The Sign Of The Four: Sherlock Holmes

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  • Sherlock Holmes
    • He thrives on having difficult cases to solve - restless.
      • 'My mind rebels at stagnation.' (C1)
      • He is only content when he has something to work on. Injects cocaine when he doesn't.
        • 'Which is it today, morphine or cocaine?' (C1)
          • Context: Drugs were more widely available and their dangers weren't widely known, seen as medicinal. Drug takes met up in opium dens.
      • He becomes immediately engaged when Miss Morston presents her case.
    • He is arrogant, egotistical and snobbish.
      • He is always one step ahead of everyone else.
        • 'You are not quite in possession of the facts yet.' (C6)
        • 'I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case.' (C6)
      • He asserts that he is the only worthy detective in the world.
        • 'for I am the only one in the world' (C1)
      • Often dismissive to those who he perceives to be less inteligent.
      • He thinks poorly of the lower class and knows how to manipulate them.
        • 'The main thing with people of that sort...'
    • He is unemotional and focuses on logic.
      • He sometimes hurts Watson's feelings through his lack of sensitivity.
        • 'I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you.' (C1)
        • 'I really cannot congratulate you' (C12)
          • 'But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which i place above all things.' (C12)
      • He is methodical in this work.
        • 'So swift, silent and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained bloodhound picking out a scent.' (C6)
        • 'Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.' (C1)
      • However, by the end of the novel he has he does show slight emotion.
        • He lets Watson give Mary the treasure so she sees him as a hero.
    • He is an intellectual and a pioneer.
      • He can play the violin and speaks multiple languages.
      • He is ahead of his time.
        • He is impressive compared to the newly developed Metropolitan Police Force.
        • He uses fingerprint techniques which weren't fully developed until the early 1900s.
      • He sheds light on the case.
        • 'in the light of his pocket-lantern' (C3)

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