Canon Discussion Post: The Priory School

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, everyone! Let's have some canon Sherlock Holmes discussion, shall we? What did you all think of The Priory School? As always, I've written up a few of my own random thoughts and questions, which are behind the jump. Please add your own in the comments!

Discussion about the Granada adaptation of this story is available in this week's Granada discussion post.


- I found myself disturbed reading this case this time through. A child is missing for days, presumed kidnapped, and yet besides Dr. Huxtable, who works himself into a faint in 221B, there is little sense of appropriate urgency and concern from anyone from the beginning. It's unsettling. I kept wishing I could grab everyone involved and scream at them: What are you doing?

- The police are the first offenders here. They investigate ineptly before Holmes' arrival on the case, following a lead to nowhere for days on end and abandoning all local searches for the boy. After that, they disappear for good, led astray by the Duke to the South of France. Holmes never even encounters the police once in his investigation. Police rarely look good in these stories, but this is a particularly pathetic job.

- And then of course, we have the Duke of Holdernesse, a cold and haughty aristocrat who is as miserable a person as he is a parent. His first son is jealous and unstable, and the Duke coddles him for years despite his problematic behavior due to his resemblance to his mother, a lost love. Sure sounds like Jack from the Sussex Vampire, doesn't it? And like Jack, James gets away with his crimes, sent to "seek his fortune" in Australia. Is that anywhere close to an appropriate punishment for kidnapping and accessory to murder?

- The Duke is too weak to do anything more to James, of course, but shouldn't Holmes have insisted on a stronger punishment than a boat ticket? Is the only reason he didn't because of the money? The extraordinary payment involved here and Holmes' open enthusiasm for it is strange and barely explained. The Duke gives the detective a check for £12000, twice the promised reward, although it's not entirely clear why. Is it an extra bribe for Holmes to keep his mouth shut? Is half intended for Watson to buy his silence too? If it is, isn't it curious how everyone always tends to just assume that whatever Holmes wants (and here, he wants that cheque), Watson will go along with. But what if he didn't? What if he couldn't? How much can a man of honor and ethics be willing to look away from?

- Speaking of buying silence in the face of injustice, do you think the Duke will be successful keeping Reuben Hayes quiet on his way to the gallows? Does Hayes have any reason not to point his dying fingers at James? If James falls into trouble, his father may be implicated too in the coverup. And if that's the case, wouldn't Holmes and Watson be at risk as well? They are just as complicit in hiding this felony as anyone else.

- "I am a poor man." - Is Holmes being serious? At this point in his career, shouldn't he be fairly comfortable? His rates are reasonable, sure, but he often gets paid extras in gems and assorted gifts. What happened? Perhaps he's just being sarcastic, but that doesn't explain why he is so intensely and uncomfortably eager for his payment from the Duke -- other than just to see a partially guilty party squirm. So what is the deal? Does he really need the money that badly? Any guesses as to why?

Comment away, and join us next week for Shoscombe Old Place!

Comments

[debriswoman]

It strikes me as being an odd case to me, too, with many shades of gray, and the final settling of the case is a bit disturbing. I cannot recall another case where Holmes has made such comments regarding his fee, and can only assume the Duke may, perhaps have offered support for Reuben's relatives in exchange for his silence.

Is Holmes merely stating that the main value of this particular case is the financial reward? A statement about the subterfuge and bleakness at its heart?

James and Jack returning from their sea voyages are unlikely to be reformed characters...

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Holmes and Watson do seem a little relaxed about a missing child. But I think Holmes has to be emotionally detached to do his job. Once he takes the case, he commits himself to the mystery wholeheartedly - he thinks of nothing else. And he does show concern for the child. When the father appears to want to immediately dismiss him, he calmly implies he will be investigating anyway. When they discover the body of the German master, Holmes is torn about what to do because he knows how pressing it is to continue the investigation. And in the end he is the one who makes sure the boy comes home. The police, I think, are incompetent, rather than unconcerned. And I think Watson is simply confident that Holmes will find the boy.

It's really only the Duke's attitude to his missing son that makes me uncomfortable. He does appear to be more worried about his good name than the safety of his child. And as we find out, he's more concerned about his guilty older son than the innocent younger. But that does ring true for me - he's so caught up in his overwhelming love for his older son that he'll let his family fall apart, and put Lord Saltire at risk.

The Duke's offer of £12,000 seems to be straightforwardly a bribe for Holmes and Watson to keep their mouths shut. The fact that Holmes refuses that amount when it is first offered has always led me to assume that in the end he only accepts the £6,000 that was originally agreed on, though that isn't explicitly stated. (I don't think we actually see the Duke write the cheque.) I wonder if Holmes' delight over the cheque is perhaps his delight over solving the case - saying to the Duke: I found you out. Holmes' remark at the end does seem out of character (Watson comments on Holmes' "frugal tastes".) Perhaps it is simply Conan Doyle putting in a humorous line to try and end the story on a lighthearted note?

I was thinking about the Duke being able to keep Hayes quiet. (It feels like a loose end being glossed over. After all, Hayes is going to die. What's he got to be afraid of?) Perhaps Hayes has affection for his wife despite treating her badly, and would accept financial help for her in exchange for not giving Wilder away?

About Wilder going out to Australia: well, I suppose it isn't a punishment at all. He does get away with it. But he is being sent off into exile - I would imagine his life is going to be a lot harder from now on. Holmes isn't a policeman; his job is just to solve the mystery. But again I think he's showing that his primary concern is for the little boy. Holmes wants Wilder out of the household - after that he's not too bothered, as long as Hayes is punished for committing the murder.

Sunday, 11 August 2013

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