The Sign of the Four Themes

The Sign of the Four Themes

1. Crime and Punishment

   • Athelney Jones
     • Very straight forward with the way he tries to solve crimes
       • 'The net begins to close upon him'
       • 'Let us apply common sense to the matter'
     • Jumps to conclusions
       • '"You are not quite in possession of the facts yet"' - Sherlock Holmes
       • '"I wouldn't answer for our safety now, if he should happen to have another of his attacks of energy"'
       • '"The card is some hocus pocus, -a blind as like not"'
   • Sherlock Holmes
     • '"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"'
     • '"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"' - Sherlock Holmes
   • The 'Four'
     • Arrested for stealing the treasure
       • 'Arrested for the murder of Achmed'
   • Maj. Sholto and Capt. Morstan
     • Stole the treasure from 'the Four' and lost their lives over it
       • '"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
       • '"When we returned to my father his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat"' - Thaddeus Sholto

2. Love and Friendship

   • Doctor Watson
     • Watson falls for Mary at the beginning of the novel
       • '"What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed' - Watson
     • Watson shows concern for Holmes' health
       • '"Count the cost! Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process..."' - Watson
       • '"Surely the game is hardly worth the candle"' - Watson
   • Mary Morstan
     • Mary agrees to marry Watson
       • '"Miss Morstan has done me the honor to accept me as a husband in prospective"'
   • Sherlock Holmes
   • The 'Four'
     • Jonathan Small refuses to betray his friends
       • '"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

3. Duality

   • Sherlock Holmes
     • Mood can change with the wind
       • 'His bright humor marked the reaction from his black depression of the preceding days'
     • Has a double life
       • 'the man who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit...'
       • '"There are in me the makings of a very fine loafer and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow."' - Sherlock Holmes

4. Englishness and Foreignness

   • Tonga
     • Native to the Andaman Islands - unfamiliar
       • 'that strange visitor to our shores
   • The 'Four'
   • Thaddeus Sholto
     • Surrounds himself with Indian artefacts
       • '"An oasis of art in the howling desert of south London"' - Thaddeus Sholto

5. Wealth and Treasure

   • The 'Four'
     • Originally found the Agra treasure and lost it to Major Sholto and Captain Morstan
       • '"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
   • Thaddeus/Bartholomew Sholto
     • Both Mary and the Sholto brothers inherited a share of the Agra Treasure
       • '"I instantly communicated with Miss Morstan, and it only remains for us to drive out to Norwood and demand our share."'
     • Bartholomew is murdered over the treasure
   • Mary Morstan
   • Doctor Watson
     • Watson and Mary lose the treasure but fall in love - riches of the heart are more important
       • '"Whoever had lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one."'

6. Emotion vs Rationality

   • Sherlock Holmes
     • '"You really are an automaton, -a calculating machine!"' - Watson
     • '"...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
   • Watson
     • '"You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism"' - Sherlock Holmes
     • Holmes and Watson act as foils for each other