The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
This topic is about
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
>
Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
Discussion Questions
1) Given the preface, is Watson a reliable narrator?
2) It’s mentioned early in the story that Holmes’ nightmare would be to vacation alone, and he finds comfort in crowds of people. Why do you think that is?
3) Holmes mentions he only wants to be “associated with crimes that present some difficulty in finding the solution.” How does this characterize Holmes?
4) After it’s revealed that Jim Browner is the culprit, we find that Mr. Browner’s hostility towards his wife was largely due to Miss Sarah Cushing. Is Mr. Browner still fully responsible for the crime?
5) How do you think Miss Sarah Cushing will continue to live after knowing what happened?
6) How would you answer Holmes’ final question to Watson: “What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear?”
Gem wrote: "6) How would you answer Holmes’ final question to Watson: “What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear?”"Another great Holmes line.
It's been a long time since I watched the Jeremy Brett series, but I seem to remember Holmes saying something like "the French would understand this as a crime of passion," and thinking as a child it was absolutely outrageous to let this man off the hook for a crime of passion. He cuts off his wife's ear.
This is much darker than many of the stories, and reminds me depressingly of real life, and the many modern men who can't handle rejection and take it out on everyone around them.
I might have agreed that this was a crime of passion. The man was treated abominably by his wife and right up to the very last she rubbed his face in it. However, the business about cutting the ears off, and the fact that he’d already threatened to do so makes it murder in my book.
Holme’s last comment at the end of this story truly explains the point of this gruesome and depressing story. It is about people’s lack of respect and decency towards each other, even members of their own family.All four, the two sisters, the husband and the lover were guilty of inconsiderate self interest. No trust, just deceit on a grand scale.
When common decency and respect utterly breaks down, such as when civil war breaks out, atrocities become common place and this was a microcosmic example of that in a domestic setting.
I felt sorry for the decent sister, not just because she received the ears, but because she would have to live on with those family demons that her sisters had created.
Mod
I agree-it did seem like this was a very complex family dynamic and while there is no excuse for murder there was also no excuse for the third sister to interfere in the marriage.
The ill fated lovers were followed by the murderous husband to New Brighton, which in the North West of England was one of the most famous holiday resorts at the time. In 1900 it even built a tower to rival Blackpool which was not to far away up the coast.Here are some historical photos etc. showing how the place looked at the time Conan Doyle wrote his story.
https://www.wirralhistory.uk/newbrigh...
Personally, I didn't believe a word the murderer said. He lapses back into drinking but thinks his wife would have loved him anyway except that her evil sister put her in the way of meeting someone else? He would have spared his wife except that it turned out she was upset about her lover being bludgeoned to death, so he killed her too? It was all done in the heat of the moment in a jealous rage, but then he went so far as to cut off two people's ears, buy a box and a load of salt, and take them to the post office? The man is a psychopath!
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
Availability The Adventure of the Cardboard Box https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2344
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in January 1893, and in Harper's Weekly in the United States on January 14, 1893. It is the second of twelve stories collected in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in most British editions of the canon, and the second of the eight stories from His Last Bow in most American versions.
Publication History
The story was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in January 1893, and in the US in Harper's Weekly on 14 January 1893. It was also published in the US edition of the Strand in February 1893. In The Strand Magazine, the story included eight illustrations by Sidney Paget. It did not include any illustrations in Harper's Weekly.
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" was not published in the first British edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, but it was published in the first American edition, though it was quickly removed because of its controversial subject matter. The story was later published again in 1917 in His Last Bow. Even today, most American editions of the canon include it with His Last Bow, while most British editions keep the story in its original place, within the Memoirs.
When "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" was removed from publication, Conan Doyle moved a passage from it that showed Holmes "mind reading" Watson to "The Adventure of the Resident Patient". (The text of the moved passage runs from "Our blinds were half-drawn, and Holmes lay curled upon the sofa" to "I should not have intruded it upon your attention had you not shown some incredulity the other day.") This passage reveals Dr. Watson to be an avid admirer of Henry Ward Beecher, whose portrait he keeps at his home. The passage seems to have little to do with the mystery but maybe a subtle reference to the theme of adultery as Beecher was famously put on trial for the offense in 1875, an event many contemporary readers would have remembered.
A Short Review
Sherlock Holmes stories were bringing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the general public was clamoring for more, and yet Conan Doyle penned a story that could have damaged his reputation severely.
On the face of it, "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" seems like a case that only deals with a practical joke, and this is certainly a belief that Lestrade holds. Holmes immediately sees a more murderous reason for the sending of severed ears from two different people.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle makes use of his own medical knowledge to put details into the story and also has Holmes demonstrate his own scientific abilities in the examination of ears. Conan Doyle also designs the case so that Holmes finds it simple to solve, although it is not so clear-cut for Lestrade and Watson.
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" is perhaps more famous for a scene between Holmes and Watson that sees the detective seemingly able to read his friend’s mind, something which just goes to prove the prowess of Holmes when it comes to reasoning.
So why is "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" so controversial? Well, the story deals with adultery, a reason so mild today that it is hard to comprehend, but for many years, it was a subject that prevented the story from being reprinted.
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" is also famously the last story adapted by Granada TV, where Jeremy Brett starred as Holmes. The episode appeared in the seventh series and was broadcast on April 11, 1994. Like most episodes, the storyline is kept close to the original, with only minor alterations for impact.
The story would also prove an inspiration for the second series episode from Elementary titled "Ears to You".