Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Research Paper

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Spiritual Adventurer The adventures of Sherlock Holmes are a popular series of novels and short stories, but they are more than works of fiction. Their author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was raised in a strict Catholic home, but he began to question and change his religious and spiritual beliefs as evident in his famous works of literature and characterization. There are many details in his work that show the changes that took place in his life and the current world. His change in beliefs went from something as commonplace as Catholicism to Spiritualism. Because of his shifting views, Conan Doyle became aware of materialism and its consequences on the human spirit, and religious fears that plagued many people. Sir Arthur

The novel, A Study in Scarlet, and short stories A Scandal in Bohemia and The Red-headed League are examples of how he viewed and processed the world. His writings showed his innermost thoughts, ideals and beliefs, “the account of Holmes’s psychology may be applied to Conan Doyle himself” (Sweeney 63). In A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes is introduced as a logical and inquisitive man. He is observant, and he does not care much for politics (Doyle, A Study in Scarlet 15). Conan Doyle was a logical thinker himself, and it is portrayed through Holmes’s character, from his observational skills to his ability to piece together information and “reason backwards”. In The Red-headed League, Holmes uses clues in his environment to catch criminals before they rob a bank. In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes tells John Watson; "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear" (Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia 189). He believes that every detail matters, and this comes in handy when trying to solve a case. Sherlock Holmes also disregards ethical and aesthetic considerations in favor of logic, abstract thinking and problem solving. This can be compared to Conan Doyle’s inquisitive and detail-oriented nature. He prefers to use logic, and it trumps over religion, and dislikes organized religion, which is the Mormons in Utah at the time. Their community was

He was a very logical and forward thinker, as his novels and characterization hint, but he was also raised Catholic (Conan Doyle and Spiritualism par. 5). Conan Doyle experienced organized religion first-hand as a child, and in A Study in Scarlet, he seems to despise it, basing a murder mystery case around revenge caused by restrictions of freedom. This may have caused him to flee from his beliefs and turn to Spiritualism. Spiritualism is often considered "the natural child of rationalism and loss of religious faith" (Diniejko par. 10). Conan Doyle may have been attracted to it because it was a strange mixture of science and metaphysics (Diniejko par. 10). Spiritualism stemmed from loss of religious faith, and people looking for more rational ideas were drawn to the ideas. It makes sense that Conan Doyle would stick to his original religious roots, but change them to fit his current moral standards and views. His strong belief that one could communicate with the dead possibly originated from saints and angels in Catholicism. This belief may have brought him comfort, since his wife died of tuberculosis and thus he spiraled into depression for a period of time. Sherlock Holmes once said to Dr. Watson, “work is the best antidote to sorrow,” so Conan Doyle worked abroad in the United States giving