Chillingborough.
Merrick was the district superintendent of police in Mayapore when Daphne Manners was raped. He was admired for his efficiency and skill at his job, but his notoriety after the Manners case (and his sadistic treatment of Hari Kumar, which was never revealed to the public) resulted in his transfer to Sundernagar, a backwater town in the unnamed province. Seeing his opportunity to advance in the civil service frustrated, Merrick calls in his chips to get a commission in the Indian Army at the rank of captain.
Other characters in the story become important when Merrick "chooses" them for his personal attention. He chooses the Layton family as an opportunity to climb the social ladder.
In this novel Merrick, who has married Susan Layton and become step father to Teddy Bingham's son Edward, finally reaps the consequences of his actions towards Hari Kumar following the events in the Bibighar Gardens. He is killed in mysterious circumstances after a campaign of entrapment organized by Pandit Baba has succeeded. However, it is strongly implied (by Count Bronowsky) that his death is the result of Merrick being forced to face certain facts about his repressed, deeply-closeted desires that he was never willing to admit to himself before.
Sarah's strength, independence, and competence are what keep things going in the Layton household, especially after the death of Susan's husband, Teddie. For the duration of the war, Sarah (as well as her sister, Susan) has joined the Women Army Corps (India), and is serving in a clerical position at regimental headquarters (the "daftar") in Pankot.
In this novel he has been released, but is perhaps the greatest victim of the imperial process. He is too English for the Indians and too Indian for the English. At the end of the novel Guy Perron goes to visit Kumar, but finds him away from home and reflects that it would be an unkindness to remind him of his past.
, or chief minister, to the Nawab
of Mirat. Much of Bronowsky's background is mysterious. It is thought that his title, "count," is genuine, but it is not certain. It is said he fled Russia after the defeat of the White Movement
.
In the novel she introduces Sarah to a man who gets her pregnant and then subsequently arranges her abortion.
("Fenny" or "feni" is also an Indian term for a type of intoxicating drink made from coconut or cashews.)
Raj Quartet
The Raj Quartet is a four-volume novel sequence, written by Paul Scott, about the concluding years of the British Raj in India. The series was written during the period 1965–75. The Times called it "one of the most important landmarks of post-war fiction."The story of The Raj Quartet begins...
.
Plot introduction
The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in the The Jewel in the CrownThe Jewel in the Crown (novel)
The Jewel in the Crown is the 1966 novel by Paul Scott that starts his Raj Quartet.-Plot introduction:Much of the novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character...
, The Day of the Scorpion
The Day of the Scorpion
The Day of the Scorpion is the 1968 novel by Paul Scott, the second in his Raj Quartet.-Plot introduction:The novel is set in British India of the 1940s. it follows on the from the storyline in the The Jewel in the Crown....
, and The Towers of Silence
The Towers of Silence
The Towers of Silence is the 1971 novel by Paul Scott that continues his Raj Quartet. It gets its title from the Parsi Towers of Silence where the bodies of the dead are left to be picked clean by vultures. The novel is set in the British Raj of 1940s India...
. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels.
Explanation of the novel's title
The title, A Division of the Spoils comes from Isaiah 53.12Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
:
- Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
and Proverbs 16.18-19
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
:
- Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
- Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Setting
The story is set in 1945 and 1947 in several locations throughout India, prior to and after Indian independence, particularly in an unnamed province of northern India. The province shares characteristics with PunjabPunjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
and the United Provinces
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
. The names of places and people suggest a connection to Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
; however, the physical characteristics place the setting in north-central India, rather than in northeast India. The province has an agricultural plain and, in the north, a mountainous region.
The capital of the province is Ranpur. Another large city in the province is Mayapore, which was the key setting in The Jewel in the Crown. The princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of Mirat is a nominally sovereign enclave within the province. Pankot is a "second class" hill station
Hill station
A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia , but also in Africa , for towns founded by European colonial rulers as refuges from the summer heat, up where temperatures are cooler...
in the province which serves as a headquarters for the 1st Pankot Rifles, an important regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
of the Indian Army, who fought the Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
in North Africa. During the cool season, the regiment moves to Ranpur, on the plains. At Premanagar there is an old fortification that is used by the British as a prison. Another town, Muzzafirabad is the headquarters of the Muzzafirabad ("Muzzy") Guides, another Indian Army regiment.
