Savagery According to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

GSTR 110J

Essay #1

Tuesday, September 19th

Savagery According to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Savagery, what is it and who is to draw the line? Most people in today’s society when asked to think of someone that is savage, their minds will automatically think back to the tribes seen on the discovery channel; half naked, dressed in war paint, tromping through the woods barefoot in search of prey they are going to kill with little arrows and spears. Not everyone, however, realizes their own savage tendencies. Can one not say that someone seeking revenge or wrongfully killing someone out of spite is a form of savagery? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his short story, “The Sign of Four,” expresses different extents of savagery. Everyone has a bit of savagery in them, some a greater amount than others, but still yet there is savagery. It is the knowledge one possess and the will power one has which determines if one acts upon those savage instincts. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle demonstrates this very well in his short story by using Holmes, Jonathon Small and Tonga.

At first glance no one would assume that Sherlock Holmes himself could possess some traits of savagery, but look closer. Notice how distant he is from others, how he can be unemotional and sometimes cold? Even Dr. Watson said that Holmes could be almost inhuman at times. Ever stop to think that this could be a bit savage? He could not or would not even congratulate Watson on being a marriage prospect for Mrs. Morstan, saying, "Love is an emotional thing and what ever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things" (235). What type of creature, other than one holding some characteristics of savagery, would be opposed to feeling emotions? Savages are known for their short temper and fuse. Holmes himself even started to get impatient with Watson, telling him to try a little analysis himself. But it was the tone of voice he used that hinted at being impatient and feed up with the smaller mind of Watson.

Jonathon Small, an uncivilized man full of self doubt but undoubtedly knows right from wrong possesses even more signs of savagery than Holmes. It is not so much that he is a savage, but that he has savage like tendencies. He is greedy and selfish, and has no intentions of sharing with others what he believes to be his own. Have you ever seen on television a savage sharing a kill? Not only is he unwilling to share, but he seeks revenge against the man he believes wronged him. On page 232 Small speaks about how he dreamed of killing Sholto. “A hundred times have I killed him in my sleep,” Small said. Another savage act that Small committed out of revenge was killing one of the convict-guards that would insult him. Like a savage, he wanted to beat his head with a rock but not finding one he used his wooden leg instead, smashing the