Analysis of the Way Conan Doyle Portrays Sherlock Holmes

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Analysis of the Way Conan Doyle Portrays Sherlock Holmes

The course of this GCSE assignment I will be focusing my discussion of

Conan Doyle's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes' style of detective work

and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle engage readers with the text. I will also

provide evidence to support my observations of Sherlock Holmes from

the following short stories which I have studied; The Adventure of

Speckled Band and The Red-Headed League.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. After leaving school

he went to study medicine; and it was his encounter with one of his

medical lecturers, Dr Joseph Bell, that was to have a profound

influence on the subsequent creation of the fictional detective

Sherlock Holmes. Before diagnosing his patients' illnesses, Dr Bell

would observe his patient and deduce details of their past and present

daily lives, which might prove significant. In creating Sherlock

Holmes, Conan Doyle developed this practice of observation into what

he regarded as a scientific approach to detection.

Conan Doyle's career as a doctor was not entirely a fulfilling one and

he began to fill his time by writing. It was Study in Scarlet, printed

in 1887, which gave Sherlock Holmes his introduction to the reading

public.

The genre of detective fiction has always been a popular one. This is

because people not only enjoy trying to solve mysterious cases for

themselves but is also the challenge of probing the darker aspects of

life. As for Sherlock Holmes, his adventures are as entertaining and

fascinating today as they were to readers at the end of the last

century, for a variety of reasons.

The atmosphere, sett...

... middle of paper ...

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manner. We hope that he will come to a sticky end, and he does, right

on cue. Whereas Holmes' actions in previous stories may have been

questionable, the dispatch of Roylott at the hands of his poisonous

snake is an occasion for cheers.

This is why I believe that Dr. Roylott does deserve to die as he

showed no remorse by killing her sister and then by trying to kill

Helen Stoner. Also "The Red-Headed League" offers some of the most

lighthearted moments in the series, from Holmes literally bounding

over the settee in order to retrieve his friend from the corridor, to

the final conclusion where all is resolved. His dealings with an

upper-crust gentleman of esteemed notoriety but very little common

sense are particularly fun to observe. The climax appears in a

darkened room and involves a surprisingly greedy twist.

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