Sherlock Holmes Research Paper

Holmes was born on May 16, 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire (Biography 1). He did not have a very enjoyable childhood growing up. When he was younger the idea of torturing animals at his house gave him pleasure. Which got him interested in

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.

Watson describes Holmes’s process of looking for clues and evidence of the murder as thus: “…he lounged up and down the down the pavement, and gazed vacantly at the ground, the sky, the opposite houses and the line of railings. […] he proceeded slowly down the path, or rather down the fringe of grass which flanked the path, keeping his eyes riveted upon the ground” (17). This shows that he focuses his attention first on any possible clues from the surrounding area outside and then concentrates on the ground once he’s determined where to look. It is also indicated that he has lowered levels of stress since he was lounging while looking for

“They tend to share certain key characteristics. They're manipulative, cold, and lack what we might call a moral compass--they know right from wrong but are not invested in that distinction. Their only concern with their ‘wrong’ behavior is getting caught, but because they are deceitful, callous and not subject to anxiety, they easily elude capture” (Spikol, 5). These sort of criminals were ones that the Chicago Police Department had never been introduced to before, causing them to change their entire perspective on cases once Holmes’ had passed. According to John Bartlow Martin, a writer for the “Harper’s Archive”, Holmes’ murder castle was filled with trapdoors, gas chambers, secret passageways, and even pits of acid used to get rid of bodies and other pieces of evidence. These were all things that the law enforcers had never even heard of in a story, much less seen or thought of in real life. It’s safe to say that Holmes drastically affected the police’s outlook on the cases in the near, and even far, future of criminals after his mystery; or at least part of his mystery had been

Logic Watson! Give me logic Miss Walden!" Not only was this man rude but he was also bossy; just what I needed in my life. At least his friend 'Watson' is nice enough. I wish they would really make up their minds, was it psychology they wanted or was it philosophy? Clearing my throat I spoke, "How about I get you a both, Sherlock if you don't mind telling me what you need this book for it would be a lot easier to help find you a logical selection." Sherlock seemed surprised to find someone complying so quickly after just denouncing a whole branch of science, one I found some truth in. "Well you see, I'm a consulting detective, the only one in fact, and John and I have a case regarding a man with what I believe to be 'Mommy issues' going around kidnapping single mothers. Please be quick about all of this, we need this information now!" Sherlock described. All the while he's describing this all the pieces are coming together for me, Sherlock, the curly hair, Watson, consulting detective: Sherlock Holmes the main all over the papers lately with that silly hate of

Let us begin with Holmes. Holmes lived in Chicago and owned a pharmacy. He had medical training and loved money and women (Larson 36-37). He was able to smooth talk and gave people a sense of happiness. Holmes could convince people of anything, which he used as a way to sell stories as to why the people he killed had just disappeared. He also used this in constructing his building/hotel. He barely paid a dime because he convinced workers that their job was unsatisfactory (Larson 67). The furniture companies would come looking for H. S. Campbell, the alias he used as the owner of the building, and he would tell them he was out on business (Larson 71-72). A man named Belknap, the uncle of one of Holmes’s three wives, described him as “warm and ingratiating, but also telegraph that some important element of humanness is missing”. For a long time this was known as “moral insanity” and later the term psychopath was used (Larson 87-88). Holmes himself was intrigued by Jack the Ripper (Larson 70).

Holmes had everything he could ever want, which was great for him of course. His childhood was very privileged, and he enjoyed it. People told his family that he was a very intelligent kid for his age. Holmes was treated well. As he grew up, he got interested in the art of medicine. He graduated from the University of Michigan. Holmes was married twice. Holmes was treated well there as well. He passed his exam to practice medicine. He was always treated well, he was smart. He was looked as an equal. This led Holmes to animal experiment and also used corpses as experimental subjects. Holmes also stole corpses and used them to make fake insurance claims. There were rumors that indicates that he was responsible for his friend’s death. That was the first rumored victim of Homes later on he got a job in a pharmacy. Which Holmes convinced the pharmacy wife’s owner to sell him the pharmacy due to his suppose claims that the owner had “passed away”, and it was rumored that he killed the owner of the pharmacy. Then one day the wife went missing, to which Holmes claimed that she had moved to California. But it’s

Sherlock Holmes is a well-known detective, deeply in which royalty has asked for his assistance in retrieving a photograph from Irene Adler. He is known for the excellence use of skills in solving crimes, of astute logical reasoning and of disguise. Holmes work has consistently involved

Sherlock Holmes’s intelligence is demonstrated in both “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”. During “A Scandal in Bohemia” he first demonstrates his intuitive thinking by figuring out that Count Kramm, the man introducing him on the case, is actually the King of Bohemia himself. This shows that he is able to make a quick determination about people’s lives just by having a brief conversation with them. This allows Holmes to solve mysteries that others cannot by simply looking at a suspect or location associated with the scenario. He uses this ability later in the story to find where the incriminating photo of the king with Adler is. He does this by creating a situation for himself where he will be able to get into Adler’s home. He then fakes a fire to see where Adler goes first so he can see where she keeps her most valuable possession, the photo. Holmes states “When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values the most… Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her then what we are questing for” (Doyle 19). This line of thinking shows that Holmes knows how to get people to inadvertently give him the information that he needs by putting them in the right situation and observing what they do. This skill

“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation” (Sign of Four 6). Sherlock Holmes can not only solve the mysteries that are presented to him, but he can solve them with ease because of his reasoning skills. In particular, he mostly uses abductive reasoning, but sometimes he uses deductive and inductive reasoning. This also overlaps into mathematics, with proofs and inferences.

Firstly, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the author, shares Mr. Holmes uses deductive reasoning to figure out that the only reason Vincent Spaulding got paid half of what was offered was because he needed to be in the basement of Mr. Wilsons shop. Mr. Spaulding got Mr. Wilson to get a job at the Red Headed League so he would be out of the shop for several hours at a time. This gave the chance for Spaulding to dig a hole to the bank next door. Fortunately Mr. Holmes figured everything out and spoiled the plan before any gold could be stolen (Doyle). Thus, proves how Mr. Holmes uses deductive reasoning.

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

The homicide scene introduces Holmes's incredible reasoning processes. In a search to figure out the answer to a death, the local detectives call in Holmes. The man, who had a boarding pass for a flight that crashed the day before, appears suspiciously dead in the trunk of a car. Within thirty seconds of investigation, Holmes's observations lead him to over four conclusions. As Holmes searches through the contents found on the dead man's body, the point of view is placed directly through Sherlock's eyes. His eyes focus on intricate

While there has been criticism of the Holmesian method of deduction, many people support the idea that the use of deducing people can help with capture of criminals. While Holmes refers to his findings as deduction himself many people say, “that the process that Sherlock Holmes engages in is usually not deduction” (Novella). Deduction is defined as using a logic method of assumptions based on general statements about the world (Novella). However, Holmes himself makes more of an educated inference on what he observes about the suspects and evidence in his surroundings. The term “Holmesian Deduction” has been used to distinguish the two different methods (Novella). Holmes most famous quote, “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”, is often cited as the best definition to his method of deduction. While it is not a method commonly used now thanks to more advances in crime fighting methods and technology, Holmesian deduction has certainly influenced that way we look at a crime scene.

Watson: Dear Mr Holmes, i will go no further in this matter. It is too dangerous. He suspects me. Please burn the cipher message, which can now be of no use to you. Fred Porlock