Chapter 4.4 The sign of Four : Maharashtra State Board HSC Balbharati Solution English Yuvabharati

 

Maharashtra State Board HSC Balbharati Solution
English Yuvabharati

SECTION FOUR (Genre-Drama)

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Chapter 4.1 History of Novel
Chapter 4.2 To Sir, With Love
Chapter 4.3 Around the world in Eighty Days
Chapter 4.4 The sign of Four
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Chapter 4.4 The sign of Four

Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below. (4 marks)

1. The reception of six pearls helps the story to move forward by providing some connection with the other happenings. Illustrate.

Ans: It was Sherlock who inquired with Miss Morstan if the handwriting on the letter received and the handwriting on the pearl box address were the same. Upon perusing the papers it was understood to Sherlock that the handwriting were same although written with disguised hands. This led to the first step to move forward that the send of the pearl had some connection with the case of Miss Morstan’s missing father.

2. Describe the desired destination of the parties in your words by providing some details.

Ans: Miss Morstan, Sherlock Homes and Dr.Watson were on their desired destination. They were taken to the forbidden neightbourhood. The area was not inhabitated. Their cab stopped at a a house which was as dark as others. A single glimmer appeared in the kitchen. It was a third rate suburban dwelling house. Here they were invited to discuss about the important issue of Treasure.

3. Write the character sketch of Sherlock Holmes as a professional detective.

Ans: (i) Sherlock Holmes is the protagonist and brilliant detective.

(ii) He has supreme intelligence which allows him to solve the case.

(iii) Because of Holmes’ intellectual and deductive abilities, Miss Morstan asks him to help her solve the case of her missing father, Captain Morstan

(iv) Holmes is intellectual, restless and Observant.

4. Compare the thought process of Holmes and Dr. Watson in handling the case.

Ans: Sherlock was observant and had done his findings. He observed and read the Times to figure our the connection. He had a hunch and instinct as to what was going to happen. He was observant and determined in all his ways. On the other hand Dr.Watson was more inclined and thought more about the visitor (Miss Morstan) rather than her case. He was emotional and sympathetic towards her in the entire process.

5. Narrate the case of Miss Morstan in your words.

Ans: It has almost been 10 years that her father, Captain Morstan was missing upon reaching London. She tried finding her father with every possible means but to no avail. Six years later she starts receiving lustrous pearl from unknown sender. Now she has received a letter asking her to meet the sender of the letter at Lecyum Theathre as the sender knows some fact which Mary should be aware of. Hence Mary comes to Sherlock Homles with her matter.

6. Sherlock Holmes deduced facts from the back files of the times. Justify by providing few details.

Ans: Sherlock discovered a suggestive fact by consulting the back files of the Times, wherein he found that disappearance of Captain Morstan and then later death of Major Sholto, post which Mary receiving the pearls has some interconnection. He deduces that it is someone Sholto’s heir who knows something of the mystery and desires to compensate Mary

7. „You are a wronged woman, and shall have justice‟.

Ans: Interpret the statement to highlight the conflict in Miss Morstan‟s mind. The uncertain missing of his father, the receiving of the pearls, and now the receipt of the letter with the statement that You are a wronged woman, and shall have justice’ made Mary entirely confused, scared and clueless. She might have thought about some wrong that have occurred to her father. She might have assumed the existence of her father. Although she was nervous , she maintained her calm and composed manner.

8. Dr. Watson reflects Miss Morstan's state of mind. Discuss with some examples.

Ans: Later that afternoon when Mary left from Sherlock’s house after stating the case, Dr.Watson thought about Mary and calculated the fact that if she were seventeen at the time of her father’s disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now,—a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience.

9. Holmes had a competence about the route of their travel. Suggest some points to clarify the statement.

Ans: Holmes was absolutely aware of the route of their travel. He started muttering the names of the Roads and Streets as the cab passed by. He correct named the place where they were moving such as Rochester Row, Vincent Square Vauxhall Bridge Road, Surrey Side, bridge of Thames river, Wordsworth Road, Priory Road, Lark Hall Lane, Stockwell Place, Robert Street, Cold Harbor Lane.

10. The mention of new places adds a pace to the story. Justify.

Ans: The story dates back to the old India where Britishers were in charge. It mentions the location of Agra and Andaman Island. The story revolves around the treasure of Agra. It then opens at the place of Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street. It takes us to the place of Lyceum Theatre. Further the mention of strange family estate of Thaddeus. While proceeding towards the estate of Thaddeus the strange location adds a pace to the story.

11. M Morstan found Holmes as right person to handle her case. Give reason.

Ans: Ms Morstan found Holmes as right person to handle her case because she had an experience of Holmes in a case which he was solving for Mrs. Cecil Forrestor. Holmes had unraveled a domestic complication with his skills. It so proved that Holmes would be the right person to take her case.

12. Write the character sketch of Dr. Watson as a sensitive character.

Ans: 1) He is Holmes partner and roommate.

2) He has a strong sense of honor and discretion.

3) He understands and feels empathy towards Ms Morstan.

4) Though he is in love with Miss Morstan, he does not expresses with an view that she might think that his love is for the Agra Treasure.

13. The paper found in the desk of captain Morstan is the center of the action. Explain.

Ans: The paper found in the desk of Captain Morstan indicated that it was a paper manufactured in India. The diagram in the paper appeared to be of a fort like building. Further it has a hieroglyphic like four crosses in a line with their arms touching with the names underneath Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan, Dost Akbar. This document bears the same name as the note kept on Major Sholto’s dead body.

14. “I may be very obtuse, Holmes, but I fail to see what this suggests.” Justify the statement by highlighting the difference in deducing the case.

Ans: Holmes was sharp to link the case of Sholto’s death with missing father of Mary, Major Morstan along with the strange receipt of the lustrous pearls to Mary. He deduced that it is someone from Sholto’s heir who knows something that he wants Mary to know about. Whereas Dr.Watson was little slow to understand the entire link to the case.

15. Find support from the text which elaborates the tone of the narrator when he compares himself with Miss Morstan.

Ans: The supporting paragraph which elaborates the tone of the narrator while comparing himself with Miss Morstan is , “What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit, a factor,—nothing more. If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o’-the-wisps of the imagination”

16. The narrator makes Miss Morstan‟s journey comfortable while going to an unknown place. Narrate in your words. 

Ans: The narrator started to cheer and amuse Miss Morstan by reminiscences of his adventures in Afghanistan; where he had once shot a tiger cub with double barreled musket on a deadly night.

17. "The coachman is described as a faithful servant‟. Justify the statement in your words.

Ans: The coachman is indeed a faithful servant as he dutifully waited near Lyceum theatre until Miss Morstan and her companions arrived. When he gauged the arrival of Miss Morstan he quickly interrogated if either of the companions were police officers. Upon verbal assurance, he called up a carriage and with full speed took the trio to his masters house.

18. Holmes, Dr. Watson and Mary Morstan reached at the third pillar of the Lyceum Theatre. Describe the state of mind of the trio.

Ans: As they reached at the Lyceum Theatre the crowds were already thick at the sideentrances. There was quite a commotion near the front of people , horses, carriages and four wheelers. It was a strange and unknown feeling, as everything could be an illusion. A state of confusion, nervousness and anxiety ran their mind.