Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: The Science of Deduction

We meet Sherlock Holmes, who opens the story by injecting cocaine into his arm. Although Dr Watson watches this regularly, he becomes more and more annoyed that Holmes is taking the drugs.

Holmes' defence

Sherlock Holmes explains that he feels he must take drugs to stimulate his brain – he cannot live without something occupying his brain: ‘My mind… rebels at stagnation’.
- A Victorian audience may admire Holmes here – he wants to constantly focus on solving problems, specifically criminal cases, by using his very intelligent brain to figure out clues and evidence.
- They may have compared him to the Victorian police, who seemed incompetent and idiotic.

Holmes' view of his work

Sherlock Holmes talks about being the ‘only unofficial consulting detective’ in the world. He is acting as an international consultant, helping detective services in France.

Holmes' detective work

Holmes continues discussing his work – he details his work on the different types of tobacco ash and the distinction between different footprints.
- This would interest a Victorian audience as, unlike the police force themselves, Holmes has begun to use a type of forensic investigation to solve his cases.

Watsons' test

To test Holmes’ intelligence and powers of deduction, Watson gives him a watch and asks him to give his ideas on the watch’s previous owner.
Using his detective skills, Holmes determines that the previous owner was Watson’s older brother who inherited it from his father. He also suggests that Watson’s brother was careless, lived in poverty, and died due to alcoholism.

Miss Mary Morstan's arrival

There is a knock on the door.
The landlady enters and announces that Miss Mary Morstan has called to see Sherlock Holmes.

Key Quotations from Chapter 1

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 1:

Chapter title

‘The Science of Deduction’.
- The chapter heading immediately tells us that we will read about the art of putting clues and evidence together to draw one’s own conclusions.
- This is presented as a science, a factual method for Holmes to solve problems.
- In this chapter, Holmes demonstrates how detection and deduction really work, showing the reader exactly how his brain works and how intelligent he is.

Cocaine

‘Hence the cocaine. I cannot live without brain-work’ (Sherlock Holmes).
- Holmes makes it clear that he needs something to keep his brain going. He needs problems to solve and interesting things to engage his mind, or he feels that he cannot cope with life itself.

Shocking habit

‘I never guess. It’s a shocking habit’ (Sherlock Holmes).
- This is perhaps a direct reference to the incompetency of the Victorian police.
- Holmes seems disgusted by the idea of just making guesses to solve problems – instead, throughout the story, he highlights the importance of basing inferences and ideas on solid facts and evidence.
- By referring to guessing as a bad ‘habit’, he suggests that those who begin to use guesswork are doomed to failure forever, as their incompetence, like their guessing, also becomes a routine.