The Sign of the Four Themes

Crime and Punishment
1. Athelney Jones
  1. Very straight forward with the way he tries to solve crimes
    1. 'The net begins to close upon him'
    2. 'Let us apply common sense to the matter'
  2. Jumps to conclusions
    1. '"You are not quite in possession of the facts yet"' - Sherlock Holmes
    2. '"I wouldn't answer for our safety now, if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy"'
    3. '"The card is some hocus pocus, -a blind as like not"'
2. Sherlock Holmes
  1. '"My mind," he said "rebels at stagnation. Give me work, the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants"'
  2. '"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"' - Sherlock Holmes
3. The 'Four'
  1. Arrested for stealing the treasure
    1. 'Arrested for the murder of Achmed'
4. Maj. Sholto and Capt. Morstan
  1. Stole the treasure from 'the Four' and lost their lives over it
    1. '"His face turned a dusky hue and he fell backwards, cutting his head against the corner of the treasure chest...he was dead."' - Major Sholto
    2. '"When we returned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat"' - Thaddeus Sholto
Love and Friendship
1. Doctor Watson
  1. Watson falls for Mary at the beginning of the novel
    1. '"What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed' - Watson
  2. Watson shows concern for Holmes' health
    1. '"Count the cost! Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process..."' - Watson
    2. '"Surely the game is hardly worth the candle"' - Watson
2. Mary Morstan
  1. Mary agrees to marry Watson
    1. '"Miss Morstan has done me the honor to accept me as a husband in prospective"'
3. Sherlock Holmes
4. The 'Four'
  1. Jonathan Small refuses to betray his friends
    1. '"I know that they would have me...throw the treasure into the Thames rather than let it go to kith or kin of Sholto or of Morstan"' - Jonathan Small
Duality
1. Sherlock Holmes
  1. Mood can change with the wind
    1. 'His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days'
  2. Has a double life
    1. 'the man who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit...'
    2. '"There are in me the makings of a very fine loafer and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow."' - Sherlock Holmes
Englishness and Foreignness
1. Tonga
  1. Native to the Andaman Islands - unfamiliar
    1. 'that strange visitor to our shores
2. The 'Four'
3. Thaddeus Sholto
  1. Surrounds himself with Indian artefacts
    1. '"An oasis of art in the howling desert of south London"' - Thaddeus Sholto
Wealth and Treasure
1. The 'Four'
  1. Originally found the Agra treasure and lost it to Major Sholto and Captain Morstan
    1. '"The scoundrel had stolen it all [all the treasure], without carrying out one of the conditions on which we had sold him the secret."' - Jonathan Small
2. Thaddeus/Bartholomew Sholto
  1. Both Mary and the Sholto brothers inherited a share of the Agra Treasure
    1. '"I instantly communicated with Miss Morstan, and it only remains for us to drive out to Norwood and demand our share."'
  2. Bartholomew is murdered over the treasure
3. Mary Morstan
4. Doctor Watson
  1. Watson and Mary lose the treasure but fall in love - riches of the heart are more important
    1. '"Whoever had lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one."'
Emotion vs Rationality
1. Sherlock Holmes
  1. '"You really are an automaton, -a calculating machine!"' - Watson
  2. '"...love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true, cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement."' - Sherlock Holmes
2. Watson
  1. '"You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism"' - Sherlock Holmes
  2. Holmes and Watson act as foils for each other

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The Sign of the Four Themes

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	Created by James Norman about 7 years ago