Consider some of the Ways in which Sherlock Holmes Typifies the Tradition of Detective Fiction

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Consider some of the Ways in which Sherlock Holmes Typifies the Tradition of Detective Fiction

English – Response to Prose

English Literature – Response to Pre-1914 Prose/Comparative

The Five Orange Pips” shows many common aspects that feature in a lot of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, but also in the wider genre of detective fiction.

This story shows us a lot of the social background, which was happening at the time. The American Civil War is in the past, but there are still men who fought in the war, like Elias Openshaw.

The Ku Klux Klan also plays a vital role in the story as, though no members are met, the entire of the background is based around what Elias had been doing in America, during his tenure as a colonel for the South.

The client, John Openshaw, is similar to the majority of people who come to see Holmes. He is described as, “his face was pale and his eyes heavy”.  This description shows that John, like every other client, is worried about an impending fate.

Almost as soon as John enters, Holmes uses his deduction skills to work out where John had been travelling from. “That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quite distinctive.” Holmes has done this before, in ‘The Speckled Band’.

Holmes’ deduction helps him throughout the story, especially when he is working out the identity of the mysterious K.K.K. Though he does not know of the clan, he quickly works out how the killings are happening and what their connection with the time delay is. Then, all Holmes does is, using his encyclopaedia; find out who the people responsible are.

This case is even more daunting for both John and Sherlock Holmes as it appears to be a legacy passed down from uncle-to-brother-to-son. Therefore, it is not a usual Holmes’ case of visiting the scene of the crime and working out what has happened by questioning the victim. The orange pips ‘curse’ appears to have roots in America, (as that is where Elias spent the majority of his life and in Pondicherry, Dundee and East London (the locations of the postmarks). To a normal person, there does not appear to be connecting links to the crimes apart from the K.K.K.

Another recurring theme that appears in the story is the locked room. This time an attic, John never enters there until his uncle has died.

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In all the cases that Holmes tries to solve, there are going to be some which are never solved or some which he will lose. With John Openshaw’s death, Holmes loses the case and his own morale.

In a fit of rage, Holmes sends orange pips to the Captain of the Ku Klux Klan’s ship but, unfortunately for him, the ship is sunk before the ship ever reaches the port, and therefore the captain never gets his orange pips, or his comeuppance.

Another story which also is set in both London and a country house is “The Man with ...

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