“His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge” (British…). When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said this, he was not talking about himself, but the statement applied to him. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, and even though it was not known to his parents, on that day one of the greatest writers of his time was born. Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Mary and Charles Doyle. Arthur Conan Doyle had an interesting and eventful life, though he was born into a financially unstable family. The harsh conditions made him a stronger person as a result. His life had its ups and downs, but his experiences during his childhood and his adult life, as well as, the inspirational people he met would ultimately influence his future stories.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s childhood had a direct impact on the books that he wrote and the path that he took in life. Arthur’s mother was an inspirational effect on his life. As the Dictionary of Literary Biography says, “Conan Doyle's mother, Mary Foley Doyle, was well read and a great storyteller, both characteristics clearly responsible for leading his interests toward literature"(British...). Early in Arthur’s life, Mary Doyle was very influential in helping him to find his passion for writing stories. This passion for writing was easily visible to his mother, and she strove to make every opportunity available for him to succeed in life. As Carl Rollyson points out, "Seeing talent in young Arthur, the strong and practical Mary Doyle procured for him an excellent education despite their difficult circumstances and eventually saw him through medical school"(530). His mother did everything she could in order to ensure that an education was available for him. She wanted to guarantee that he ha...
... middle of paper ...
...ffect on his works.
"Conan Doyle died in Windlesham, his home in Crowborough, Sussex, and at his funeral, his family and members of the spiritualist community celebrated rather than mourned the occasion of his passing beyond the veil.”
"On July 13, 1930, thousands of people filled London's Royal Albert Hall for a séance during which Estelle Roberts, the spiritualist medium, claimed to have contacted Sir Arthur.”
Writer, British. "Arthur Conan Doyle." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. 2008. Web. 15 May 2010. .
This Article shows the effects of his life experiences on how he writes in his books. He uses his own actions to show himself as heroic.
"Doyle's second wife, Jean, said: "My husband's mother was a very remarkable and highly cultured woman. She had a dominant personality, wrapped up on the most charming womanly exterior.”
Although Arthur Conan Doyle was raised in an ordinary Roman Catholic family, he turned out to be a well-known spiritualist who encouraged others to communicate with the dead. On May 22, 1859, an Irish infant was born into a Roman Catholic family. Arthur Conan Doyle was the second oldest of ten siblings. Arthur’s father, Charles Doyle, came from a wealthy family. He came from a family of artists. He himself was successful in his younger years but afterwards he went broke because his art works were not so popular anymore. The family came into a time of crisis as Charles started to drink. Arthur became hurt through Charles’s attitude yet remained proud of him; in A Study in Scarlet Arthur used his father’s painting as an illustration. "My father's life was full of the tragedy of unfulfilled powers and of underdeveloped gifts. He had his weaknesses, as all of us have ours, but he also had some very remarkable and outstanding virtues"(The Chronicles). Arthur found comfort in his mother. He gave credit to her as an inspiration t...
The story is concerned with the conflict between his conception of himself and the reality.
Exploring the Reasons Behind the Popularity of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories Although not a real detective, the character of Sherlock Holmes gave the general public a sense of security because in the stories he is seen to solve cases quite easily, such as in "The Man With The Twisted Lip." Watson says "I wish I knew how you reached your results" and Holmes replies, "I reached this one, by sitting upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. " This gives the readers a sense of security because it seems as if Holmes makes no effort to solve the crimes but they are still solved with the minimum of fuss. At the time of writing the concept of detectives was new, and when the stories were written there was almost no confidence in the police force. This point is brought up in "The Man With The Twisted lip," the police force caught a criminal and then proceeded to let him go.
“The Hero’s Journey.” Ariane Publications, 1997. Course handout. AS English I. Dept. of English, Woodside High School. 26 October 2013.
Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories and Their Undying Appeal When the Sherlock Holmes books were written, London was rife with croime. The slums, especially, were victims to prostitution, murder and drug abuse. Jack the Ripper was free on the streets, making many people scared. The police couldn't catch him so the public resented the police force as they weren't seen to be protecting them. I think that this is one of the reasons why the Sherlock Holmes stories were so successful.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s early life in England contributed a lot to his writing. While he was still in school there were people around him who influenced the characters that he would write about later in life, including one of his professors. “If he needed a model for his detective, he need look no further than a lean figure in Edinburgh, with long white dexterous hands and a humorous eye, whose deductions startled patients as they would readers” (Carr, 2003). He also started looking at things differently which affected his writing style. “He had encountered a curious facility of being able to drop a mental curtain between himself and the world; and by inducing an artificial state of mind, becoming himself the character he wrote about” (Carr, 2003).
