From studying 'The Adventure of the Engineers Thumb', 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Red Headed League' why do you think Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories went on to become popular around the world?

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Temel Adil 10TA

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From studying ‘The Adventure of the Engineers Thumb’, ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Red Headed League’ why do you think Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories went on to become popular around the world?

     The following is an attempt to show how Sherlock Holmes is still popular today. Some of the themes I will be looking at are murder, robbery and horror. Sherlock Holmes is an intelligent detective and his assistant Dr Watson is almost like the reader because he thinks the same way as the reader. Another reason why Sherlock Holmes is still popular today is the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses a familiar narrative structure in each of his Sherlock Holmes stories. In the 1880’s, the cities were growing so more and more people were living among strangers. This made people become more cautious of each other. Sir Robert Peel founded the Metropolitan Police, which made the people feel much safer. These are where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle got his inspiration.

     Firstly, Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating protagonist because solving crime is almost like a hobby for him. He refuses payment for his services because Holmes likes challenges, ‘As to reward, my profession is its reward’. Sherlock Holmes lived a very eccentric lifestyle. For example, he smoked leftover tobacco before breakfast ‘smoking his before breakfast pipe which was composed of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes from the day before’. Living this kind of lifestyle meant that Sherlock Holmes was an eccentric and odd person. What made Sherlock Holmes so good at solving crimes was his way of thinking. We know that Sherlock Holmes asks clever questions like when he asked if the horse in ‘The Adventure of the Engineers Thumb’ was ‘tired looking or fresh?’. He asked this question to find out what condition the horse was in.

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     Dr Watson is Sherlock Holmes’ less intelligent assistant. He is almost like the reader because he asks Holmes lots of questions because he does not think the same way as Holmes does so he is not able to put clues together like Sherlock Holmes. Dr Watson always has the first hand experience so he is able to explain to the reader what is happening. Dr Watson has a good relationship with Sherlock Holmes; we know this because Dr Watson is always in Sherlock’s house, even before breakfast! They are always solving crimes together as well.

     The ...

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