The stories are written in first person by Dr.Watson who uses his notes and memory to write them. All the stories are based on detective genre with a very big twist in the end and clues that only Sherlock picks up on. Sherlock Holmes' character fits perfectly in his class as the people who read the stories are all middle to working class and can relate to what he is saying. He offers security and success in all of his crimes by solving them is such a remarkable manner that it shocked and amazed the reader.
In The story “The Speckled Band” the scene is set in an old Victorian house in the English countryside. The house is having heavy repairs. We see that women where mistreated in Victorian times as Holmes says to Helen “you have been cruelly used”. Watson shows that he doesn’t think the same as Holmes by saying “You have evidently seen more in these rooms that was visible to me”, Holmes corrects Watson on this by saying “Your presence might be invaluable”, even though Holmes is very intelligent he may miss certain aspects of the case. He also insults the police by saying to them “Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force”, which he basically states that he is insulted to be working with the police.
There are misleading facts added to the story, which lead you in different directions, for example “Were there gypsies in the plantation?” This makes you instantly think that the gypsies had done it.
The atmosphere of the story changes throughout. It is mostly focused on the surroundings and emphasises on darkness, for example “A moment later we were out on the dark road” and “cry of a night-bird”.
“Silver Blaze” is set on the moors in the middle of Dartmoor. This tells you that it is miles away from anywhere. The nearest stables are miles away from each other, giving the feeling that they are all alone, far away from help.
Opium was a widely used drug; it could be quite dangerous in large quantities. This made it perfect for making people sleep and forgetting what had happened. Therefore, perfect for the crime.
Holmes made it quite clear that he did things his way, not “by the book”, and liked to keep things to himself until he thought the time was right to reveal what he had found, by saying, “I follow my own methods, and tell much or little as I choose”. This insures that he doesn’t give people ideas until he is certain that he himself is certain about what he has found.
When Holmes asks questions about the case he replies with
”A clever counsel would tear it all to rags” which states that what the police have come up with is no use as it would not get a court anywhere, the evidence is useless. He also has a laugh on the inspector’s behalf by saying
“ My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!” By this he means he is surprised by the Inspectors intelligence.
Dr Watson, even though he is a doctor, is added to Sherlock Holmes as his close companion to show how cleaver Sherlock Holmes really is. Dr Watson, by showing himself up to some extent, makes Sherlock Holmes look very superior over him. The way Dr Watson is used is to give you a better understanding of how Sherlock's mind works, even though Dr Watson is classed as a very cleaver individual him self.
With the corruption of the initial police force it was important to make Sherlock of a higher standard. That’s why people got so attached to Sherlock Holmes stories because they filled them with hope and security over the average police force. It was important that the police force were in able of solving crimes because Sherlock showed them up and proved all their predictions wrong.
Each setting is to do with the class system, and seeing that middle classed and working classed people where the readers the settings usually where, Big houses in the country and to do with people in the higher classes. The victims are of these classes and are usually victims of people of a lower class or the same class as themselves, this makes it easy to relate to the peoples problems in the story.
The crimes committed all include a well thought out story line and a twist, that nobody but Sherlock himself can see, this is what makes Sherlock Holmes so impressive.
The way the stories are structured and the usage of words is some what different to the language we use today. The words are phrases are old Victorian English so at points they become difficult to read, but once you get into the storylines you seem to work out the old English and don't have many problems. It isn't hard to get into the very catchy stories.
I think the Sherlock Holmes stories are well thought out and are very easy to get into, due to the extensively brilliant story lines and twists that they include.
