Doyle's Impact On American Culture

IMPACT OF ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE 2

The Impact of Arthur Conan Doyle on American Culture “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” (Arthur Conan Doyle). This quote was said by the most famous detective who has never existed yet manages to live on in both reader’s hearts and entertainment to this day, Detective Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle created this character in an attempt to earn money, unaware of the effect he would have on the entertainment from his hometown Britain all the way to America. In his time, authors like Edgar Allen Poe had their works still being passed around and consumed by readers. It was stories like these, with realistic backgrounds yet fictional

In the same biography, Adams states that Conan’s earliest memory was of “him huddling by the fire for warmth and listening as his mother told him a story while tending to his baby sister Connie”(1999). With these influences, Conan grew up loving to tell stories and creating his own, as Adams explains how he “wrote his first book when he was six” that was “an adventure story”(1999). Conan’s writing skills took off when he was twelve and sent to Stonyhurst. Adams’ biography states that in this new school, Conan “began making money by writing verses that mocked the harsher teachers” and made up stories when he learned history and he “took historical events and changed them to make them his own”(1999). However despite his clear skill in writing, his mother insisted he become a doctor, so he went to the University of Edinburgh’s medical school once he graduated Stonyhurst. However, this experience only inspired more of his work, as according to Smith’s article, “ he had few patients, so he spent much of his time writing”(2015). It was during this time that he wrote his first Sherlock Holmes book. In his life, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and 4 novels starring his famous detective character, Sherlock Holmes. What made the series stand out was not necessarily the characters or the stories, but the way Conan wrote his stories, and the methods of deducting his characters would use. One thing the stands out about his short stories is that they are not connecting aside from characters. As Smith notes in his article, “Doyle developed a winning formula that was unusual: short stories featuring the same main characters, but