Chapter 2

Q: Key Quotation from Dr Watson (Chapter 2)

__‘You really are an automaton – a calculating machine… There is something positively inhuman in you at times’__. There are multiple ways of looking at this quotation.

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Chapter 2: The Statement of the Case

Mary Morstan enters the room. Watson notes her attractive appearance: ‘she was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste’.

Disappearance of Mary's father

Mary tells Holmes she has come for help and details her case.
- Mary’s father (Captain Morstan) was an army officer who travelled to India.
- In 1878, Captain Morstan obtained a 12-month leave from the army and returned to London.
- He sent word to Mary to meet him. But when Mary reached his residence, she was told that he had gone out the night before and had not returned.
- He did not return that day, so Mary contacted the police to investigate his disappearance.
- She has not heard from her father since – it has been almost 10 years since he disappeared.

Further details of the case

Mary reveals that, for the past six years, she has received a large pearl from a mysterious person every year on the same date. The pearls are rare and valuable.
She also tells Holmes and Watson that she received a letter, that very morning, telling her to visit an address that evening because she is ‘a wronged woman’.

Holmes' advice

Holmes suggests that Mary follows the instructions on the note and attends the mysterious meeting. He also tells her that Watson and himself will accompany her.
Holmes then looks at the letters Mary has brought (the ones which accompanied the mysterious pearls). Again, demonstrating his forensic knowledge, he begins to examine the handwriting in an attempt to uncover the writer.

Watson's attraction to Mary

Agreeing to meet later that evening, Mary leaves.
Dr Watson comments on how ‘attractive’ Mary is – to which Holmes replies: ‘Is she? I did not observe’. He is focused on the case and is not concerned about romance or women.

Watson's insecurity

Holmes leaves to run an errand, saying he will return later.
At the end of the chapter, Watson returns to thinking about Mary Morstan.
- We learn that Watson feels self-conscious and does not feel that he is good enough for Mary. He asks himself, ‘What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account, that I should dare to think' of a romantic relationship with her?'

Key Quotations from Chapter 2

Here are two key quotations from Chapter 2:

Holmes' lack of distraction

‘State your case’ (Sherlock Holmes).
- Even though Mary is becoming upset, Holmes does not allow emotions of any sort to distract him. As the title of the chapter suggests, Holmes is there to take a factual statement, not engage in emotional acts or reassure Mary.
- His use of the imperative ‘state’ shows that he is in control – Mary has given him the control, as she trusts in him to do what is necessary to solve the case for her.

Holmes' attitude towards Mary

‘Is she? I did not observe’ (Sherlock Holmes).
- A Victorian audience may find Holmes intriguing – he provides a contrast to a lot of fictional heroes (and Dr Watson), who typically fall in love with the leading ladies.
- Instead, he is completely and solely focused on solving the case he has been given. He shows that he will not be distracted from his first love: solving problems and brain work.

Key Quotation from Dr Watson (Chapter 2)

‘You really are an automaton – a calculating machine… There is something positively inhuman in you at times’. There are multiple ways of looking at this quotation.

Watson's exasperation

We could argue that Watson is exasperated at Holmes’ lack of humanity because he barely views Mary as female, and doesn’t really seem to care about personal relationships with people.

Holmes' advanced brain

Watson could be pointing out (either positively or negatively) that Holmes’ brain works on another level – if we consider the time the novella was written, during the rise of the Industrial revolution, calculators were huge, complex machines which performed technical, scientific tasks.
In this sense, Holmes is seen as ahead of his time, as he is able to perform complex tasks within his brain and produce accurate results.

Holmes' one-track mind

Watson could be commenting on how Holmes seems to have one purpose in life; to solve problems.
In this sense, Watson is noting how Holmes is completely focused on his purpose and does not let anything else distract him from achieving that purpose.
Machines of that era were generally created to complete one task, and to do it well – Holmes embodies an intelligent, scientific machine.