The Sign of the Four (Grades 9–1) York Notes

Sherlock Holmes is unique in the fact he has invented his own profession as ‘The only unofficial detective’, suggesting he likes to do things in his own way and without having to answer to others.

He seems critical of the way other detectives work and does not think highly of them or their methods, which he may see as lacking in skill. We see this in the extract when he says the others are ‘out of their depths’, but also later in the novella when we are able to contrast Holmes’s methods with Jones’s at Pondicherry Lodge.

Holmes can even be critical of his own closest friend and is very honest with Watson about his feelings about his writing, ‘I glanced over it’, suggesting it was not worth a closer look. We know that at other times this hurts Watson’s feelings, for example when Holmes is insensitive about Watson's brother after examining his watch. This suggests Holmes does not like to compromise in any way, which is shown in his attitude to his work.

Holmes enjoys the challenge of difficult cases and views all of his work as a way of exercising his mental ability. He makes bold statements such as ‘I crave for mental exaltation.’ However, both Watson and Mrs Hudson worry about him in Chapter 8 and he is described using adjectives such as ‘dejected’ and ‘morose’. This implies his need for difficult work has a darker side in that when Holmes is bored he becomes very depressed.

In ‘The Sign of the Four’, Holmes pieces together the mystery almost exactly right after examining the crime scene closely. He is presented using animal imagery as he examines Pondicherry Lodge with ‘beady eyes ... like those of a bird’, ‘swift, silent and furtive ... like a trained blood hound’ as though he is working instinctively. However, he is working much more scientifically and forensically and his approach helps to show the great scientific strides that were made in the nineteenth century and the spirit of change. It is he who works out the connection with the one legged man, he deduces that this has to be Small and he works out he has an accomplice with small bare feet. None of this occurs to Jones who does not examine things with Holmes's unique approach, ‘I will make you a free present of the name and description of one of the two people who were in this room last night.’

At other points in the novella Holmes quotes other writers in French and German, he plays the violin, we learn he can wrestle and climb. He is not just an intellectual but has many skills. He uses all of them inventively too - such as when he disguises himself as an old sailor to gain the trust of the people in the boatyards to find the ‘Aurora’.

Holmes has a reputation in London. He is recommended to Miss Morstan by a previous client. McMurdo knows him by reputation: Toby’s owner is happy to help him; he is able to charm a band of street urchins to help him. Even Jones has to conclude that, ‘He's a man who is not to be beat’, allowing the reader to see him as an extraordinary character with extraordinary abilities.