Watson’s Revolver
Watson describes in The Problem of Thor Bridge that Holmes would often ask him to carry his revolver if they were going out of London for an investigation. Watson describes that this was not just because Holmes felt the situation would get dangerous; it was more of a precaution. Knowing that Watson would be present to watch his back, made him more confident. The revolver stands for the sense of security that Watson provided him. Watson often wonders about the role he plays in Holmes’ life, especially in The Adventure of The Creeping Man, that he would want Watson’s presence around him even when he more or less ignores Watson. This is one of the roles that Watson unknowingly plays, as a security personnel for Holmes.
Holmes’ Drug Addiction
Sherlock Holmes is often described as an addict of not just tobacco or opium but heroin. He likes to smoke pipes all day, sometimes more when he is on a case, likes to preserve his ash and stubs to form a before breakfast pipe and hides his fixes in all kinds of place, including a Persian slipper. His habits are not just addiction, they help him elevate to a level where he can think without distraction and with more focus, like his cases. When he has a case, Holmes is said to have a keen look in his posture, he is more alert, a ‘fire’ seems to be burning in his eyes. More than the case itself, it is the adrenaline rush he is looking for, he likes to live life on an edge. They keep his ever-growing-curiosity engaged, just like his drugs which keep his over-developed senses engaged.
Gruner's Diary
Baron Gruner’s diary is said to contain a record of his immoral trysts with women. Holmes calls it ‘his lust-diary’. It’s said to be of brown leather with a lock and Gruner’s arms in gold embossing outside. Holmes uses this diary to change Miss Violet de Merville’s mind about marrying Gruner. The book represents the psychopathy of Gruner. Like most psychopaths, Gruner likes to maintain a record of his ‘trophies’, he calls them ‘souls I have ruined’. Like Gruner, the book is locked and doesn’t open up to any person. Gruner doesn’t trusts anyone with his secrets and thus, shows the diary to no one, except Kitty Winter when he is drunk. The book is embossed in gold with his arms and depicts his confidence and pride. He suspects no one to find about the book ever, which is why he adorns the book with his arms.
Godfrey’s Seclusion
Godfrey Emsworth is suspected to have Leprosy when he arrives in London after his stint in South Africa. It is soon decided to keep him in seclusion, without informing anyone, so as to make sure he and his family are not ousted by the society. It is only much later when Holmes brings along a specialist does everyone realise that Godfrey didn’t have leprosy. His seclusion represents the misconceptions of society about a disease. People hardly understand a disease, and judge minor symptoms easily to create a misconception. This results in ignorance and lack of sensitivity towards a patient. In a bid to avoid society’s judgement, Godfrey doesn’t get himself checked properly and his family suffers for no reason for a long time.
Eugenia’s Veil
Eugenia Ronder’s face is mutilated in a seemingly freak accident, where husband gets killed, but in reality, she had been trying to kill him and pin it on the lion they had in their circus. To hide her disfigurement, she wears a veil. But, the veil can also be understood as an attempt by her to hide from her conscience. After being spurned by a lover, she chooses a quiet life and rarely meets anyone of her past, but is unable to hide from her conscience and is constantly plagued by the actions she took, that resulted in a death and her condition and the fact that she chose to let the man who brought on this condition to escape. The veil is an attempt to hide her past and her actions.
Lowenstein’s drugs
Lowenstein's development of a "rejuvenation serum" derived from monkeys is an allusion to actual treatments popularized in the early twentieth century by the the Russian-born surgeon Serge Voronoff, who experimented with injections of extracts from animal glands; in the 1920s he popularized the transplantation into humans of tissue from monkey testicles, an operation which Holmes finds abhorrent.
