the sign of four Flashcards
“the day had been a dreary one” “a dense drizzly fog” “diffused light which threw a feeble glimmer upon the shiny pavement”
the pathetic fallacy foreshadows the upcoming case that they are going to investigate. the setting here is used to set the tone and attitude in the novel; it is ominous, eerie, dark, mysterious, it unsettles and makes the future of the case unpredictable. the “diffused light” suggests that there is going to be an attempt of brightness and of clarity but it will be feeble against the overwhelming dark of the case. the light is also “diffused” suggesting that it is not intense and compacted in one area but rather spread out and weak, this suggests that the hope of the case that awaits them is low, that it will be hard to find a brightness in a case that is so broad. it implies that the fate of the case ahead of them is going to be difficult and unpredictable (at least to watson)
1829 met police force is established
they were incompetent and the citizens of london did not have trust in their ability to solve and reduce crime. and are described as “bumbling” in the novel. at the time, jack-the-ripper was a serial killer that was killing many citizens and was never brought to justice in the end. the book series “sherlock holmes” was perhaps to give a fantasy for londoners to live through during this dark time, so they could fantasise about a competent duo of investigators that would solve each case given to them whilst insulting the police force at the same time, agreeing with the citizens and therefore attracting readers, as human beings naturally gravitate to like-minded media, discussions, and people. even queen victoria at the time had said that the detective force was inefficient, showing how the police force’s lack of skill and incompetency affected everything of all classes and status. many officers had been recruited from the lower classes, this being shown in how many of the officers couldn’t read. at the time the detectives that were working under the CID were full of prejudice, they were fixated on an idea of what the culprit would be seen like, and in turn completely discarding any theory that would imply someone of an upper-class background and was a so-called ‘gentleman’ to be the murderer. therefore, their ideas on the culprit were narrow and their inconsideration of anything outside of their narrow understanding of criminals would get them nowhere in solving the case. this fixation on the ‘ideal’ culprit is also presented in the sign of four, when it is revealed that bartholomew shoots had been killed it was easily suggested by athelney jones that it was thaddeus sholto because that is the most simple conclusion to have come to; a jealous, envious brother who then killed their brother to steal their treasures and riches. further exemplifying jones’s simple-minded ways, unlike holmes’s complex way of thinking.
the british empire and imperalism
during the 19th century, the british empire was booming and many foreigners had entered britain at the time, there was an extreme growth in population and the arrival of people that native english people would have never seen before would have created a new tension, fear and stigma against the foreigners, simply because it is most people’s nature to be against change and to fear it. the view that ‘the East” was filled with riches and treasure is typically very imperialist as it was in the british empire’s utmost interest to take the riches from the east so they can profit off them. the treasure in ‘the sign of four’ was originally owned by an indian prince and not once do any characters in the novella ever question whether it should be returned back to india, instead to them, the rightful owners is mary morstan or jonathon small (and the other three who helped him steal the treasure, but for the most part in thaddeus sholto and watson’s mind, the treasure was rightfully owned by mary morstan) this directly reflects the british empire’s own views at the time, they believed that the things they stole from india were owned by them as they had controlled india, and not once do they ever think about whether the morally right thing to do is return the stolen riches back to india or not. to them, the indian people were seem as inferior and the racist rhetoric of the time is reflected in the novella itself, unconsciously or consciously in part of conan doyle.
tonga
“never have i seen features so deeply marked with all beastiality and cruelty” watson then further describes him as a “half-animal”. tonga is dehumanised, as one of the only black characters in the novella, he is as inhuman, and not in the extraordinary way that holmes is seen in, but in derogatory, belittling and minimising way. the way the characters treat, exploit, and view tonga reflect the way british citizens would have viewed foreigners entering the country at the time. tonga is typecast as evil and this is because of his ethnic features, difference to the white characters and his skin colour. he is despised due to his appearance and not once do the characters of the novella really feel sympathy for him, it could be considered that small had helped tonga when tonga was injured but that was too by spreading the western agenda onto tonga by saving him with western medicine, small then becoming the stereotypical western hero that saves a non-white person from their own tragedy linked to their appearance and their culture, however, small used tonga for his own gain, not once considering how tonga would’ve felt being exploited form the man that had saved him. to small, tonga was just a “faithful mate” and it is implied that small views tonga as a dog-like companion that can be trained into doing whatever he wants tonga to do, and not once does small view tonga as a free-thinking human being. “When I found that he was devoted to me and would do anything to serve me, I saw my chance of escape.” “This savage, distorted creature.”
even more racism
when major sholto and captain morstan become enraptured by the idea of treasure as a bribe to get small out of prison, small insists that he remain loyal to the three indian men that helped him get the treasure in the first place, yet major sholto asked “what do three black men have to do with our agreement?”. this agreement was between three white men, and black people at the time were seen as inferior. major sholto does not consider that the indian men had helped small gain the treasure and therefore should also be rewarded for their hard work, but instead excludes them from the agreement disregarding the fact that without the three indian men, small would’ve never had the treasure in the first place, and therefore, major sholto wouldn’t be able to gain from it either.
wealth
being rich is actually not seen as the pinnacle of happiness in the novella as wealth is a barrier between mary morstan and watson, they fall in love but with the promise of future wealth for morstan it seems to watson that their future together is not a possibility. in a society where men were seen as the dominate figures of the time, it would be frowned upon for a man who was poorer than the woman to marry a woman wealthier than him, however due to the fact that towards the end of the novella, the treasure is released to be no longer in the treasure box, they are both relieved and so watson gains the confidence to confess his love to mary morstan. all of those who were associated in the treasure, those who wanted to have it, ended up in a bad and more tragic end one way or another, implying that doyle is actually trying to suggest that the pursuit of wealth is an illness, an unhealthy goal that will end in disappointment and pain. it could also be seen as a kind of corruption and therefore, this could also imply doyle’s own view on the empire and how he may possibly think that the empire’s pursuit for riches and wealth is ultimately a bad one, and it is a corrupted system. in a way, doyle is criticising the empire.
some sherlock holmes quotes mwah
abhors “the dull routine of existence” “rebels at stagnation” “i cannot live without brain-work” “you really are an automation - a calculating machine” “dismal groan” —> to love “love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional opposing to that of true cold reason
some sherlock holmes quotes mwah
abhors “the dull routine of existence” “rebels at stagnation” “i cannot live without brain-work” “you really are an automation - a calculating machine” “dismal groan” —> to love “love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional opposing to that of true cold reason which i place above all things”
“You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae,” “marvel at the means by which you obtain your results in this case.” “Sherlock Holmes was never at fault”
mary morstan - watson
“She wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side.” “Miss Morstan appeared to have a soothing effect upon her.”
thaddeus
“He writhed his hands together as he stood, and his features were in a perpetual jerk.“ “The richest and glossiest of curtains and tapestries draped the walls” “ Two great tiger-skins thrown athwart it increased the suggestion of Eastern luxury.” “I have a natural shrinking from all forms of rough materialism. I seldom come in contact with the rough crowd.”
athelney jones
“Confirms it in every respect,” said the fat detective, pompously. “There is nothing more unaesthetic than a policeman.” - thaddeus on jones
