Quote 19
As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchantman behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was peculiar to him (Identity.13).
Look at all the subtle ways in which Mary Sutherland's slightly ridiculous character is suggested by her appearance: she "loom[s]" like a "full-sailed merchantman" (a kind of ship). In just a few words, Sutherland appears (a) big, and (b) funny. Holmes may be a great champion of unbiased observation, but Watson, as our narrator, gives his opinions about people's looks all the time.
Quote 20
All over the countryside, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and grey roofs of the farmsteadings peeped out from amid the light green of the new foliage.
"Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.
But Holmes shook his head gravely.
"Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed here" (Beeches.90-2).
Holmes states his view on the country vs. city debate pretty clearly here. He warns Watson not to be fooled by appearances (not that Holmes is immune from that himself). The lovely farms they're driving past are far enough away from each other and from the police that they can hide terrible abuses, warns Holmes. This passage resonates with one that starts out "A Case of Identity," in which Holmes sounds really happy about the idea of peeling back the roofs of London's homes to explore the strange events behind everyday life. But everyday life that might seem welcoming to Holmes in London then appears threatening in the countryside. What are some factors that might make Holmes feel more at home in London? How do technologies of communication and transportation contribute to Holmes's London experience?
Quote 21
"Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing along the line. "I should like just to remember the order of the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building depot" (League.148).
This is a fictional city square that Holmes is investigating in "The Red-Headed League." Yet, Conan Doyle bothers to fill his description of the scene with loads of realistic sounding detail. And there are lots of other locations mentioned, in this story and in others throughout the collection, that are real. Why mix in fictional details with real ones? Why did Doyle fake this London square in particular? And what kind of effects might Conan Doyle be trying to produce for the reader by describing the layout of London streets, train stations, and neighborhoods so precisely?