Chapter 2 - Quotations
English Lit: AQA GCSE The Sign of the Four, topic 6.2.2
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.
Test yourself on Chapter 2 - Quotations
What kind of verb is 'state' in this quotation from Chapter 2?
‘State your case’ (Sherlock Holmes)Who is Holmes talking about in this quotation from Chapter 2?
‘Is she? I did not observe’Who is Watson describing in this quotation from Chapter 2?
‘You really are an automaton – a calculating machine… There is something positively inhuman in you at times’