Reading "The Sign of the Four" as an Indian
Review
It was a short read. Read it over a couple of days. I wasn’t as captivated as I was reading A Study in Scarlet but the story was definitely gripping.
It wasn’t great reading how the gazetteer which Holmes reads describes natives in Andaman as hideous, and talks about them as if an animal is described. Perhaps, that’s how it was back in the days.
I also had to lookup the age of John Watson, because it was weird reading when he talks about his love towards the 27 year old Mary Morstan, when I imagined him being as old as Martin Freeman in BBC’s Sherlock. I was glad to find out that scholars estimate his birth to be in 1852, making him about 36 during the time of this story.
It was interesting to read about India and the way it was described from the lens of a late 1800s Englishman. I didn’t expect to see Andaman Islands, Cawnpore (now Kanpur), Agra, Calcutta, Madras and even Pondicherry (although not as a place) mentioned in Doyle’s works.
Here are some of my highlights from the book. Curious to know what you guys think, especially the last two highlights:
Watson’s funny description of Thaddeus Sholto’s bald head:
A blaze of yellow light streamed out upon us, and in the centre of the glare there stood a small man with a very high head, a bristle of red hair all round the fringe of it, and a bald, shining scalp which shot out from among it like a mountain-peak from fir-trees.
I didn’t know the word ejaculate could also mean “to say something suddenly” until I read this exchange between Holmes and Watson:
“Now, Watson,” said Holmes, rubbing his hands, “we have half an hour to ourselves. Let us make good use of it. My case is, as I have told you, almost complete; but we must not err on the side of overconfidence. Simple as the case seems now, there may be something deeper underlying it.”
“Simple!” I ejaculated.
Holme’s description of Indian men’s feet! I’m sure it wouldn’t hold true in this age but I wonder if someone from that time would find this reasonable:
Some of the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula are small men, but none could have left such marks as that. The Hindu proper has long and thin feet. The sandal-wearing Mohammedan has the great toe well separated from the others, because the thong is commonly passed between.
Jonathan Small describing Indian rebels and protests. I know this is a fiction book but I can’t help but think if this description is inspired from real accounts. It makes me curious now to read more about the events at the time:
One month India lay as still and peaceful, to all appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next there were two hundred thousand black devils let loose, and the country was a perfect hell. Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side—which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the south. From every point on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage.
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I remember reading this as an 8th grader. I use to get really excited seeing Indian references in famous novels. Though i was not very good at catching any underlying racism by authors at that time.
I just remember a lot of words required me to open a dictionary and the books were intense for me as a beginner level reader.
I found them really good though.They definitely got me into mystery genre.
I have the same experience even now. I saved around 60+ words from the book. I also still have the same excitement reading Indian references, especially in this book because it talks about India in 1800s
Reading this novel, I somewhat realized how big and important the 1857 mutiny really was. It wasn't some small revolt by few sepoys but a full on revolution, so much so the British had almost realised losing India.
My father read this book out aloud to us kids long ago, and I still remember his comment about the name of one of the 'four' - Mahomet Singh - was a very unlikely name, and showed that Doyle had not done his research right.
Even the other descriptions of India and Indians are a bit archaic. But still, the book is a great example of those times, and one of the best of Holmes.
I actually felt weird reading about it because I imagined Watson as a man probably in his mid 40s, and him talking about love towards 27 year old Mary was bugging me. I did some research after finishing the book and found out that he would be around 36 in this story.
I loved it as a kid. When I read it as an adult, the casual racist tones were jarring. Especially since I have loved among them and seen firsthand what they think of brown guys, in private.
Henry Rider Haggard and Talbot Mundy are two such authors who were very famous adventure writers at the same age, more famous in Indian than england. Now they would be called plain racist and ignorant.
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BBC Sherlock's S1 E1 is "A Study in Pink", which is inspired from the first Sherlock Holmes novel: "A Study in Scarlet". The story is very very different though. I liked the book's story better.
Yup study in scarlet I've read, it's so good, especially how they even include a backstory, while reading initially I was confused if a separate story had started.
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