Chapter 9 - Quotations

English Lit: AQA GCSE The Sign of the Four, topic 6.2.9

Key Quotations from Chapter 9

Here are three key quotations from Chapter 9:

‘He walked and he walked, up and down, and up and down’ (Mrs Hudson).
The repetition of this action illustrates the frustration in Holmes’ mind – he becomes fixated on one thing and cannot do anything else (even sleep) until he reconciles his theories in his mind.
Not knowing the location of Jonathan Small causes him mental frustration. He channels his frustration into physical movement.

‘This infernal problem is consuming me’ (Sherlock Holmes).
Holmes feels irritated because he cannot understand what has happened to the boat, or how the men have disappeared.
The verb ‘consuming’ suggests that this problem is filling his brain, eating away at him.
This links to the title of the chapter, ‘A Break in the Chain’ – Holmes feels his brain is almost broken, and so he uses a different technique to break the chain of waiting; he disguises himself as an old sailor.

‘I should be very glad of a little assistance’ (Inspector Jones).
For the first time, Jones openly admits that Sherlock Holmes is good at what he does. He confides in Watson that Holmes is a brilliant detective, even saying that he should be a police officer.
Jones also shows some humility here as he acknowledges that he cannot do this without Holmes. This reflects the inability of the Victorian police to solve criminal cases – they needed help and advice on how to do this well.