Sherlock Holmes, A Study In Scarlet, By Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes, a classic character who although many know the name of, only those who have read through the number of novels surrounding Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson’s adventures, truly know the man behind the name. Sherlock is mysterious and unpredictable character, and it is no surprise that Arthur Conan Doyle decided to focus on Sherlock Holmes’ character in particular in many parts of his novels. Doyle based his famous Sherlock Holmes of many individuals; Edgar Allen Poe, founder of the detective genre, was the foundation of Sherlock’s fascinating mannerisms, Dr. Joseph Bell a well known professor of Doyle, was the inspiration and reference for Holmes’s admiration for observation and deduction. Like many well known scientist, and scholars,

As the times changed around Doyle so did his writings; Doyle was 27 when he wrote his first Sherlock Holmes piece, A Study In Scarlet, and within a three-week writing period, he made quite a few mishaps within the novella. Doyle depicted against Mormons in A Study in Scarlet and although many historical moments were involved, his fictional portrayal accentuated his distaste. His personal distaste for Mormonism translated once again into his writings and gave Sherlock the same distaste. With Conan Doyle’s fascination with the mormons and uncommon religions, like spiritualism, many start to wonder his attraction towards his professor Dr. Joseph Bell as they were polar opposites. Bell, like Sherlock Holmes is a man of deduction and observation; where Doyle is a man of scepticism and spirit. Bell’s logic and reason is the inspiration of Sherlock Holmes: “[Dr. Joseph Bell’s] strong point was diagnosis, not only of disease, but of occupation and character… he often learned more of the patient by a few quick glances than I had done by my questions”(Doyle Bio) a recollection explained by Doyle in his biography, occurred among Bell and a patient, where without speaking to the man was able to conclude that this man was indeed a soldier considering only his body language and mannerisms. This is identical to Sherlocks initial encounter with Watson, where he was able to

Watson portrays Sherlock in an romantic and suitable way for many who came across the tales, this tends to anger Sherlock: "Crime is common, logic is rare,”(Beeches) Holmes believes that Watson tends to overlook the facts that led to the case being solved in order to create a story out of the case. Watson tends to gloss over many of Sherlocks observations which is the opposite of what Sherlock wants, he would put emphasis on those key observations. Watson also illustrates Sherlock as a much more relatable person to the reader, with interpreting his thoughts for the reader to understand, rather than the jumble that is Sherlock’s mind. Sherlock has many tendencies to voice his ideas and observations in real time, where the reader would have difficulty following along, and those who do will have no reason to continue reading. Sherlock although beloved would not be where he is in his field if it were not for Watson and his stories: “Watson is a much easier character to relate to than Holmes is. Although Watson is not anywhere as capable at solving mysteries as Holmes is, without Watson, Holmes would be nothing.” Watson created an following for Sherlock, allowing his own field of Consulting Detective to truly take off and gain credibility. Watson wrote of his adventures with Sherlock in a