The Istoriaphile’s Corner

Does anyone remember the story of the blind men and the elephant?  Six blind scholars all try to discover what an elephant looks like by touching one part of the animal.  Because an elephant is composed of many shapes (trunk, ears, legs, tail, etc.,) running your hands over one part of it doesn’t give you an accurate picture of the animal, but it does show what a limited perception can discover.  And, when it comes to some episodes of history, we’re all blind folks trying to survey an elephant. Val McDermid tackles this idea in her mystery novel, The Grave Tattoo.  On the surface, it’s a modern day story about the discovery of a body near the Lake District of England.  Although the corpse has been underground for awhile, it’s easy to see this is neither a recent death nor the discovery of an ancient caveman.  What’s interesting are the number of complicated tattoos still discernable on the decedent’s skin.  And therein hangs the link to a historical debate and the mysterious elephant in the room. The debate is who was at fault for the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty, Fletcher Christian or Captain Bligh?  The popular opinion has switched back…