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The appeal factors for the mystery genre
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When writing, one finds it is often easier to write about what one already knows. Some authors may find inspiration in their personal lives, the world around them, or the lives of close friends and family. When a work of art or a book is inspired by one of these factors, the work itself contains connections back to the inspiration and in turn, the life of the author himself. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle finds inspiration for his series of novels about the genius detective Sherlock Holmes and his loyal friend Dr. John Watson in many different places. In his novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle makes connections to his career, his colleague, and the stories of his friend.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in addition to being an author, is also a doctor (“Arthur Conan Doyle”). Aspects of his career as a doctor are visible in the unique way Sherlock Holmes solves his mysteries. As a doctor, one must piece together seemingly unconnected information such as congested sinuses and a fever to come up with a diagnosis. Doyle uses the same method when writing about how Sherlock puts clues together to come up with a culprit (“Arthur Conan Doyle”). On one occasion, Sherlock deduces from apparently random facts that Mr. and Mrs. Stapleton are not brother and sister but rather husband and wife (Doyle 8). On another occasion, Sherlock deduces the pets, walking habits, occupation, age, build, and location of employment using only a walking cane as reference (Doyle, “The Complete Sherlock” 636-37). These two instances portray Sherlock using the same skills of deduction Doyle himself uses as a doctor. However, the profession of being a doctor is not the only aspect of medicine which inspires Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes, the main character in T...
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...the inspirations for the unique way Sherlock Holmes is able to deduce people and crimes. His colleague, Dr. Joseph Bell, remains the framework for the startlingly genius Sherlock Holmes, who has an almost supernatural set of deductive skills. Fletcher Robinson’s story about a ghostly hound is the inspiration for the plot and setting of the novel itself. In almost every novel ever written, it is possible to find connections between the author and the work itself.
Works Cited
"Arthur Conan Doyle." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008.
Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Publishing Saddleback Educational. The Hound Of The
Baskervilles. Irvine: Saddleback Educational Pub, 2010. EBSCOhost. Web.
18 Mar. 2014
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble,
2009. Print.
“People who are in earnest are always interesting, whether you agree with them or not” (The Chronicles). Doyle may be known as the author of Sherlock Holmes, but there are other facets to his life. On account of some strange events that occurred, Doyle was persuaded into thinking that spiritual beings existed. As Doyle’s career advanced he drew the attention of many to himself. He succeeded both by gaining supporters and detractors. He built on his fame by giving lectures. These aspects of his life are connected; his painful childhood led him to a successful medical career where his writing and life partner stepped into the picture. These aspects, when combined, led Doyle to a new world view of spiritualism.
at the time of Conan Doyle. However, it was the very early days of Police
Doyle’s detective stories were written to be told by a character to which he could relate. He trained to become a doctor and used this training to influence the profession of the narrator of his Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. John Watson. It is through the eyes of Dr. Watson that we first see our main character, Sherlock Holmes (Geherin 295). Watson was not the only character inspired by a real-life figure, however. Doyle based the character of Holmes off of his instructor, Dr. Joseph Bell.
Without his career, Conan Doyle had much spare time and decided to write stories as a pass time. These stories he wrote were detective stories with Sherlock Holmes as the main character. Sherlock Holmes had many different skills and abilities. Some of the characteristics he had reflected on the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This pass time, which became partially of a career for him,
intelligence. The snare of the snare. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes the stories in a way that challenges the reader’s intelligence and wills them to solve the clues. before Sherlock Holmes does. Dr Watson is there to ask the questions.
