An examination of how Sherlock Holmes' abilities and techniques,

An examination of how 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. This is why Sherlock Holmes is one of the most, if not the

most interesting fictional characters to study.

One of Holmes' most famous professional characteristics is his power

of observation. An example of this is where Holmes is examining a room

"Why, it's a dummy…it is fastened to a hook" (The Speckled Band). This

is a very unlikely thing for a normal person to observe; but not for

Sherlock Holmes!

However, Holmes' powers of observation would be worth nothing without

his excellent reasoning and deduction abilities. An example of this is

connected to the quote above (from The Speckled Band). After Holmes

discovered that the bell pull (rope) was a dummy, and taking into

account only facts that may be considered, by lesser men,

insignificant he solved the mystery of a woman's death. "It would

crawl down the rope.... sooner or later she must fall victim" (The

Speckled Band).

It is by Holmes' use of reasoning and deduction that one of his most

famous personal characteristics also comes to light. This is his

characteristic of making people around him feel beneath him, in other

words, Holmes has a high level of self-esteem. He astounds people with

his intelligence. He pretends that he does not mean to do this "I do

not wish to make a mystery" (A Scandal in Bohemia). There is but one

case that I have come across in which Sherlock Holmes is outwitted by

someone, and when he realises that he has been outwitted, he is amazed

"Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and surprise" (A Scandal in

Bohemia). He is especially amazed that it is a woman that has

outwitted him. This has some, but only a slight, effect on his

belittling characteristic "He used to make merry over the cleverness

of women, but I have not heard him do it of late" (A Scandal in

Bohemia).

Holmes has a great store of knowledge that he has acquired over many

years at his disposal, and this helps him greatly in his cases "my

special knowledge of tobacco ashes enabled me to pronounce as an

Indian cigar" (The Boscombe Valley Mystery). This yet again proves

just how intelligent Sherlock Holmes is.