A Study in Scarlet (Part Two): Chapters 1 & 2 {Sunday Midnight Book Club #5}
T/N: If you saw this when it was allegedly just a blank post, then NO YOU DIDN'T!
Hello, Internet, and good mornight to you all!
My name is Taffryne, shoppekeeper of Midnight on Memory Lane, and it is my absolute delight to welcome you to this week's gathering of Sunday Midnight Book Club!
'Tis a pleasure, 'tis a pleasure indeed.
As the title of this post says, we're going to be talking about the first and second chapters of part two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first-ever Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet. I humbly present my thoughts for your enjoyment and consideration. Accordingly, please mind that there will be spoilers ahead!
Page Bound Link: click here!
Disclaimer: All of the original Sherlock Holmes books were written by a well-off, white gentleman in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, there potentially will be relics of their time, be it terminology or depictions, at varying levels of offensiveness. I mean no disrespect to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, nor his legacy; I merely want to make it clear that they were wrong during his time, they are wrong now, and I am wholeheartedly in no way endorsing them on this blog. Everyone has different levels of acceptability, so please advise and feel no judgement if you'd rather not take the risk yourself this time around.
Trigger Warnings: Potentially Caricature-level Accents, Mentions of Mormonism and Joseph Smith, Old-Fashioned Romance and Courting, Guy Saved Girl Now Girl Loves Guy
Chapter 1 ~ On the Great Alkali Plain
Recollection
- The reader is given a very beatiful description of the wilderness and landscape of Central/Midwest United States with an emphasis on "saline alkali dust" and the desolate "the slope of Sierra Blanco"
- A grizzled wanderer of 40-60 years old and afflicted with hunger and thirst is introduced as he makes his peace to die in the wild
- The wanderer was apparently carrying a little girl in his shawl (not his daughter)
- The little girl's family and the rest of their party have all since died
- The wanderer and girl get found by a settler caravan who call themselves "the persecuted children of God - the chosen of the Angel Merona"
- The wanderer is named John Ferrier, the girl he's now "adopted" is Lucy Ferrier
- The caravan are Mormons and followers of Joseph Smith
- John and Lucy join the caravan under the agreement that they are now Mormons
- "Brother Strangerson" is tasked with providing them supplies as they move on to "Zion"
Alrightie, so, I'll be honest, was not expecting to be hit with Mormons and Mormonism in my Sherlock Holmes book. I'll be even more honest in that it wasn't until the name "John Ferrier" came about that I could even center myself within this chapter. Very much a "huh? eh??? why are we talking about the American wild when we were literally just-oh. ohhh. ah." moment. Now, I'm still confused as to how this will all play out because "Brother Strangerson" is presumably our murder-victim Mr. Strangerson. I guess they all met on the Oregon...well, Utah Trail and that's where this all started? How the heck did we go from dying on the trail and religious pilgrimage to murder in London??? Something happened to his daughter, Lucy, didn't it? It has to be the daughter. Please let it not be horrendous...but then again to "justify" murder it would have to be, no???
Chapter 2 ~ The Flower of Utah
Recollection
- The Ferriers and Mormons arrive in Utah and begin to establish their settlement
- John makes a good standing for himself within the community alongside the four elder members (Strangerson, Kemball, Johnston, and Drebber)
- John amasses riches as the years go on by working his farm and being a skilled labourer
- Lucy gets helped out of a stampede of cattle by a Mr. Jefferson Hope of St. Louis whose father used to know John, so she invites him home to show thanks
- Jefferson and Lucy catch feelings for each other and Jefferson manages to charm John as well with his life stories
- Jefferson and Lucy are set to be together/wed once he gets back from working one of canyon mines
"This is not the place to commemorate the trials and privations endured by the immigrant Mormons before they came to their final haven." (Pg. 44)
Well, I sure am glad we set that record straight; We've got a murder to explain after all! Sir Arthur...why are you so interested in the Mormons?
Anyhow, I think I'm starting to see the full picture here. "J.H" from the note is "Jefferson Hope" who goes on to kill "Drebber" and "Strangerson" because of something that happens with Lucy. My most probable thought right now is that while Jefferson is away at the mine for a couple of months, the two to-be-murdered men are either going to force Lucy into marrying someone else or into marrying one of them. Maybe they steal John's land and money instead? I'm fairly certain Lucy's going to be at the epicenter of this though. I mean, "REVENGE" written in blood feels like a pretty personal enough motivation...
Okay, wait. How does this all transfer into them dying in England??? Were they running from him? Is that what the telegram was about? How did he get the half-poison, half-placebo pills??? How did he become a cab driver? HOW DID WE GO FROM MORMONS IN UTAH TO MURDER IN LONDON???
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you've been able to read and enjoy the story for yourself! If you haven't, that's okay too! My thoughts are here to keep you updated and entertained in the meantime.
This caps off this week's gathering for Sunday Midnight Book Club, so off into the nighttime we go in preparation for tomorrow!
I hope you'll come back for tomorrow's Manga Monday! We'll be discussing volume 5 of The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess.
May we meet again at Midnight!