Sherlock Holmes Responsible For The Death Of Dr. Roylott

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” Argumentative Essay Sherlock Holmes was not responsible for the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Within “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a complex series of events involving a venomous swamp adder led up to the death of Dr. Roylott; however, Sherlock Holmes was not liable for the demise. Sherlock’s intention was not to agitate the serpent; he was merely attempting to protect himself and Dr. Watson. Furthermore, Dr. Roylott was extremely experienced with handling the snake and should have known how to behave around the creature. Finally, there was no way that Sherlock Holmes could have predicted the exact location of Dr. Roylott as they were in separate rooms. Holmes was not guilty for the decease of Dr. Roylott due to his actions of self-defense.

He attacked the snake to cause it to leave the room that he and Watson were occupying. He knew by lighting the match and swinging at it with the cane that the snake would become frightened and exit the room as soon as it could. Yet, there was no way that he could have known it would become infuriated and bite the next person it saw. The snake was an uncontrollable variable in the situation. Sherlock had a suspicion that what he and Watson were dealing with was a snake, but he did not realize how poisonous it was until he saw it. This caused him to act in self-defense. Holmes did not want to become another of Roylott’s victims. Therefore, he confronted the snake to avoid being bitten and killed. As an accidental result of this, the furious snake attacked the first person, it saw after slithering back through the ventilator. The first person, it perceived happened to be Dr. Roylott who died from this incident. Dr. Roylott and his actions played a huge role in his own