So Holmes and Watson continue following Toby as he traces the scent of the man with the wooden leg. Holmes and Watson prepared their weapons in case they had to come face to face with any opposition. This shows that even Holmes is not afraid to use force. So I guess he has that competitive edge maybe from his early boxing days. I'd actually like to find out more about his boxing career, if I can. Then, Toby leads them to an intersection and "began to run backward and forward with one ear cocked and the other drooping, the very picture of canine indecision. Then he waddled round in circles, looking up to us from time to time, as if to ask for sympathy in his embarassment."
As usual, Holmes shows his impatience by replying, "What the deuce is the matter with the dog?" growled Holmes. "They surely would not take a cab or go off in a balloon." I just thought this part was funny because it wasn't the dog's fault if it smells something else that is more appealing than what Holmes was after. Furthermore, Toby chooses one path and leads them to a barrel covered in creosote, which was on the hankerchief that Holmes had Toby smell. They had to back track and follow the other path. *Creosote is a tarlike substance used in chimneys.
As usual, Holmes goes to his Baker Street Division of the detective police force and Holmes has already figured out who was the accomplice who helped the man with the wooden leg. He's found out that it is a person of South American descent, from the Andaman Islands. They're supposed to be monsterlike and use poisoned arrows as their main weapons.
What I don't get is why Holmes can figure this all out even with his specialized deductive reasoning. He only needs a few facts and he has the mystery all solved. Plus he is a drug addict, so it doesn't make much sense. He shouldn't be getting smarter, he should be losing tons of brain cells and becoming less intelligent. If Holmes was a real person, I'd wouldn't like him. I don't know how Watson can stand his personality type.
1 comment:
I know how you feel, Holmes just seems like a perfectionist character, he is always thinking ahead for all possibilities, for example when he gathered weapons in order to face opposition, and although he got aggitated at the dog for not being able to smell his way to the criminals, he magically has another scrap of tar in a garbage bin besides him, all the cards work in his favor, and if they don't there is always a more clear, better alternative. I guess the author has not picturized his character with practicality. Oh and where did the dog come from? Did they always have toby around?
I guess the cocaine aspect of the story is supposed to bring a sort of irony into the plot. Although the brain cells are supposed to be destoyed his are instead exponentiating, which is a bit weird, and I suppose this is why its a fiction story not non-fictional.
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