An examination of how Sherlock Holmes abilities and techniques, :: English Literature

An examination of how intelligence officer Holmes abilities and techniques,allied to his personal characteristics, enable him to solve crimesthither are many reasons to explain why private detective Holmes is one of theworlds most celebrated fictional detectives. However, the main reason forthis is that not only are the stories complex, alone the actualcharacter of Sherlock Holmes has extreme depth, with some subtleelements of his character only becoming apparent when he is in certainsituations. This is why Sherlock Holmes is one of the most, if not themost interesting fictional characters to study.One of Holmes most famous professional characteristics is his powerof observation. An example of this is where Holmes is examining a roomWhy, its a keep mumit is fastened to a hook (The Speckled Band). Thisis a very unlikely thing for a normal person to observe but not forSherlock HolmesHowever, Holmes powers of observation would be worth nothing withouthis excellent reasoning and ded uction abilities. An example of this isconnected to the quote above (from The Speckled Band). After Holmesdiscovered that the ships bell pull (rope) was a dummy, and taking intoaccount only facts that may be considered, by lesser men,insignificant he solved the mystery of a womans death. It would cringe down the rope.... sooner or later she must fall victim (TheSpeckled Band).It is by Holmes use of reasoning and deduction that one of his mostfamous personal characteristics also comes to light. This is hischaracteristic of making population around him feel beneath him, in otherwords, Holmes has a high level of self-esteem. He astounds people withhis intelligence. He pretends that he does not mean to do this I donot wish to make a mystery (A scandalisation in Bohemia). in that location is but onecase that I have come across in which Sherlock Holmes is outwitted bysomeone, and when he realises that he has been outwitted, he is amazedHolmes staggered back, etiolate with chagrin and surprise (A Scandal inBohemia). He is especially amazed that it is a woman that hasoutwitted him. This has some, but only a slight, effect on his minimize characteristic He used to make merry over the clevernessof women, but I have not heard him do it of late (A Scandal inBohemia).Holmes has a great store of knowledge that he has acquired over manyyears at his disposal, and this helps him greatly in his cases myspecial knowledge of baccy ashes enabled me to pronounce as anIndian cigar (The Boscombe Valley Mystery). This yet again provesjust how intelligent Sherlock Holmes is.