21st Century Sherlock Holmes
Are humans violent creatures? When comparing The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, it would seem so. As Sherlock Holmes in the book depicts Victorian values and beliefs, the Sherlock Holmes in the movies depict what people of the twenty-first century value in their entertainment, showing that humans have evolved into violent, easily disinterested, and ignorant creatures.
The use of a gun contributes strongly to the fact that humans of the twenty-first century are violent. In the book, Sherlock Holmes always asks John Watson to bring his gun when they embark on an adventure. “[T]here may be some little danger, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket” (Doyle 34). Throughout the short stories, Holmes never picks up a gun. Within the first nine minutes of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes shoots his apartment wall with a gun because he is merely bored and has no interesting cases to fill his time (Ritchie, 8:42). This scene indicates that humans today are easily disinterested creatures who take risky actions to keep themselves preoccupied.
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In the book, Holmes’ first descriptive deduction is made in the short story “A Scandal in Bohemia” when he analyzes the letter he had received from Bohemia (4). Holmes uses his analytical skills to intrigue the reader. In the movie, Holmes’ first deduction is made when he fights one of Blackwood’s men when trying to stop Blackwood (Ritchie, ___). When watching the movie, the audience believes it is fascinating. It creates a sense of urgency and excitedness. Holmes uses his skills to figuratively and literally beat his opponent. Using the movie Holmes as an embodiment of twenty-first century humans, it can be inferred that society often resorts to violent thoughts and ideas first, with ignorance and little regard to the details and
A significant amount of people were in Chicago looking to take advantage of what it had to offer. Holmes used this lust people had for opportunity to exploit and attract his victims. His offerings of jobs, rooms, wealth, marriage and a multitude of other things combined with the opportunity Chicago had, composed an irresistible offering to women (The devil in the White City pg 162). They could not justify reasons to refuse moving into his building. From here Holmes treated women well and seduced them into positions where he could easily murder
Holmes was born in New Hampshire, 1861. His mother was cold and heartless, and his father was an alcoholic. Both parents were very abusive towards Holmes. His parents would isolate and starve him for extended periods of time. At an early age, he was fascinated with the human body which quickly led to him being fascinated by death. Holmes’s captivation of the human body led him to study medicine. After graduating, Holmes was accepted into the University of Michigan Medical
America probably has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. In Canada, the percentage of Canadian households with a rifle is approximately equal to the level in United States. According to the statistics of gun murder rates around the world from ‘Bowling for columbine’, America has 11,127 gun accidents while Canada merely has 165. Is the number of gun ownerships a main factor behind a violent society? Indeed weapon does not commit crimes, the perpetrator does.
They have taken over the interest of everyone who thinks they are in danger. Even with the protection of a handgun, statistics show that crimes are still being committed. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics “an average of only about 65,000 defensive uses of guns each year compared to the more than 800,000 crimes committed with guns” (Mcdowell 1982-84). Guns are a danger in the household if marital disputes and domestic violence are present. If a gun is a readily available object, then the chances of it being used to let out anger and frustration instead of self-protection is great.
Over the years some of the reasons to own guns have changed. As Americans moved west fulfilling Manifest Destiny, making new towns along the way which were far away from any established law. These people made laws through the barrel of a gun. Of course crime still happened, but not nearly as often, when the townspeople simply hunted down and shot the criminal. Eventually, police forces arose in the Midwest, and fewer people carried guns with them on the street but they were still there, visible or not.
Watson’s actor angrily expresses Watson’s character of being disapproving of Holmes’ use of drugs. Sherlock Holmes’ actor stares off to somewhere, while sounding calm and delivers his line of drugs being the only thing that makes existence not dull. The tone when delivering the dialogue was rather monologue and stern, which somewhat complements his stoicness. At this point, the movie has strayed from the direction of the book. Holmes then hands Watson a letter to read which has instructions of what to do and the time to do it. Watson listens to Holmes’ deduction of who crafted the letter, all his speculations ranged from penmanship and paper quality, to
...mes’ lifestyle. Holmes, throughout his life was a criminal. Holmes desire to murder people was believed to come from from his desensitized feeling about dead bodies. This was due to his medical career. As mentioned earlier, when Holmes was in medical school, he had many dealings with cadavers and was very familiar with them. Later, when he began killing he did not look at the bodies as human beings, but as material or later, cash money. This relationship between crime and deviance is mainly why I choose this book. I feel that H. H. Holmes, although Holmes was a strange and demented man, was very successful. This success questions what makes people successful: is it your status, education, or was it his determination?
