Jamaica Inn

Moors are a unique landscape in the British Isles, characterized by plains, marshes, and rocky hill/outcroppings called tors. The moorlands are described as “a si­lent, des­o­late coun­try though, vast and un­touched by hu­man hand,” through which “[s]trange winds blew from nowhere” (41). When the wind does not blow, “there was a stillness in the air, and a stran­ger, old­er peace, that was not the peace of God” (30). The moors of Jamaica Inn are symbolic of the wild nature of the country in which Mary finds herself, as well as the isolation and danger that she faces there. The moors are the optimal location for Joss’s smuggling ring due to their isolation and proximity both to the ocean and the high road. Joss and his men are all natives to the area, meaning that they know the secret paths and byways that can lead one safely across the moors or where one can hide oneself when they need to lie low, such as when the group botches their final wreck and disbands. Du Maurier also uses the moors as a plot device to introduce Mary to Francis Davey, a character closely associated with the moorlands,