Canon Discussion: The Veiled Lodger

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week we’re having a look at The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. As usual, I’ve typed up a few thoughts to get the discussion started.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty-three years, and… during seventeen of these I was allowed to cooperate with him and to keep notes of his doings… This website goes into the calculations behind Watson’s statement.

…the politician, the lighthouse, and the trained cormorant… Any thoughts..?

One forenoon -- it was late in 1896 — I received a hurried note from Holmes asking for my attendance. Attendance from where? Holmes and Watson seem to be sharing 221B at this point: ABBE is set in 1897, and begins with Holmes rousing Watson from his bed. Which does rather imply they were living in the same building.

“That will bring him if he's the man I think he is.” It's an unusual story. Is it the only one in which Holmes doesn’t do any detective work at all? His role is simply to listen to the explanation, much like Watson’s normal role.

“He was the rival of Wombwell, and of Sanger…”

"It is usually wiser to tell the truth.” Would it have been wise? Mrs. Ronder would surely have been sent to prison, wouldn’t she? I’ve been trying to think—does Holmes ever lie? I know he often keeps the full truth to himself but that’s not the same thing.

"Poor girl!" he said. "Poor girl!” Holmes’ humanity in this story is rather moving. I just wonder if this level of sympathy is justified though. She has undergone horrific suffering but Holmes seems to be ignoring the fact that Mrs. Ronder is strictly speaking a murderess—she didn’t physically carry out the act but she agreed to the plan. Ronder was a terrible man but that doesn’t mean that killing him is automatically morally defensible. “Leonardo was the one man that he was afraid of.” Mrs. Ronder and her lover could have run away, and tried to find employment at another circus. If Ronder was afraid of Leonardo, then he probably wouldn’t have come after them. But yes, Mrs. Ronder has certainly paid for her sins and deserves some kind of sympathy.

"I never saw him or heard from him again. Perhaps I have been wrong to feel so bitterly against him…” It’s difficult to know what to feel about Leonardo. He’s prepared to brutally murder a man, but it is a man who was maltreating someone he loved. And I do feel sympathy for him panicking and not being able to attack the lion when it pounced on Mrs. Ronder. (I wonder though if that doesn't demonstrate the limits of his love. A loved one in danger generally makes people braver.) I can’t forgive him though for abandoning his lover because her beauty was gone. I hate that Mrs. Ronder thinks of herself as a lesser person because her body is damaged.

"Your life is not your own," he said. "Keep your hands off it." Again, I find Holmes’ straightforward sympathy rather moving. This woman is a stranger but her fate seems to matter a great deal to him. And he doesn’t sugarcoat his words or treat her like a fool.

"I wonder if you would bear it," she said. Holmes held up his hand in a gesture of pity and protest, and together we left the room. It worries me, that word “protest”. Is Holmes indirectly indicating that her face is repulsive and asking her to cover it up again? I wish he’d looked her in the eye for a moment at least. The worst thing about Mrs. Ronder’s situation is the fact that she believes herself to be less than human.



And now a personal message from an accidental mod. This is a significant day for me: with today’s story, I have completed my first set of 60s ^^

I began writing the 60s on my own, posting on another website. With regards to Sherlock60 itself, I was rather late to the party—its closure being announced a few months after I joined. And even though thesmallhobbit and I were allowed to take over the running of the comm, I still assumed I would be posting all by myself at this point. It’s lovely that this has turned out not to be the case—the comm has continued to be a community, always with a small regular core and other people popping in and out.

Obviously, I won’t be stopping now I’ve got the full set—I’m continuing straight on. And there is still virgin territory to cover. I haven’t done a full set of discussion posts yet. (Incidentally, a reminder: any member can do a discussion post. Just let me know in advance and I will step aside that week.) And I’ve barely got going with the clerihews. (Do try and groan more discreetly.) Anyway, I salute you: Sherlock60 and all its members!

After this sort of ending for me, it feels rather appropriate that next Sunday we’ll be back where it all began and having a look at A Study in Scarlet. Hope to see you then.

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Mrs Ronder certainly wasn't innocent, but her suffering was horrific and Leonardo got away scot-free, so in that she is to be pitied.

And I'd like to thank you for keeping this comm going - it continues to be good fun.

I have explained why Holmes had to send Watson a note in my second 60. One year I will remember the ocelot's anniversary before I post.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That's a good point - Mrs. Ronder was the junior partner in the murder, but she got all the suffering. Leonardo may have died in an accident but he had been able to carry on with his life as normal up to then.

I'm still having fun too - I think as long as we're still enjoying it, I'm happy to carry on ^^

And it was lovely to see the ocelot round the place again ^_^

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

You'll certainly see me, then. Thank you very much for mod-ing this comm.

Holmes certainly does mislead, but I agree that compared to modern fictional detectives, most of whom seem compulsive liars, he's very honest indeed.

Good idea about the couple running away. I wonder if it was the fact the only work they knew how to do was for a world to small to hide in?I think, actually, Leonardo at least wanted to inherit the circus along with the widow. And Mrs Ronder probably felt she'd earned it.

Frankly, I agree it was rotten of Leonardo to desert Mrs Ronder. But not surprising. Watson shows from his photo what he thought of the man. But I'm a bit surprised surprised how Jimmy Griggs did.

About Holmes sending a note. I think Watson was out for the day. Possibly even spending a week end away.

Trained cormorants and lighthouses sound like smuggling to me. Very intriguing. And politicians get into everything.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sticking with the comm - it means a lot, honestly ^^"

That's a good point about Leonardo maybe wanting the circus as well as the widow. (Perhaps wanting the circus more than the widow.) That might be why he didn't suggest they just leave.

I don't think Jimmy Griggs did desert Mrs. Ronder. She does say: "I had but one desire, Mr. Holmes, and I had enough money to gratify it. It was that I should cover myself so that my poor face should be seen by none, and that I should dwell where none whom I had ever known should find me." Leonardo deserted her, but she chose to cut herself off from everyone else.

And that's a good couple of theories about where Watson was, and why the cormorant ^_^

[vaysh]

Congratulations to the completion of your first set of 60-word drabbles! :D

I love the concept of this community so much, and am just grateful for the wonderful modding and the opportunity to read all of Sherlock Holmes as a shared experience. sherlock60 has enriched my fannish experience incredibly.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ^___^

I'm so glad you're enjoying the comm too ^^ "Shared experience" - exactly. It's lovely to be able to discuss the canon with other fans. I'd read the stories before, but never in such depth - paying attention to the details and seeing how one story connects up with (or contradicts ^^) another. I've learnt an enormous amount in recent months.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I don't feel inspired to write, but I love re-reading the story and reading the discussion each week.Thank you.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for leaving a comment ^^

And I'm so glad that you're enjoying the comm. If you ever feel like taking part in the discussions, please don't hesitate to join in! ^_^