The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Scholarly Commons ...

9). While the tale and its quick publication may imply that The Sign of Four
(1890/2001) is a frivolous work, it offers perhaps one of the darkest and more troubling
displays of Holmes‟s character. For me, and likewise for any fan new to the character of
Holmes, the image conjured by The Sign of Four’s (1890/2001) first paragraph
cultivates genuine concern for a supposedly infallible fictional character:
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece, and his
hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous
fingers he adjusted the delicate needle and rolled back his left shirtcuff. For
some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist,
all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally, he thrust the
sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-
lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction. (Doyle, 1890/2001, p. 5)
Watson viewed this display “three times a day for many months . . . [and] custom had
not reconciled [his] mind to it” (Doyle, 2001, p. 5). Doyle‟s depiction of Holmes‟s drug
use surprised me; having only recently finished the mythical The Hound of the
Baskervilles (1902/2003), I had not expected such a severe and realistic depiction of
Holmes‟s cocaine addiction. In turn, I, like Watson, could not reconcile the Sherlock
Holmes, who features on a student‟s required reading list, and the three dimensional
dark detective before me. Similarly, while Holmes transformed, so did Watson; often
the equality of their friendship suffers when commercially reproduced. However,
Watson‟s response to Holmes‟s drug abuse reminds us of the medical knowledge and
experience he brings to the partnership: “Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure,
risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed?” (Doyle,
1890/2001, p. 6). Initially the image of Holmes indulging in cocaine was difficult to
reconcile. However, in retrospect, the ideological contradiction that that image
represents is responsible for cultivating an insatiable fandom.
Original product: The Sign of Four ideologies
Ideologically, Holmes is a character who embodies justice and logic over emotion;
however, as mentioned earlier, some of his actions contradict these principles. While
purchasing a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine was legal at the turn of 20 th Century,
Holmes avoided opium dens for leisure and would deny any addiction to such a
substance. Therefore his pursuit of justice and his own role in enacting it, contradicts
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