"Dead Silence"

Edward Said in “Culture and Imperialism” is quite right in emphasizing the economic dependence of the Mansfield estate on colonialism thereby making slavery and the slave owner one of the most critical concerns of the novel, Mansfield Park. Antigua in the novel is not only the personal piggy bank for the Bertrams but is also the home of riches where Lady Bertram can get valuable shawls. Yet no one in the novel except Fanny questions the on-goings in Antigua and her attempt to discuss the pressing issue with her uncle is also followed by “dead silence” while his children sit “without speaking a word”. This silence shows Sir Bertram’s position of not being answerable to his subjects but more importantly reveals his shameful dependence on a business that he would prefer to pass over in silence. Any answer would not be a satisfactory one for Fanny who dared to question the position of the oppressed people in Antigua and neither for her uncle who would have to expose himself as vulnerable and in front of the domestic slave of Mansfield Park. In fact Sir Bertram’s indifference or neglect of his colonized subjects is evident in the fact that the term ‘slave’ is never used in the novel by the slave owner, his family or the narrator. It is only used by Fanny as she gives an account of her conversation with her uncle to Edmund saying, “Did you not hear me ask him about the slave trade last night?” Thus Sir Bertram’s silence becomes even more significant as it highlights the moral indifference of Fanny’s younger cousins and their father to the slaves and in doing so puts the concerned Fanny on a higher moral pedestal. We also see Edmund as the other good character when he encourages Fanny to spur more such inquiries as it would make the “family’s evening conversation more – not less – comfortable.”

Later in the novel when Sir Bertram seems eager to discuss the issue, she doesn’t want to pursue the topic anymore for she too realizes that her position in the household hierarchy does not allow her to do so. When his own children remain silent on their father’s ethical interests and economic projects, there Fanny feels uncomfortable talking about Sir Bertram’s colonial holdings and wealth. She does not want to ruin the civil relationship with her uncle and indicates to Edmund a possibly happy association saying, “I love to hear my uncle talk of the West Indies....It entertains me more than any other things have done.”Therefore, we see a forced silence on Fanny’s part as she shuns any possible discussion on her uncle’s slaves keeping in mind her fragile existence in his household.