Sof4

• Sherlock Key Quotes?

  • "give me problems, give me work... and I am in my own proper atmosphere"
  • "I abhor the dull routine of existence"
  • "Pshaw, my dear boy! It was simplicity in itself" (mockery)
  • "with his hands in his pocket, smoking a pipe"
  • "I cannot live without brain work. What else is there to live for?
  • "you really are an automaton, a calculation machine" - Watson
  • "there really is something positively inhuman about you at time" - Watson (SH just sees Mary as a factor in his case)
• Thaddeus Sholto


  • Comic relief
  • Eccentric but harmless
  • Drug usage
  • Strange, jerky little fellow
  • Links to aesthetic movement of the time
  • Enjoys riches and beauty (display of wealth)
  • Appreciation of luxury
  • Physically corrupted by wealth -> anxious
  • Affectionate nature -> Miss Morstan and her situation
  • Morally sound, just, kind
  • Abnormal appearance
  • Burdened by knowledge of the treasure = feeble and vulnerable
  • Desire to rectify the mistakes of the past and seek justice (Mary E.G)
  • Embodies benevolence
• Thaddeus Sholto: '"I am a little nervous and I find my hookah an invaluable sedative"'
• Thaddeus Sholto: '"An oasis of art in the howling desert of South London"'
• Thaddeus Sholto: '"The richest and glossiest of curtains and tapestries draped the walls"'
• Thaddeus Sholto has a "Pendulous lip" and "yellow and irregular teeth"
• Thaddeus Sholto has a "Perpetual jerk, now smiling, now scowling"
• Jonathan Small


  The villain in the novel, the real villain is Major Sholto
• Jonathan Small's character


  • Unhinged and slightly deranged (danger)
  • Selfish
• "Fury and the passion of the man" = unhinged and slightly deranged character (danger)
• "It is my treasure, and if I can't have the loot I'll take darned good that no one else does" = selfish
• Degree of Sympathy for him
• "I was a useless cripple"
• "There was nothing but torture, murder and outrage" - his experience during the Indian Mutiny
• "Which is it to be - death of life?" - Impossible situation
• Jonathan Small's greed


  • "I would rather have one of Tonga's Darts in my hide, than live in a convict's cells and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine"
• His involvement in the Sign of Four -> fiercely loyal to comrades (like Tonga)
• First described as "a bearded hairy face with wild, cruel eyes and an expression of concentrated malevolence" (a savage and uncivilised)
• Jonathan Small's character


  • Determination and survival instincts -> formidable and cunning
  • Seeks retribution and vengeance against those who wronged him
• His actions in criminal activities blur the lines between right and wrong
• His background and circumstances surrounding the treasure -> highlights injustice = nuanced portrayal
• Mary Morstan

  "you are clearly a model client, you have the correct intuition"

  "large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic"

  "her self control was perfect"

  "her expression was sweet and available"

  "a very attractive women"

  "she showed every sign of intense inward agitation"
• Watson

  "you have attempted to tinge it with romanticism"

  "What was I , an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking account that i should dare to think of such things"

  "I speak not only as one comrade to another"
• andaman islanders

  "naturally hideous"

  "fierce, morose and intratable people"
• Emotion vs Rationality

  • watson is a very romantic that develops feelings and emotions for different characters
  • Sherlock is a very rational and believe emotions cloud deduction, work and truth
  • "But the romance was there" I remonstrated
• love and friendship

  • holmes and watson
  • small and tonga - Tonga serves small and helps him pursue his revenge
  • major sholto and caption morstan - based on drinking and gambling - betrays morstan
  • the four - code of honour which small refuses to break - honour among thieves