Wang
Yichu (Lavender) Wang
Writing 39B
Professor Lynda Haas
Literature Review Essay
A Detective, A Teacher, and A Hero
Most people, including me, have an intelligent, calm, knowledgeable detective in our
childhood memories Sherlock Holmes. He not only possesses a normal detectives abilities
and personalities, he also sets a positive example for those who want to be a detective like
him in the future. Criminologist talked about what Sherlock have done for modern
criminology in PBS show How Sherlock Changed The World. For example, Dr. Henry Lee
explains Sherlocks methods of deduction influence how they navigate the crime scene, He
uses physical evidence, collect the evidence, try through the detective logic and try to put the
case together (1:10,PBC). In Conan Doyles Sign of Four, Mary Morstan asked Sherlock
Holmes help for the disappearance of her father. Sherlock solved the mystery of missing
person, anonymous letter, and treasure with four signs in the story; he showed his different
characteristics as a good detective in the entire process. Sherlocks quick reaction, logical
thoughts and deduction abilities made the truth got revealed one after the other. In Silver
Blaze, Holmes shows his patience, confidence, and outstanding ability of reasoning as a
detective. Holmes was sensitive to any little details and evidence that can be helpful to solve
the mystery. He never guesses, but he always has deductions based on observation and
knowledge in his thoughts. For example, there was a dog next to the silver blaze, but on the
night the silver blaze went missing, the dog didn't bark, which proves Holmess idea that the
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person who stole the horse was familiar with this place. In How to Think Like Sherlock
Holmes, the writer and journalist, Maria Konnikova introduces the ways that Sherlock
thinking while he was facing difficulties, and how his methods influenced his readers. The
ways of thinking is the main aspect that has built Sherlock as an admirable detective. In
general, Sherlock Holmes as a respectable detective, an admirable teacher, an inspiring role
model, and even a historical hero, has remained a popular character through books, TV series
and films from Victorian Era till modern time. Additionally, many different scholars wrote on
Holmes amazing characters that made him a unique detective figure throughout the long
time period. Sherlock Holmes stories also have classic detective conventions such as a
detective with abnormal hobbies and attitudes, a narrator who has closer distance with the
audiences, police with weaker abilities of deduction.
First, Holmes uses scientific methods to exam the crime scenes, which reveals his
extraordinary characters and amazing abilities. Holmes thoughts were much ahead of his
time, and still influential till now. In How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes, the writer
implies the influence of Holmes scientific methods, In many ways, Sherlock Holmes was a
visionary. His explanations, his methodology, his entire approach to thought presaged
developments in psychology and neuroscience that occurred over a hundred years after his
birth- and over eighty years after his creators death ( Konnikova 18 ) . Unlike the positive
comments above, the writer of An Introduction to the Detective Story holds an slightly
different opinion, Holmes, Doyle says, knows nothing of literature, philosophy, or
astronomy and little of politics. He fills his cranial attic only with those things, which help
him solve crimes (Panek 82). Holmes may not be as omnipotent as most of the readers think.
He uses scientific methods help him to find the most important clues, come up with the most
related ideas, and prove most of his thoughts, but there are still some areas he is not fully
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familiar with. However, in general, Holmes ability of deduction still exceeded normal
people.
Many classical detective conventions have been useful in Sherlock Holmes stories.
Firstly, Watson as a narrator in Conan Doyles texts has an irreplaceable role. He plays a
medium to delivery Holmes detective methods, thoughts, examples and even present
Sherlock Holmes as a real individual in front of the audience. Panek describes the narrators
role in a detective story as Detective's assistant as the narrator: the writer can use the
narrator's ignorance to hide important facts and through him can praise the detective and keep
him civilly reticent at the same time (Panek 80). In Conan Doyles texts, compares to
Holmes, Watson is obviously lack of deduction ability and much other knowledge. When
Watson and Holmes entered into the crime scene at the same time, Watson always provides
some obvious clue and simple opinions, which can make the case more attractive and
interesting to the readers, and at the meantime, Holmes intelligence can be well contracted.
Secondly, like the other detective stories, Sherlock Holmes has some abnormal hobbies, and
he sometimes behaves differently. For example, in Sign of Four, Holmes confessed to
Watson that he smoke cocaine to keep himself sober. This tells the readers that hero is a
human being also, he wont be perfect, and even he appears as an extremely intelligent
individual. Thirdly, the imperfection of the police power during Victorian Era is an important
element of the detective stories. If the police were doing a perfect job , they wouldnt need
detective like Holmes to help them to solve mysteries. In the other words, if the police can
avoid any crime happen, Holmes wouldnt have any chance to save the society and became a
hero. Panek notes that Were there no police or detectives, writers would find themselves
compelled to concentrate on heavy lessons about morality and social order. Were the police
and detectives perfect, there would be little crime and therefore little fiction about it (8
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Panek). So the good detective stories must be built on the imperfection of police power
during the time period.
In conclusion, Sherlock Holmes is not only a famous detective, but also a role model
for many teenagers, a initiatory teacher for those of people who want to be a detective, and
also a hero throughout a long time period. He is admirable not only because his abilities of
deduction, but also because of his personality as an incredible individual. His methods and
ideas have continuous positive influence to modern criminology and scientific methods of
thinking. Sherlock Holmes has remained a popular character through books, TV series and
films from Victorian Era till modern time. It is a precious classical literature legacy especially
with classic detective conventions included such as a detective with abnormal hobbies and
attitudes, a narrator who has closer distance with the audiences, police with weaker abilities
of deduction. Generally, Sherlock has brought a big change to the world.
Works Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Kindle
eBook. Online.
Doyle,Arthur Conan. "Adventure 1: Silver Blaze." The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
Lit2Go Edition. 1894. Web. <http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/40/the-memoirs-of-sherlock-
holmes/573/adventure-1-silver-blaze/>. April 28, 2014.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. "Adventure 1: A Scandal In Bohemia ." The Memoirs of Sherlock
Holmes. Lit2Go Edition. 1894. Web. <http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/40/the-memoirs-of-
sherlock-holmes/584/adventure-11-the-final-problem/>. April 27, 2014.
Farrell, Kirby. Heroism, Culture, and Dread in The Sign of Four. Studies in the Novel 16:1
(1984): 32-51. JSTOR. Web. 01/15/2014.Konnikova, Maria.
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How Sherlock Change the World, Meet Dr. Henry Lee, PBS Youtube, 22 Nov.2013. Web.
20 May 2014. <https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLm92TxDGV8>
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. New York: Vikin g, 2013. Print.
