Finishing a Story, and Also Marxism

To pick up where I left off, Watson is at 221B Baker Street, anxiously awaiting news of the elusive ship, the Aurora.  He soon finds himself in the company of Athelney Jones; the detective officially assigned the case. They are both surprised to find themselves suddenly in the presence of the one and only Sherlock Holmes, who was in the guise of a sailor. Then Holmes claims that, through many deductions, observations, surmising, and maybe just a hint of educated guessing (though he himself would likely never admit it); he has solved this tedious trek for treasure. The mystery is revealed, the culprits, at least those still breathing, are apprehended, and Watson is engaged. Oh sorry, did I forget to talk about that? Well it seems the good doctor had become infatuated with the young Miss Mary Morsten, and she with him. Truly the classic, storybook ending: full of love, concise summaries of crimes decades in the making, and just a hint of murder. What more could you ask for?

And now, time for the totally not mandatory, response section of the post. Today’s topic is Marxism so, you know, it’s got to be a good one, right? Throughout The Sign of the Four, author Arthur Conan Doyle displays several instances of Marxist ideals. I’m not saying they’re intentional, but I’m also not saying they’re not.  A good example of this is when Holmes uses his network of street urchins to find the lost ship the Aurora. Here, Doyle displays the cooperation of the classes towards a common goal, Holmes, representing the middle class, and the urchins the lowest and poorest class. At the same time, there is a distinct separation of these classes. Holmes reminds them that he wishes to only speak with the leader, rather than have them all running around the flat. Another example is the relationship between Doctor Watson and Miss Morsten. Through their adventure, Watson finds himself falling for her, but is apprehensive about it since she will be of a higher social order if the treasure is found. In the end it works out, however, once again displaying class cooperation. And lastly, the representation of the upper class: throughout the story, the rich and elite are portrayed as weak, selfish people who only care about money. I’m not saying this is totally inaccurate, but the broad stance of the author towards the rich does have an air of Marxism to it. And so, since I still haven’t thought of a good way to wrap these up consistently, this is goodbye…for now.