The Moving Finger

In The Moving Finger, the anonymous letters serve as a motif for The Corrosive Nature of Social Paranoia. The letters’ scandalous assertions, while judged as ridiculous by some, are accusations that are difficult to disprove. Their taboo nature makes them inherently threatening to the villagers’ reputations. For instance, Jerry and Joanna are accused of being a secret couple having an affair, rather than siblings.

Dr. Griffith and Jerry agree that even if the letters’ claims are baseless or absurd, they can easily harm people’s reputations if anyone believed them. Dr. Griffith tells Jerry, “These things can be dangerous, you know. […] I’m afraid, too, of the effect upon the slow, suspicious uneducated mind. If they see a thing written, they believe it’s true” (15). This prediction comes true when Mrs. Symmington’s anonymous letter accuses her of infidelity, and that her second son is not Mr. Symmington’s child. After her apparent death by suicide, many villagers assume that the letter’s accusations were true. Other villagers’ reputations are also jeopardized by the letter writer, who does real harm to their relationships. For instance, Beatrice and Agnes Woddell both receive letters accusing them of infidelity, upsetting their boyfriends and causing Beatrice to leave her job at Little Furze.