In 1886, ten years after he was first taught in Edinburgh University, Arthur Conan Doyle decided to create a thrilling detective novel. His decision was sealed by the fact that all the previous detective stories he had read himself he had found to be terribly disappointing, and completely unsatisfactory in his eyes. Doyle was convinced that in all the stories he had read, the mystery was always solved either by chance, or else by some sudden flash of insight into the crime by the detective. Arthur Conan Doyle wanted to try “reduce this fascinating but unorganised business to something nearer to an exact science.”
Sherlock Holmes was not the first fictional detective character that Arthur Conan Doyle created. Holmes’s predecessors include: Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin, and Emile Gaboriau’s M. Lecoq. However, Sherlock Holmes is by the most well known of all his detective characters.
Many people would find it extremely hard to believe that the incredible adventures of this world famous detective have remained even more popular than ever, especially one hundred and seventeen years after the first thrilling tale, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887. The reasoning behind this essay is to discover why and how Sherlock Holmes has remained popular, even after all these many years.
One of the single most famous, and above all, gripping aspects of Sherlock Holmes’ personality and character is his mysterious, almost telepathic seeming talent of being able read the minds of his clients, colleagues, and friends. However, the most amazing part of this incredible ability is the way Sherlock Holmes explains just how it is that he is able to “mind-read.” Sherlock Holmes makes everything he deduces merely by acute observation look so straightforward that anyone would think that they should have noticed it. Many of the books’ characters, and in particular Sherlock Holmes’ colleague and friend, Doctor John Watson, are frequently astounded by Holmes’ astonishing powers. Take page eleven of A Scandal in Bohemia for an example of Sherlock Holmes’ extraordinarily observant mind.
Upon entering the room, Holmes indicates for Watson to sit in a near by arm-chair, passes him a case of Cigars and offers him a case of spirits (alcohol) and an old fashioned Gasogene. Sherlock Holmes, without even vocally greeting his companion, then begins to remark on several seemingly obvious observations which leave Watson completely bewildered.
Firstly, Sherlock Holmes voices his opinion of the fact that he believes Watson to have gained precisely seven and a half pounds in weight since their last meeting each other. Watson corrects Holmes by claiming that he had only gained seven pounds.
Sherlock Holmes then points out that Watson is back in practice (Watson is a Doctor) and does not recall Watson saying he was going to go back to his job. Watson seems quite perplexed by this statement, and cannot see how Sherlock Holmes could possibly have known this.
Finally, Sherlock Holmes deduces that the Watsons’ own “a most clumsy and careless servant girl.” Watson is completely dumbfounded by this mystifying “mind-reading” technique.
“‘My dear Holmes,’ said I, ‘this is too much. You would certainly been burned had you lived a few centuries ago.’”
From this quote, it is quite clear that Watson is completely confused as to the means of which Sherlock Holmes was able to figure out these enlightening facts.
Sherlock Holmes appears greatly amused by his friends puzzlement, he claims that “it is simplicity itself” which gives away obvious clues to unknown facts. It is at this point that Sherlock Holmes explains the difference between merely seeing an object, and actually taking the time to properly observe the object. You can see the same object a thousand times without observing it, and thus you are likely to miss a key factor to unravelling a mystery. Watson says he has seen the stairs leading from the hallway to Holmes’s room some hundreds of times, but when Sherlock Holmes asks him how many stairs there are, he doesn’t have a clue. (Do you know how many stairs there are in your house? Have you observed?)
Holmes on the other hand, knows for a fact that there are seventeen steps. Holmes knows this because he has both seen and observed. It is quite rare for most people to see and observe such a thing instinctively.
Another example of Holmes’s observational skills is found on the second page of The Speckled Band. Helen Stoner had just arrived at Holmes’s house in Baker’s Street, when once again, Holmes spots several clues which indicate that the young woman had taken an early morning train, and that she had also spent a substantial amount of time in a Dog-cart (a light two-wheeled carriage) passing over heavy roads.
I do not doubt that there are more examples such as these in episodes of Sherlock Holmes’s life which I am yet to read. The very instant Holmes enters a room he seems to instantaneously analyse the entire room and its contents. Sherlock Holmes is the ultimate detective observational work. It is for his incredible skills of examination and surveillance.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not a brilliant writer, in his day or ours; but he did create the most celebrated detective of all time. In fact, Sherlock Holmes is so famous that even people who cannot read have heard of him. The name of Sherlock Holmes has long since become a modern synonym for detective. There is even a Sherlock Holmes Museum in London! The fictional genius is so famous, that many who have not read his works believe him to have been an actual living person. Despite the fact that many have not read any of the four Holmes’s novels or any of the fifty-six short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is still the most famous detective of all time, which is the final reason why he is so popular.
