“You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic A skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development. Would you have any objection to my running my finger along your parietal fissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. it is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull.”(10)
This is a passage at the very beginning of the novel when Sherlock is introduced to Dr. James Mortimer. This passage striked me as very monstrous and creepy in nature. It paints Dr. Mortimer as having some secret devious villiness nature. Dr. Mortimer is a Phrenologist and is deeply interested in Sherlock’s brain. This is most likely because of his almost supernatural talent for observation. So along with the mystery of Baskersvill, there is also the mystery of the great Sherlock Holmes. Something that specifically irked me about this passage was when Dr. Mortimer said “…running my finger along your parietal fissure?”. This quote made me feel like Sherlock was a specimen in a lab, a great gift to science rather than a human being. I can imagine the joy that would come with his death and the obtaining of his skull. The way it would be prodded at and picked apart. This great man shrouded in mystery being the object of every Phrenologist’s affection,”I confess that I covet your skull.” This passage is overall a very strange and out of place thing. For starters it is presented so early in the novel. It also puts Holmes in a less than ideal light. From his other books and various popular culture, we are used to seeing Sherlock as the one who has all the answers and is the one picking people and facts apart. Yet here, the narrative is flipped. This is leading me to wonder if this is an indication of coming strife for Holmes later on. I think this because we here Mr. Mortimer talked of the “best” a few pages earlier. Saying that Sherlock is number two. Does this mean that Sherlock will become somewhat of a Watson to this greater entity?
4 thoughts on “The Sacred Skull”
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I also felt this passage was meant to be monstrous and creepy. The way that Dr. Mortimer completely devalues all of Holmes’ skills as being a product of his skull and says that he wants Holmes’ skull when he’s dead is dehumanizing. Holmes is a product and an object to study to Dr. Mortimer, and I don’t believe that we the reader are meant to like or trust him. This is a novel where every character from Dartmoor is suspect for the killing of Sir Charles, and having Dr. Mortimer’s first impression to us being this seems to be a sort of red herring to who the actual killer is.
This is a great quote, I had circled this one when thinking about our blog post as well. The descriptive language certainly adds to the ominous feel and I really liked how you compared Holmes was a specimen in a lab, that is a really great way of putting this passage. I also think the question you pose at the end is very interesting question and something that I am now wondering too.
I think this is a very interesting passage as well. I agree with one of the other comments that this serves as a red herring to incriminate Dr. Mortimer. It functions in the same way that everyone is set up to be the potential killer in Knives Out, for example. Dr. Mortimer with skulls is perhaps the most blatant profession that could have been chosen to accompany the killer; alas, it is never the first suspect.
I think this passage depicting 19th century superstitions and beliefs. It was also interesting that Sherlock was assumed to have all the great detective smarts because of his structure of the skull and not because of years of his own learning and personal merit. This also gave way to the rest of the novel where these kinds of details are crucial in how Conan Doyle takes the story ahead.