The Devil and the Dark Water

Content Warning: This guide contains discussions of emotional and physical domestic abuse as depicted in the novel and uses outdated language to depict Hansen’s disease, the illness formerly known as leprosy.

Turton uses elements of the mystery genre to explore the relationship between good and evil. He uses the technique of misdirection to give the impression that some characters—Sammy and Sara for example—are unambiguously good, while others—like Haan—are unambiguously evil. He then subverts these expectations by revealing the characters’ secret ambitions and plans. As a result, he presents the relationship between good and evil as a blurred line—with elements of both found within all characters. This pattern of characterization suggests that good and evil are not innate or objective qualities—rather, external factors like wealth, power, and desire have the tendency to corrupt people, causing them to commit acts that, even if seen as “good” from their perspective, contain elements of “evil” from the view of others.

One character who demonstrates this dichotomy is Jan Haan. In his first introduction in the story, Turton writes that “Thirteen years ago, he had purchased the village that had stood here on behalf of the United East India Company.