Sherlock Holmes Literary Analysis

In the story “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” the author Conan Doyle portrays many different narrative techniques. He uses these techniques to provide meaning for the audience as well as help them visualize the situation that was being described. The different techniques used are narrative discourse, suspense, conflict, close, and focalization in his story. Narrative discourses are events, to describe a series of events that are contingent one on another. Typically focuses on one or more performers of actions. Personal experience can influence narrative discourse due to the explaining of significant events in the life of the narrator. Narrative discourse is made up of exposition/ setting, developing conflict, climax, final suspense, and conclusion. The narrative discourse is being portrait in the story by Sherlock trying to find the mystery. Helen Stoner goes to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for help on figuring out the mystery of her sister’s death, and they both investigate. It all begins with the renovation that was done to the room. Holmes arrived to Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s home in order to investigate the noise that his daughter seemed to be hearing from the bedroom that the sister was killed in. Holmes describes the room “very strange” he found the ventilator open into another room as well as the bell-rope. The ventilator was the small opening between two rooms as well as the bed was fastened to the floor. “A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who

Conan Doyle uses uses a combination of literary devices to build up tension and create a sense of mystery I chapter 3

The classic mystery novel, Sherlock Holmes, features a murder-mystery detective Sherlock Holmes, and his army doctor colleague Dr. John Watson. The story revolves around the main character, Sherlock Holmes, and his unique method to solving crimes. The story is mainly all about Sherlock and his abilities, which then rises the question about the importance of the character of Dr.Watson, both to the chaarcter of Sherlock Holmes, and towards the readers.

The legendary fictional character Sherlock Holmes was constructed by a basis of a French criminal expert and a famous police investigator. He is known for his prowess in perception and analysis. On the other hand, Holmes sympathy towards people is near absent. Holmes loves to breakdown the story of each person he comes in contact with it. However, he does make a mistake occasionally. Although, there are many positive representations of Holmes, the Downey-Holmes is the best.

The story is told by Watson, not Holmes. Watson is never likely to be at the same thinking level as Holmes. There are some parts which are kept secret from us, things that Watson does not know, the reader also does not know. ‘Holmes leaned forward and whispered something in the trainer’s ear’. Here Holmes whispers something, so clearly he wants to keep it a secret from Watson. This keeps the reader guessing what Holmes might have said; hence it creates suspense as well as tension. However there are times when Watson is great help to Holmes, in Silver Blaze, when Holmes

Larson utilizes imagery to exemplify Holmes’ character and actions to the audience. He describes Holmes’ reaction to a friend’s sister’s death to give the reader an idea of the cold inhumanity he possesed. Even though “Holmes told Ned how sorry he was” about her passing, yet “in his eyes there was only a flat blue calm” like that of a “lake on a still August morning” (123). Larson presents this imagery to give the reader a clear view of Holmes’ point of view on death. When he reacts with such a “flat blue calm,” the reader can clearly see that he did not posses even the slightest bit of sincerity. This serves to help the reader see the surface, and allude to what lies beneath. Larson further proves his inhumanity with the portrayal of Holmes’ murder of his pregnant fiancée, Julia. Holmes promised he would marry her, but with the condition that she had to allow him to execute an abortion. He then “held the cloth” coated in chloroform “over her nose and mouth” and within seconds “her eyes fluttered and rolled upwards” followed by “the inevitable, reflexive disturbance of muscles, like a dream of running” (148). Larson uses words like “flutter” and “rolled” to show the reader that her consciousness fled from her with no objection from her being noted. This is to

Analyse the use of Dr Watson as the narrator of The Hound of the Baskervilles

The main character in the story is Sherlock Holmes; he is the hero of the book, a very important factor in a mystery book. The Victorians would have loved this character because he was not a part of the police force; he was a character that could be relied on, when the police force was so corrupt. Holmes’s life was his job, as the reader gets further into the story; they see that Holmes works for personal satisfaction, ’my profession is its own

This connects the reader to the story. This connects to the reader and helps the reader relate to the fight between the couple. The author uses dialogue because it helps the reader establish the tension and fury between the two characters. The text states “ What would you like to do? Get the button back and push it? Murder someone “(108). This textual evidence illustrates how the dialogue was worded helped the reader establish how the characters were feeling at this moment. The text states “ Why are you getting so upset? It's only talk.”(108) This evidence portrays the frustration between the characters and how this creates a divide between the characters. In conclusion, the dialogue helps the reader establish the tone and helps the reader understand the story better.

Good dialogue gives the reader the feel that he is spying and it encompasses both what is said and what is not said

it was ever possible from our windows in Baker Street to see the loom of the

In relation to dialogue and narration, Watson’s style of storytelling is more straightforward and adopts a suspenseful tone that suits the mystery genre well. Since Watson tends to only see things as they are, there are more blind spots in his sight compared to Holmes. Because he is more visual and tends to impart very little of his own style, it makes readers anxious to discover what Watson will encounter next and what Holmes will reveal. The Red-Headed League is a good case in point, in which Watson writes, “What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that

Not only can the dialogue bring life to the story, but it can tell the story itself, as seen in many instances in which Holmes has wrapped up another mystery. Most cases are concluded with a recollection of events and revealing hints that only Holmes knew of, presented almost conversationally from Holmes to Watson. With his first-person account of the mystery, Doyle uses Holmes to clarify any remaining confusion or questions that linger in readers’ minds as the chapter ends. While it is repetitive after several cases, granting Holmes with such large chunks of dialogue eliminates the need for boring, lengthy straight-forward narration. A good example of the use of retelling in dialogue in place for narration can be found in The Red-Headed League. A combination of complex writing and sophisticated vocabulary also follow the genius detectives’ mysteries and help to represent his intelligence through Doyle’s skillful work. Each story is written with extensive vocabulary as well as depth, which also alludes/attributes to Holmes himself. Therefore, Doyle was careful to ensure that the professional nature of Holmes was also conveyed

There are many different ways to attracting a person to a book, and one may ask what those different ways might be. Although an author can attract a reader based on the title of a book, or the opening sentence, but a good book uses literary devices such as figurative language, diction, syntax and much more which is all based off of style. In the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, style is used throughout the whole book and contains on a lot of details which makes the novel both compelling and pleasurable to read.

?? Not only can the dialogue bring life to the story, but it can tell the story itself, as seen in many instances in which Holmes has wrapped up another mystery. Most cases are concluded with a recollection of events and revealing hints that only Holmes knew of, presented almost conversationally from Holmes to Watson. With his first-person account of the mystery, Doyle uses Holmes to clarify any remaining confusion or questions that linger in readers’ minds as the chapter ends. While it is repetitive after several cases, granting Holmes with such large chunks of dialogue eliminates the need for boring, lengthy straightforward narration. In relation to dialogue and narration, Doyle’s writing can sometimes venture into a playful tone, which can be found in Holmes. Moreover, there are also some hints of dark humor dispersed throughout each adventure of Sherlock Holmes that can bring light to some situations. As mentioned previously, Sherlock Holmes is intended to be an impressive, genius of a man. Conversely, Doyle also uses Holmes to execute a moderate sense of comic relief, a refreshing feature that deepens the understanding Holmes and his cases rather than remaining in a constant state of dead