Canon Discussion Post: The Three Gables

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, everyone! Let's have some canon Sherlock Holmes discussion, shall we? What did you all think of The Three Gables? 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 TV adaptation of this story is available in this week's Granada discussion post.


- The Victorian racism in this story is painful. Every time Steve Dixie called him "Masser Holmes" I wanted to put my head through a wall. Everything about Steve Dixie is insulting. His character and all others' reactions to him are a whole racism checklist. A black person repeatedly compared to an animal? Check. Physical descriptions all focused on the non-Caucasian features for no real reason? Check. The minority person is violent and threatening yet at the same time also a laughing stock somehow? Check. And he's too dumb to speak the language properly? Check. Supposed bad smell? Check. Finally, we get to the N-word to refer to him, and the list is complete. UGH.

- Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, but as we learn in the canon, he's also frequently an idiot. How he handles this investigation is dangerous and moronic. He knows there is violence involved in this plot, given he'd been physically threatened over it, but yet when he advises Mrs. Maberley to seek protection, rather than offer his own services or Watson's, he suggests her lawyer for no reason, a man he's never even met. And that is AFTER he'd already chosen not to look into the contents of Douglas' luggage, which he knew almost certainly held the sought-after object that would have revealed the truth. I understand, these were personal effects, but couldn't he have had Douglas' mother at least look through the luggage while he waited for her findings? This is a serious case, clearly, and a pressing one. It deserved to be treated as such. Mrs. Maberley could have died.

- Speaking of Mrs. Maberley, she is one tough woman. She gets chloroformed, wakes up, and then jumps the guy rifling through her son's stuff. Wow. Of course, she gets hit for her efforts, but she wakes up from THAT, and is able to repeatedly tell her story coherently and concisely to detectives right after. Again, wow.

- Could Isadora have pretended she (or more likely a male pseudonym) was a publisher and wanted to print Douglas' manuscript that he'd talked about? Wouldn't that have been easier and stood a decent chance of working, unlike the idea to try to buy the entirety of Mrs. Maberley's earthly possessions?

- Langdon Pike, Victorian TMZ or Daily Mail. In what way does Holmes help him? Isn't that against his ethics? Or is this the way he extracts punishment from people he otherwise cannot touch for justice, no matter how much they deserve it?

- "I knew him slightly." vs. "What a magnificent creature he was!" - What is the real story of the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Douglas Maberley? Has Holmes ever been this passionate and openly effusive about another person before? Perhaps Violet from The Illustrious Client, but I thought Holmes was attracted to her as well. "He was not a society butterfly but a strong, proud man who gave and expected all." Did he expect all from Holmes and that's why they drifted apart? Slash goggles engage!

Comment away, and join us next Sunday for The Mazarin Stone!

Comments

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Oh dear God, the racism ^^" What on earth was ACD playing at? When you compare this story to The Yellow Face... And Holmes a racist? This is completely out of character. He mentions many times that he doesn't go by people's personal appearance. Racism is the antithesis of the Science of Deduction.

Throughout this story Holmes seems to be having some kind of breakdown. He just isn't himself. And the comedy in the story seems broader than usual. All in all, I prefer just to write this off as an aberration ^^"

I really, really like your idea about Langdon Pike. I thought it was strange - Holmes passing on gossip. But passing on details about wrongdoing when the wrongdoers can't be formally brought to book makes a lot more sense. Like comedians and satirists nowadays mocking wrongdoing (while taking advice from the lawyers ^^). And your idea about Isadora Klein pretending to be a publisher is inspired. I suppose Mrs Klein is ruthless but simply isn't that clever. She chucks money and violence at a problem.

I admire and applaud your commitment to slash ^^ But I personally believe that Holmes and Maberley were what Holmes says they were - only acquaintances. As I say, Holmes does appear to be having some kind of breakdown in this story, but I don't think he'd be so effusive in front of Maberley's mother if there was more to the situation than that. I was completely taken aback though that you thought Holmes was attracted to Miss de Merville. I had never even considered this. I shall have to reread the story ^^

(And I promise you, this is the last time I'm going to edit this comment ^^" Sorry.)

[chiapetzukamori.livejournal.com]

This is one of the stories I've heard people say was likely written by someone other than Doyle. While it's certainly possible this was ghost-written, I find it interesting that people rush to claim it couldn't be Doyle because it isn't up to par with other stories and it contains problematic elements like racism. I don't know how things were done back then, but if this was ghost written I would think the true author's name would be mentioned *somewhere*.

Holmes is a bit of a douche in that opening scene though, isn't he...*sigh*