Canon Discussion: The Devil's Foot
Jun. 1st, 2014 09:27 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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sherlock60This week we’re having a look at The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot. As always, I’ve typed up a few thoughts to get the discussion underway.
…my long and intimate friendship with Mr. Sherlock Holmes… At the beginning of this story Watson and Holmes don’t seem to have a particularly intimate friendship. They’re on good terms but don’t appear to be in close contact. In contrast, during the case that Watson relates, whether you think of them as lovers or as friends, it has to be said that they’re acting domestically as a couple; as a single household. Holmes needs a rest – Watson automatically goes with him to look after him. And is very protective of Holmes. How do we go from that situation to 13 years later, when they’re living apart and Holmes sends the occasional telegram? Of course, Holmes has retired and Watson may not have wanted to leave London yet. But Watson stopped living at Baker Street before Holmes left for Sussex. Could the answer simply be that Watson did indeed get married for a second time?
I have no idea what backward sweep of memory had brought the matter fresh to his mind, or what freak had caused him to desire that I should recount it… Any ideas as to why Holmes has suddenly thought of this case?
Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to Holmes I may some day recount… Rather intriguing. Again, any ideas as to what this “dramatic introduction” might have been?
““Let us walk along the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. We are more likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. The sea air, sunshine, and patience, Watson—all else will come.” Holmes seems to be saying here that he can switch his brain off if he doesn’t have enough data to work with. Isn’t this contradicting what he says in WIST?: “My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built.” There he seems to be saying his mind is out of his control, always active. Perhaps the difference is that in WIST he’s bored and doesn’t have a case yet, but here he’s pausing in the middle of a case, waiting for enough material to work with.
“…unless, like a sensible man, you determine to have nothing to do with the affair.” Stepping outside of the Game for a moment, obviously Watson has to take part in the experiment because he’s the narrator – only by inhaling the drug himself can he tell us what the effect is. But going back into the Game, what on earth possesses him to take part? If Holmes was determined to dose himself with the drug, then the most sensible thing is for Watson to watch from a distance, so he isn’t affected and can rescue Holmes if necessary. And if it was absolutely necessary for them both to experience the effects of the drug, it would be best for them to inhale the drug one at a time. It’s rather touching that Watson manages to rescue Holmes anyway – it’s Holmes’ distress that gives Watson the strength to save both of them.
“When I think of Mortimer Tregennis, with the foxy face and the small shrewd, beady eyes behind the spectacles, he is not a man whom I should judge to be of a particularly forgiving disposition.” It seems odd that Holmes should be apparently judging a man’s character by his appearance. I’ve quoted it before from SIGN: “…the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”
“He was a sly, subtle, scheming man, and several things arose which gave me a suspicion of him…” Why does Sterndale show a deadly poison to a man he doesn’t trust? I know he wanted to be polite to Tregennis for the sake of his beloved Brenda and it’s unlikely the two men had anything in common, so Sterndale would have been casting about for things to talk about but it feels like an odd thing to do.
“This villain had thought that I would be at sea before the news could reach me, and that I should be lost for years in Africa.” Why didn’t Tregennis wait just a little longer and make sure that Sterndale was out of the country? There was no rush to carry out his crime. But perhaps once he’d decided to do it, he felt he had to do it as soon as possible before he lost his nerve.
“He came down and admitted me through the window of the sitting-room.” Why does Tregennis admit Sterndale? He must know he is in danger from him. But I suppose he thinks that Sterndale would go straight to the police if he didn’t let him in. Perhaps Tregennis hoped he could convince Sterndale he had nothing to do with what happened to his siblings.
“I told him that I had come both as judge and executioner.” What do you think – were Sterndale’s actions justified? Was Holmes right to allow him to go without punishment?
Next Sunday, 8th June, we’ll be considering The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. Hope you can join us then.
