"There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes" (114.)
Yes, Sherlock Holmes was merciful and nearly God-like for allowing Mr. Turner to get away with his crime, of murdering Mr. McCarthy. And although ethically speaking it was so incredibly wrong for Holmes to let Turner go, morally speaking, it may have just been the right thing to do. Let me explain the details to you, my good reader, and you may decide for yourself. :)
Mr. Turner had once upon a time robbed Mr. McCarthy's wagon along with a few of McCarthy's friends, of all their possessions and riches. It was all Mr. Turner and -his- gang of buddies could do to live and better their own lives, by taking away things from others who were very well off. Turner ater the robbing, had felt barraged with guilt and decided to never rob again, and started a business. His business was wildly successful, and he got married to a woman who he had loved and they produced a child named Alice. Old Turner's wife who was never named, ends up dying when Alice is very young, but many years later Turner is barely phased by it, because he still has Alice. McCarthy comes up out of the blue in town one day however, and uses his previous experiences with Turner as blackmail. "Give me anything I want, or I will turn you in to the police," is essentially what McCarthy had used to bond with Turner. McCarthy also had a wife, and they produced a child named James. What happened to Turner's wife, also happened to the wife of Mr. McCarthy and she died shortly after the child's birth. Mr. McCarthy's son James and Turner's daughter Alice had grown close when they were young, and James was madly in love with Alice, to the point of wanting to marry her. Mr. McCarthy had attempted to convince James to make the notion of a proposal so that the McCarthy family would have a bit of the Turner fortune. Turner had seen father McCarthy and his son discuss this plan with James not wishing to pursue Alice solely for money, and Turner had killed McCarthy when James was walking away after his argument with his father.
Was what Turner had done the right thing to do?
Well, I personally am still a bit split on the matter. Either way, it's payback for his thieving days.
Doyle, Sir Aurthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1996.
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2 comments:
I'm a little confused about the morals of this argument, but I do believe that it's beautiful that Alice and James fell in love! Even though it's obviously a classic Romeo and Juliet story.
I love the Sherlock Holmes movies! It sounds like the books are good too! That is an interesting ethical dilemma. I can understand both sides of the issue. Although I think that Mr. Turner should have talked to his daughter about James wanting to marry her for money, and then not having to turn to murder.
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