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Summary AQA GCSE English Literature 19th Century Novel - The Sign of Four Chapter 6
AQA GCSE English Literature for 19th Century Novel - The Sign of Four by Arthur Conon Doyle CHAPTER 6
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Chapter 6 – Sherlock Gives a Demonstration Thaddeus has left to fetch the police and Holmes talks Watson through his deductions.
Character: Sherlock Holmes
Holmes’ speech is full of concise and factual observations – this increases the pace of his
dialogue, which shows how quickly his mind jumps from one observation to another.
Holmes encourages Watson to think logically. He presents the facts for him and invites
him to make a deduction. This gives the reader some insight into the way that Holmes
thinks.
Holmes identifies two perpetrators – a man with a wooden leg who entered the locked
room through the window and an ‘ally’ who entered through a trap door in the roof of
the room above.
In this room, they discover footprints that are ‘half the size’ of an ordinary man’s feet.
Watson wonders if they belong to a child. This is the most obvious deduction, but
Holmes dismisses it – he doesn’t jump to conclusion.
Holmes searches for clues with ‘beady eyes’ like a ‘bird’ – he is very aware of his
surroundings. He moves like a ‘blood-hound’, as though he is a skilled hunter. This
suggests that the murderer won’t escape easily.
Character: Sherlock Holmes
The animal imagery used to describe Holmes during his investigation gives the
impression that his skills are natural and instinctive.
Holmes encourages Watson to observe that the poisoned thorn used to kill
Bartholomew is not ‘English’. This hints that the murderer is foreign, which plays to
Victorian racial prejudices.
The arrival of the police disrupts Holmes’ methodical investigation. Athelney Jones starts
to theorise wildly, weaving a ‘web’ around Thaddeus. He tries to make the facts fit his
theory, instead of looking at the evidence.
Jones arrests Thaddeus, even though Holmes shows him the evidence that he has
missed. This makes Jones look incompetent. Holmes proves his superior skill by telling
Jones who he thinks really committed the murder.
Holmes names the wooden-legged man as Johnathan Small. This makes Holmes look
brilliant, as he makes this precise deduction with little evidence.
He gives a detailed description of Small and introduces a new theory – Small is a
‘convict’. It seems like he is close to solving the case.
The mystery isn’t fully resolved as Small’s ally has not been identified yet. This keeps the
reader interested and helps the plot keep its momentum.
Holmes asks Watson to fetch Toby the dog, who has an ‘amazing power of scent’, to
follow a trail of creosote (a type of oil) that Small’s accomplice trod in. Holmes would
rather have Toby than ‘the whole detective force of London’ – this would have amused
Victorian readers as it emphasises the inadequacy of the police.
Theme: Duality
Holmes and Jones contrast – they have very different approaches to detective work
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