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The Adventure of the Empty House - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story
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The Adventure of the Empty House (The Return of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) The description of Ronald Adair playing cards every day made me wonder if he was somehow gainfully employed. Did this occur to you? What explanation can we draw about this?
2) How was Watson’s work ethic and dedication affected by Holmes’ presumed death? What kind of toll did Holmes’ presumed death have on Watson, both emotionally and in terms of his desire to find answers to questions that arise?
3) Do you agree with the way Watson reacted to discovering that Holmes was alive? Why or why not?
4) Do you think it was unfair for Holmes to neglect to inform Watson that he was alive? Did he have a good reason for not doing so?
5) Throughout the story, characters are described with very specific wordage, depicting features such as “a thin, projecting nose” and “his face was… scored with deep, savage lines.” How do these descriptions contribute to the reader’s perception of each character?
6) What is the significance of the gun and the bullets used by Colonel Sebastian Moran?
The gun and the bullets was a master stroke, air guns or air rifles make virtually no noise at all. There is no rifling in the barrels therefore it will be difficult to forensically match one of the bullets (or to be more specific pellets) to the actual weapon. The soft bullet that is referred to shatters on impact rather than making a neat hole causing untold internal damage to the victim.The part that I didn’t understand in this episode was that it refers to Watson having a bereavement? I don’t remember any specific reference to this, therefore are we to assume that his wife died? I suppose she didn’t have much of a life anyway because Watson was always riding shotgun for Holmes!
Yes, it is generally assumed his wife has died. Certainly, Watson ends up sharing rooms with Holmes again, and his wife never reappears.This was fun. It crams a lot into quite a short story: a murder mystery, Holmes' return, backstory, Holmes in disguise, plus all the skulking about in Baker St.
Colonel Moran on the page is different than I remember him. He seems more often portrayed as a blustery military man, the brawn to Moriarty's brain; but here he seems colder and more aristocratic.
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The air gun dates back to the late sixteenth century, and was in use throughout the 19th century: see Wikipedia. The lack of sound, flash, and powder smoke gave it an advantage as a hunting and sniping weapon, but lack of power hindered its adoption. (It also saved no end on the cost of ammunition: that expense delayed the widespread adoption of the machine gun, as in operation it was a budget-buster for small armies.)
Interesting that Holmes returns disguised as a bookseller. Could this be Conan Doyle’s disguised dig at his publishers who, amongst others, pressurised him to revive the great detective?The best part of the story for me was the creation and deployment of the wax model and the way the intrepid Mrs. Hudson risked her life when turning the model every fifteen minutes.
Long suffering Mrs. Hudson got very little praise or even acknowledgement for the way she managed Holmes. In fact he treated her abominably. Why she hadn’t given notice years ago I can’t imagine. Without Mrs. Hudson regularly clearing up his pig sty environment, Holmes would have died of some bacterial disease years ago.
In fact both Mrs. Hudson and Dr. Watson’s wife were examples of women taken for granted both by Holmes, and it seems by Conan Doyle. Not to acknowledge Mrs. Watson’s death in some way was shameful.
We know that at the time of writing this short story Conan Doyle was enamoured with Jean Leckie (and had been for years) whilst his wife was struggling with tuberculosis. Maybe Conan Doyle’s confused emotions could explain the killing off of Mrs. Watson in such a peremptory manner?
https://gazetteer.sherlock-holmes.org...
The Adventure of the Empty House (The Return of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability The Return of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/108
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in Collier's in the United States on September 26, 1903, and in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in October 1903.
Public pressure compelled Conan Doyle to bring the sleuth back to life, and explain his survival after his deadly struggle with Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem". This is the first Holmes story set three years after his supposed death at the Reichenbach Falls, as recounted in "The Final Problem."
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Empty House" was published in the US in Collier's on September 26, 1903, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in October 1903. The story was published with seven illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Collier's, and with seven illustrations by Sidney Paget in the Strand. It was included in the short story collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in the US in February 1905 and in the UK in March 1905.
A Short Review
This is the short story set after Sherlock Holmes supposed death after a struggle with his nemesis Moriaty at the Reichenbach Falls. Arthur Conan Doyle had intended to kill off Sherlock Holmes but public outcry at the loss of such a literary gem forced him to return to writing about the exploits of his consulting detective.
The transition between the author thinking he had killed him off good and proper and then him still being alive and kicking is a seamless one, and fits so perfectly with the personality of Sherlock Holmes. There’s no doubt he feels a little bit sorry for duping Dr Watson, but he isn’t really sorry for doing so. He believed it was the right thing to do (for him), and so did it.
As Sherlock Holmes recounts his deception at the Falls and his climb along a dangerous rockface, the tension palpably. Imagine the shock which causes Watson to faint for the only time in his life at seeing his dear departed friend suddenly standing before him in his study, as if an apparition.
It was interesting to read about what Sherlock Holmes had been up to for the three years he had been dead. It’s no surprise that he travelled the world, met with some very interesting people and conducted research experiences.
Inspirations
Andrew Glazzard has suggested that the author may have been hinting to the audience of the royal baccarat scandal in which Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet, an army officer and tiger hunter, had been accused of cheating at baccarat. He sued his accusers - the ensuing trial notably saw Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) take the stand as a witness. Glazzard also suggests that the oblique references that Holmes makes about his "missing years" are hints to the explorations of Sven Hedin in Tibet and Francis Younghusband's expedition to that country, and also to pro-British espionage in Mahdist Sudan.