This unified tale uses its plot to become a classic example of the detective story type that W. H. Auden brought to life. Sir Charles Baskerville’s murder brings two important aspects of the family curse to the reader’s attention; the phantom like hound and the fate of the Baskerville heir. Sherlock Holmes attains the statues of ‘folk hero’, first given to him by Dwight Macdonald, in the “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by playing a part in the story similar to the heroic champions of old. The case in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is a severe test of Sherlock’s method; a point that Doyle makes clear throughout the novel. Sherlock’s method is tested by Dr. Mortimer who discreetly questions the validity of calling Sherlock’s method scientific. Doyle carefully makes it clear throughout the story that Sherlock and his method are just as scientific as Dr. Mortimer. Sherlock defends his claim to a scientific method by calling it a science of the imagination as opposed to the guesswork Mortimer thinks Sherlock utilizes. Sherlock’s methodology is not only tested in regards to Sherlock Holmes personally; the ideal for which his method stands is also put to the test. Watson and Sherlock’s interactions serve as a single part of their whole
The acclaimed authors, Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle, formulate the characters of Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes respectively, to be similar in the way that they analyze, deduce, and connect segments of desperate and often-thought “unsolvable” detective cases. Through their comparable techniques and system of deduction, Dupin and Holmes never fail to trace back their evidence to the scene of the crime. However, due to the vast difference in the writing styles of Poe and Doyle, the audience observes the main characters not as clones, but rather an analogous pair that think alike, but do not act alike. The personalities of Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, although present are recognizable differences in their actions, continue to
Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous fictional characters in literary history is a detective capable of solving the most complex mysteries. The author behind the character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a very successful British writer. The majority of his literary success is due to his crime-fiction tales such as the Sherlock Holmes series. However, Mr. Doyle and Mr. Holmes himself must not take all the credit because there is another character that plays a major role in the stories success. He goes by the name of Dr. Watson, Holmes’ sidekick. The importance of Dr. Watson is evident in many of Doyle’s stories such as A Scandal in Bohemia and A Study in Scarlett.
In The Hound of the Baskervilles, various factors of Arthur Conan Doyle’s early life, popularity, perspective, and status were all expressed in multiple ways. Spiritualism played an crucial role in his life, greatly impacting his work, specifically “The Hound.” Additionally, his birthplace and upbringing, along with the time period, inveigled his writing. Furthermore, Doyle characterized the people in the story in along with real life scenarios.
An examination of Sherlock Holmes' abilities and techniques. allied to his personal characteristics, enable him to solve crimes. There are many reasons to explain why Sherlock Holmes is one of the world's most famous fictional detectives. However, the main reason for This is that not only are the stories complex, but the actual character of Sherlock Holmes has extreme depth, with some subtle. elements of his character only becoming apparent when he is in certain situations.
Sherlock Holmes should be in the canon; it has value above other novels because it uses concepts and ideas that are different and engaging. It includes both simple and more complicated themes such as friendship and oppression due to the police which create more discussion points, which other novels in the canon do not. The novel involves not only a skilfully constructed main plot, but also the co-existence of this plot with sub-plots which mirror and highlight the events and themes in the main plot. The novel portrays Conan-Doyle’s religious and political standing; for example, Sherlock uses science to find answers to his questions, which shows that Conan-Doyle was not religious and his opinion of the police highlights his social standing.
solve all crimes, and mysteries just like doing a difficult jigsaw puzzle that no one else can solve. Doctor John H. Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s friend and assistant. As a doctor of medicine, Dr. Watson is considered a smart and clever person, but when compared to Holmes, he seems to be much inferior to his friend. Doyle intentionally set the role of Dr. Watson to show how smart and intelligent Holmes is. As Doyle himself is a doctor of medicine, one may presume that Doyle himself is acting as Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes stories.
The book I am reading is called Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This book is realistic fiction because Holmes uses real-life clues to help solve his mysteries, for example, how a girl died on her wedding night. It’s “just right” for me because there aren’t too many hard words, and I find mystery stories interesting. Like Dr. Watson, the narrator, “it has always intrigued me about how Holmes uses deductions.” The main figures in this series of short stories are Dr. Watson and Holmes.
This paper will explore the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and his companion and friend Dr. John Watson. What is the relationship between Holmes and Watson? Are they compatible or are their differences to great for them to overcome. Looking at how they work together will also be a key factor in how well the relationship works between the two of them. Do their own interests and abilities get in the way? Does the time period in which they live factor into the environment of their communication styles?
A major theme within Doyle 's The Hound of the Baskervilles is the supernatural versus reason. Sherlock Holmes uses reason and logic in order to solve cases, but the case of the Hound is underlined by a mystery that leans toward the supernatural. The local legend of the Hound and the supernatural atmosphere of the moor leads to doubt as to the true nature of the crime. Holmes is shown to be "the ultimate rational being-