On page 39, it describes the moment in which bullies from his school force him to go face to face with a skeleton in a doctor’s office. Such a terrible experience truly could have scarred Holmes, but at the same time his comfortability with an representation of death could have prompted his killer roots. Also, the “accidental” death of Holmes’s childhood friend, at an event that Holmes was present, was another red flag in terms of potentially becoming a psychopath. We learn more of Holmes’s younger upbringing through the text in which it states,"He drifted through childhood as a small, odd, and exceptionally bright boy....in the cruel imaginations of his peers, he became prey" (Larson, 38) Holmes was essentially an outcast, a person who has been rejected by society or a social group. He was the target of many because of his oddness and rather unique characteristics. With no solid upbringing, and a probable fascination with death, Holmes was bound to be the infamous serial killer he became in his future.
Imagine a world in which there is no morality, no sense of empathy or concern of the well-being of loved ones, and no feelings of remorse, no matter what actions one takes. This is the world of an unstable and violent individual. This is the world of Tom Ripley, in Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Due to the ramifications of Tom Ripley’s troubled past of his parents dying and the neglect of his Aunt, the reader is better able to understand the forces that guide Ripley’s cruel actions and the inevitable consequences he must face. It is clear that the unpredictable and instinctive tendencies of Tom Ripley’s constantly changing identity throughout the novel contribute to his
Holmes was never arrested for the incident with his father-in-law. However, he was later arrested in “July 1894, Holmes was arrested for the first time. It was not for murder but for one of his schemes” (Taylor). Being arrested should have scared Holmes onto the straight and narrow path, it did not. It was in jail that Holmes met one of his accomplices, Marion Hedgepeth (Nash, Bloodletters 448).
The problem with guns is fairly obvious: they decrease the difficulty of killing or injuring a person. In Jeffrey A. Roth's Firearms and Violence (NIJ Research in Brief, February 1994), he points out the obvious dangers. About 60 percent of all murder victims in the United States in 1989 (about 12,000 people) were killed with firearms. Firearm attacks injured another 70,000 victims, some of whom were left permanently disabled. In 1985, the cost of shootings was an estimated $14 billion nationwide for medical care, long-term disability, and premature death. In robberies and assaults, victims are far more likely to die when the perpetrator is armed with a gun than when he or she has another weapon or is unarmed.
In the movie Holmes, in the beginning, was much more prideful and rude to Watson and people in general, but later on, Holmes was a lot nicer and somewhat humble at least compared to the book. This difference made the viewer feel less liking of the character of Holmes and it almost seemed that the director tried to save Holmes’s character by making him nicer at the ending. The difference had a big impact on the feeling of the movie because it felt that he was so stuck up he was rather unapproachable. ...
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?
People who prefer to own guns say that guns are not killing people but the users. However, studies have showed that most of the killer said that they did not plan to kill the victims. In addition to that, more 70% of all killing come from family dispute or arguments between friends. (Federal Bureau of Investigation). If there were no guns, the issues would have been ended by shouting match, or maybe fights. Besides that, research has showed that if murderers attack people with guns, they have more chances to kill victims than with other weapons like knives.(Abner J Mikva).
Some people believe that violent video games can cause behavioral problems. This is not true; it is only their opinion. They may say people that play violent video games start having behavioral problems, and what was that cause? It is only people and it has no effect on them, only their own action and their weak mental health issues. The violent video games for computers and consoles’ sale rate went up but violent crime offense went down. Video games are for players to have fun without causing any harm while they are playing. Why do they believe that behavior problems were caused by violent video games? They do not seem to realize that television and movies also have violent scenes. Some examples of popular violent movies include First Blood, Expendables, Dark Knight, Spiderman, and Superman. All action movies have shooting, explosions, and fighting. Horror movies are filled with violence as well, such as Halloween, Scream, and Saw. Horror shows and movie are showing stabbings and serious harm. Even Television shows, like the Three Stooges, Cops, wrestling and America's Funniest Videos! Children's cartoons have violence as well; Disney animated films, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Watership Down.