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Jonathan Small (The Wooden-Legged Man)
Tonga is a native of the Andaman Islands who was aided by Jonathan Small when suffering from ill health. This made him feel a sense of loyalty towards Small, which explains why he accompanies him in attempting to recover the Agra treasure. Tonga’s portrayal in the book is extremely problematic: he is described as a savage “black cannibal,” painted more as an animal than a human being. He thus represents the deep racial prejudices of the Victorian era. Tonga uses poisonous blow darts as a weapon, killing Bartholomew Sholto with one and almost hitting Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson too. Tonga dies when Holmes and Watson shoot him during the boat chase. Notably, Tonga is given no dialogue at all throughout the entire novella, again reflecting the racial prejudice that his character embodies.
Tonga Quotes in The Sign of the Four
The The Sign of the Four quotes below are all either spoken by Tonga or refer to Tonga. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6 Quotes
"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. Whence, then, did he come?"
"He came through the hole in the roof," I cried.
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This quote comes as Holmes examines the room in which they discovered Bartholomew’s body. Holmes has been taking a close look at the scene, barely able to contain his glee at the mystery placed before him. His exchange with Watson is illustrative of their relationship more generally. Watson functions as a kind of sounding board for Holmes’ ideas, and often serves to highlight, through his inability to arrive at the same conclusions, Holmes’ immense powers of perception and logic. Holmes essentially walks Watson through his thinking step by step, albeit a little condescendingly, just as the reader has the case Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident
Chapter 8 Quotes
“Now, then, listen to this. 'They are naturally hideous, having large, misshapen heads, small, fierce eyes, and distorted features. Their feet and hands, however, are remarkably small. So intractable and fierce are they that all the efforts of the British official have failed to win them over in any degree. They have always been a terror to shipwrecked crews, braining the survivors with their stone headed clubs, or shooting them with their poisoned arrows. These massacres are invariably concluded by a cannibal feast.' Nice, amiable people, Watson!”
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This quote comes at the end of Chapter 8, as Holmes reads from a book about “indigenous” peoples around the world. He is looking for an explanation of the small footprints of one of the culprits at Pondicherry Lodge, and settles upon the answer that the prints must belong to someone from the Andaman Islands. The tone and content of the passage is undeniably racist, portraying Victorian attitudes of the West as superior to “the East.” While the description of the listed actions of the Andaman peoples might have some accuracy—in that there are documented conflicts between them and Westerners Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupta
Chapter 10 Quotes
At the sound of his strident, angry cries there was movement in the huddled bundle upon the deck. It straightened itself into a little black man—the smallest I have ever seen—with a great, misshapen head and a shock of tangled, dishevelled hair. Holmes had already drawn his revolver, and I whipped out mine at the sight of this savage, distorted creature. He was wrapped in some sort of dark ulster or blanket, which left only his face exposed; but that face was enough to give a man a sleepless night. Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light, and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth, which grinned and chattered at us with a half animal fury.
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This quote comes during the climax of the novella—the boat chase. Holmes, Watson, Jones and some policeman follow the Aurora ship down the Thames. Onboard the latter are Jonathan Small (the wooden-legged man) and Tonga, the “savage.” This telling passage encapsulates the racism at the heart of the novella, mapping Tonga’s blackness onto the idea of him as more animal than human. His physical appearance was intended to frighten Doyle’s Victorian audience, playing into their Eurocentrism and fear of the foreign “other.” Throughout the novella, Tonga, who never even gets a chance to speak, is portrayed as more animal than Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicab
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Tonga Character Timeline in The Sign of the Four
The timeline below shows where the character Tonga appears in The Sign of the Four. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10 — The End of the Islander
...at us with half-animal fury.” When Holmes and Watson notice the man (later revealed as Tonga) pulling a short piece of wood to his lips, they fire their pistols at him,...
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Chapter 11 — The Great Agra Treasure
...talks with Jonathan Small, who denies having anything to do with killing Bartholomew—that was all Tonga, “that little hell-hound,” he says. Holmes says that, if Small gives him an honest account...
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Chapter 12 — The Strange Story of Jonathan Small
Around this time, Small met Tonga, a native of the islands. Tonga was sick, but Small nursed him back to health,...
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Tonga helped Small escape by bringing a boat. Small got past the guard by hitting him...
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During this time, Small and Tonga earned a living by exhibiting Tonga at fairs as “the black cannibal,” at which he...
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At Pondicherry Lodge, Tonga climbed up the roof with a rope tied round his waist so that Small could...
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Holmes remarks that he was surprised to have nearly been hit by one of Tonga’s darts, given that he had found the casing with all the darts inside. Small reminds...
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