Plot summary
The story covers in personal terms the humbling and hasty decamping of the British: the precipitous concession of power to a country fiercely bent on division; the travails of an honorable Muslim Congressman, Mohammed Ali Kasim, and his sons, one of whom had deserted to the Japan-directed Indian National Army; the quandary of the Nawab of the small fictitious princely state of Mirat, left in the lurch by the lapse of British Paramountcy; the suicide of a dysentery-debilitated and maladapted British officer; the prowling of the haunted Ronald Merrick. The new man on the scene is Sergeant Guy Perron, once a pupil of a public school called Chillingborough which Hari Kumar (as Harry Coomer) also attended when he lived in England. It was Guy who returned in 1947/8 to be an observer of India on the eve of Independence; this assignment soon turns into a personal inquiry into the truth behind the hushed-up story of Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Merrick's death in Mirat. The tragic consequences of India-Pakistan partition are dramatized in a horrific train massacre in which Ahmed Kasim, the son of Mohammed Ali Kasim, is targeted by rioters and chooses to sacrifice himself in order to protect the rest of the people in his carriage.Maj./Lt. Col. Ronald Merrick
Merrick’s fears, desires, ambitions, and hatreds are the catalyst for the Jewel in the Crown and the stories of the subsequent three novels in the series. Merrick comes from a working-class background and keenly feels his inferior position in British society.Having come to India, he finds a place where he can be on top and he has developed a sophisticated justification for a virulent brand of racism. Merrick strongly believes that whites are the natural rulers of the world and non-whites must be made subject to them. He also believes that non-whites cannot ever improve their position and that they must be reminded of this.
For his own part, however, Merrick seeks to climb the ladder of British society. He is intelligent, resourceful, and ruthless in both his quests: to keep Indians in their place and to improve his own social rank. Merrick uses the appearance of frankness and honesty as a tool to impress his social betters. He often reminds them that he is "only a grammar school boy" and not, for example, the product of an exclusive school like Chillingborough.
Merrick was the district superintendent of police in Mayapore when Daphne Manners was raped. He was admired for his efficiency and skill at his job, but his notoriety after the Manners case (and his sadistic treatment of Hari Kumar, which was never revealed to the public) resulted in his transfer to Sundernagar, a backwater town in the unnamed province. Seeing his opportunity to advance in the civil service frustrated, Merrick calls in his chips to get a commission in the Indian Army at the rank of captain.
Other characters in the story become important when Merrick "chooses" them for his personal attention. He chooses the Layton family as an opportunity to climb the social ladder.
In this novel Merrick, who has married Susan Layton and become step father to Teddy Bingham's son Edward, finally reaps the consequences of his actions towards Hari Kumar following the events in the Bibighar Gardens. He is killed in mysterious circumstances after a campaign of entrapment organized by Pandit Baba has succeeded. However, it is strongly implied (by Count Bronowsky) that his death is the result of Merrick being forced to face certain facts about his repressed, deeply-closeted desires that he was never willing to admit to himself before.
Sgt. Guy Lancelot Percival Perron
Perron serves as an intelligence operative in the Indian Army. He comes from the ruling class, having attended Chillingborough and Cambridge University, which is unusual for an enlisted soldier. Perron is a scholar of Indian language and history and uses his time in India to observe and study human nature.Sarah Layton
Sarah is the elder daughter of Lt. Col. John Layton, the commanding officer of the 1st Pankot Rifles, and his wife, Mildred. While her father is held in a German prison camp in Europe after engagements in North Africa, Sarah and her family continue to live the aristocratic life of the British in India. However, unlike the rest of her family, Sarah is uncomfortable with the hierarchy that the English have established in India. She is not so sure of the racial philosophy that forms the basis of British dominance in the subcontinent and she occasionally shocks her family with her deviance from accepted propriety.Sarah's strength, independence, and competence are what keep things going in the Layton household, especially after the death of Susan's husband, Teddie. For the duration of the war, Sarah (as well as her sister, Susan) has joined the Women Army Corps (India), and is serving in a clerical position at regimental headquarters (the "daftar") in Pankot.
Hari Kumar
Hari Kumar was an Indian raised as an Englishman at the exclusive public school Chillingborough. Upon returning to India, he found himself isolated from both the Indians and the English, until he met Daphne Manners, in The Jewel in the Crown. His affair with Daphne ended tragically when she was gang-raped by a mob and he was held as a suspect by Ronald Merrick. The police were unable to make any charges stick, but they hauled Kumar off to Kandipat Jail as a political subversive.In this novel he has been released, but is perhaps the greatest victim of the imperial process. He is too English for the Indians and too Indian for the English. At the end of the novel Guy Perron goes to visit Kumar, but finds him away from home and reflects that it would be an unkindness to remind him of his past.
Mildred Layton
Mildred is the wife of Colonel Layton and the mother of Sarah and Susan. As the daughter of a general and the wife of a colonel, she is very comfortable with her place in society and her class status and enforces her authority without hesitation.Count Dmitri Bronowsky
Bronowsky, a one-eyed émigré Russian, serves as the wazirVizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
, or chief minister, to the Nawab
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
of Mirat. Much of Bronowsky's background is mysterious. It is thought that his title, "count," is genuine, but it is not certain. It is said he fled Russia after the defeat of the White Movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
.
Fenella Grace (Aunt Fenny)
Fenny is the younger sister of Mildred Layton. She is more outgoing and fun-loving than Mildred. She notices that Sarah does not seem to have quite the right attitude towards British administration of India and she worries that that puts off potential suitors, such as Teddie Bingham, who showed interest in Sarah before switching to Susan.In the novel she introduces Sarah to a man who gets her pregnant and then subsequently arranges her abortion.
("Fenny" or "feni" is also an Indian term for a type of intoxicating drink made from coconut or cashews.)