From the very dawning of his existence, Edgar Allan Poe lived a life of hardship; a quality which was reflected in his writings. Poe was born the son of a pair of traveling actors. His father, David, was at best a mediocre actor who soon deserted his wife and son. His mother Elizabeth, on the contrary, was a charming woman and talented actress. His life, no doubt, would have been much different were it not for the fact that she died of tuberculosis in 1811 when Poe was not quite three. This event scarred him for life, for he would always remember "his mother vomiting blood and being carried away from him forever by sinister men dressed in black." (Asselineau, 409).
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915, to Isidore and Augusta Barnett Miller. He was born into a family in which his mother was a teacher and his father, a prosperous manufacturer. He was not the greatest student (having failed Algebra three times) but instead was more interested in athletics during his teenage years. Having lost all of the family fortunes in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, after high school, Arthur went to work in a warehouse dealing with automobile parts. It was there that he picked up a copy of The Brothers Karamazov which influenced him into becoming a writer. A few years later, he was accepted to the University of Michigan where he majored in Journalism.
Stylistically, the book is arranged in rotating chapters. Every fourth chapter is devoted to each individual character and their continuation alo...
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. He is considered a part of the American Romanticism period. He is best known for his works of mystery and psychological terror. Poe is recognized for his gothic tales of mystery, death, terror, puzzles, and psychological problems (poets.org). He has influenced many writers including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series. Poe was different than other authors in that he was influenced by his own current life. He had endured many deaths and dark periods. His mother died of tuberculosis and so did his foster mother later on. His wife, Virginia Clemm, also died from this terrible disease. This especially was evident in his works. She influenced him in his works of “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven” (poets.org). Poe uses the themes of terror and the mystery of the mind to show that under the circumstances anything can happen to anyone. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, Edgar Allan Poe explores horror, the mystery of psychology and puzzles in order to show the depth of the human mind and the consequences of it.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia, demonstrates how a specific character can be used to expand upon the complexity of the story’s main character. Specifically in the case of Irene Adler, Conan Doyle does not go into much detail about her, as much as he uses her as a contrast to Holmes. Adler’s presence in the story is the antagonist, but seems much more than that to Holmes’. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s use of Adler seems to be very unique and creative compared to some of his other works, though after her appearance, Conan Doyle’s works with Sherlock all come to a similar structure, that Sherlock seems to come to adore the villains, more so the villains intellect, and put up with the people that hire him.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes a short story about how innocence gets victimized by a royal subject. When a royal figure clashes with someone who is not equal in social class, he will do anything to hide his mistake. This is when the King hires Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle based Holmes off of a man named Dr. Joseph Bell, who was a friend of his in medical school. When Doyle saw that medical practice was not a success, he began writing Holmes stories for money. The public became infatuated with not only the stories, but mainly Sherlock Holmes. When Doyle wanted to write in more respectable genres (Duncan 3), he made one enormous mistake.
Now, let us look at “The Speckled Band” there is no doubt that it is a
Sherlock Holmes, a name most people would know if they were to hear it, has come to greatly influence the modern world of mysteries. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had no idea a character he started to write about for the first time in 1887 would still be carried alive by other TV and movie producers in 2014. Doyle also never new that Holmes would become such a popular character or result in a name mostly everybody would know. Even if there was a person who did not know who or what Sherlock Holmes was, they are certain to have at least heard his name before. “Doyle turned his principal character into a household word” (Haining 7). Doyle started a legacy that lives on forever. Sherlock Holmes personality and looks may change with every generation he is in, but his main characteristics remain the same. Sherlock Holmes’ style of deduction, great sense of observation and strange personality in Arthur Doyle’s stories influenced how TV and movie producers would portray Holmes in their version of Doyle’s mysteries in shows such as Elementary and Sherlock.