…my long and intimate friendship with Mr. Sherlock Holmes… At the beginning of this story Watson and Holmes don’t seem to have a particularly intimate friendship. They’re on good terms but don’t appear to be in close contact. In contrast, during the case that Watson relates, whether you think of them as lovers or as friends, it has to be said that they’re acting domestically as a couple; as a single household. Holmes needs a rest – Watson automatically goes with him to look after him. And is very protective of Holmes. How do we go from that situation to 13 years later, when they’re living apart and Holmes sends the occasional telegram? Of course, Holmes has retired and Watson may not have wanted to leave London yet. But Watson stopped living at Baker Street before Holmes left for Sussex. Could the answer simply be that Watson did indeed get married for a second time?
I have no idea what backward sweep of memory had brought the matter fresh to his mind, or what freak had caused him to desire that I should recount it… Any ideas as to why Holmes has suddenly thought of this case?
Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to Holmes I may some day recount… Rather intriguing. Again, any ideas as to what this “dramatic introduction” might have been?
““Let us walk along the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. We are more likely to find them than clues to this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. The sea air, sunshine, and patience, Watson—all else will come.” Holmes seems to be saying here that he can switch his brain off if he doesn’t have enough data to work with. Isn’t this contradicting what he says in WIST?: “My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built.” There he seems to be saying his mind is out of his control, always active. Perhaps the difference is that in WIST he’s bored and doesn’t have a case yet, but here he’s pausing in the middle of a case, waiting for enough material to work with.
“…unless, like a sensible man, you determine to have nothing to do with the affair.” Stepping outside of the Game for a moment, obviously Watson has to take part in the experiment because he’s the narrator – only by inhaling the drug himself can he tell us what the effect is. But going back into the Game, what on earth possesses him to take part? If Holmes was determined to dose himself with the drug, then the most sensible thing is for Watson to watch from a distance, so he isn’t affected and can rescue Holmes if necessary. And if it was absolutely necessary for them both to experience the effects of the drug, it would be best for them to inhale the drug one at a time. It’s rather touching that Watson manages to rescue Holmes anyway – it’s Holmes’ distress that gives Watson the strength to save both of them.
“When I think of Mortimer Tregennis, with the foxy face and the small shrewd, beady eyes behind the spectacles, he is not a man whom I should judge to be of a particularly forgiving disposition.” It seems odd that Holmes should be apparently judging a man’s character by his appearance. I’ve quoted it before from SIGN: “…the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”
“He was a sly, subtle, scheming man, and several things arose which gave me a suspicion of him…” Why does Sterndale show a deadly poison to a man he doesn’t trust? I know he wanted to be polite to Tregennis for the sake of his beloved Brenda and it’s unlikely the two men had anything in common, so Sterndale would have been casting about for things to talk about but it feels like an odd thing to do.
“This villain had thought that I would be at sea before the news could reach me, and that I should be lost for years in Africa.” Why didn’t Tregennis wait just a little longer and make sure that Sterndale was out of the country? There was no rush to carry out his crime. But perhaps once he’d decided to do it, he felt he had to do it as soon as possible before he lost his nerve.
“He came down and admitted me through the window of the sitting-room.” Why does Tregennis admit Sterndale? He must know he is in danger from him. But I suppose he thinks that Sterndale would go straight to the police if he didn’t let him in. Perhaps Tregennis hoped he could convince Sterndale he had nothing to do with what happened to his siblings.
“I told him that I had come both as judge and executioner.” What do you think – were Sterndale’s actions justified? Was Holmes right to allow him to go without punishment?
Next Sunday, 8th June, we’ll be considering The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. Hope you can join us then.
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Date: 2014-06-01 02:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-01 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-01 05:29 pm (UTC)Clearly the root affects people's minds even before it is burned from the way most of them behave irrationally.
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Date: 2014-06-01 06:13 pm (UTC)And wasn't it daft behaviour from Holmes and Watson? Two otherwise apparently intelligent men.
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Date: 2014-06-01 06:43 pm (UTC)Pity it's so likely Moran was hanged or in jail. He and Sterndale were likely to meet.
If my suggestion is wrong, I should think he waited until Sterndale was safe.
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Date: 2014-06-01 09:10 pm (UTC)You may be right - another criminal in England had got hold of the drug and Holmes thought either there was no point in keeping it secret any more, or thought that the public should be alerted that it existed. Or indeed as you say, Holmes wanted to wait until Sterndale was safely out of the way - had "buried" himself in Africa.