The Story Layout in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Essay Example

Sherlock Holmes Thesis statement Presentation skills in literary works play a crucial role in determining how the intended audience receive and relate to the work. Written works, for example books, should be written in such a way that the author is able to sustain the reader’s interest from the start of the book to the end. The way the plot is developed and personalities ascribed to the characters can fail to arouse the reader’s interest and curiosity, thus causing boredom. The techniques used to develop, give direction, and expand the scope of the story are all geared towards ensuring that the reader does not get bored. The use the personalities in characters adds a twist to the plot, and ensure that the narrator uses a tone that is sure to keep the reader interested. Introduction In “The adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, Conan Doyle uses a collection of twelve stories to engage the reader in the adventurous life of Sherlock Holmes as an investigator as narrated by his friend, former roommate, and associate, Dr. Watson. Doyle ensures that the reader understands the stories and continues reading them to end by using several plot development techniques such as tension and suspense to make the reader participate mentally in how the stories develop. Additionally, Doyle’s choice of narration and the narrator himself, as well as the characters used to develop the stories make sure that the reader keeps on reading. Characters Sherlock Holmes’ role as the main character spices up the read due to Sherlock’s personality, intelligence, and uniqueness which draw the reader’s attention. Sherlock uses unconventional means to track down, capture culprits, and solve cases, thus making the read very interesting. For instance, Sherlock’s ability to observe even the most intricate details leaves the reader awed and all the more interested in finding put what methods Sherlock will use in the succeeding cases. For instance, as Doyle writes, that in the case of “the red-headed league”, Sherlock notices that Spaulding’s pants are dirty at the knees, indicating that the wearer had been doing a lot of digging (42-50). Adding this observation to fact that Spaulding had obviously been trying to keep Mr. Wilson out of the shop by encouraging him to apply for a dubious job, Sherlock deciphers Spaulding’s plan to rob the bank through the shop’s basement (Doyle 42-50). In another instance, in the story of “the speckled band”, Sherlock is able to observe very minor details concerning the layout of Dr. Roylott’s house, especially the bedroom in which Julia died. For example, Sherlock observes that the bed in this particularly bedroom is nailed to the floor, the bell above the bed is non-functional, and that there is a ventilator connecting Dr. Roylott’s room to this particular bedroom. Amazingly, Watson never took note of all these observations made by Sherlock. Watson’s character is also very crucial in developing the story and keeping the reader interested. Particularly, Doyle chose Watson’s character in such a way that he is not as smart and witty as Sherlock, but rather a common man with the thinking capacity of an average human being. For instance, in “the speckled band” whereas Watson has no idea as to how one can determine Julia’s cause of death, Sherlock has a plan in place. This intellectual difference between Sherlock and Watson is further evident when, even after Sherlock exposes Roylott as the killer by setting a trap for him, and the latter falling for it, Sherlock still needs to explain to Watson what exactly happened even though the two were in the room together. Considering that most readers also have average intellect, it is rather obvious that they, just like Watson do not really comprehend what had transpired and, therefore, need further explanation, thus keeping interested in further reading the book. Sherlock explains to Watson that Roylott did not want the sisters to get married for fear of losing the inheritance and, therefore, poisoned Julia with a snake bite and also planned on poisoning Helen once he learnt that she was getting married. However, the snake ultimately bit Roylott and poisoned him leading to his death (160-162). The fact that Doyle takes time to explain what lead to Julia’s death as well as Roylott’s, the reader gets some sort of relief in understanding what transpired. Apart from the main characters of the book, Doyle carefully selects the other characters to fit the individual stories. For example, Doyle’s selection of Irene Adler as the woman who outwits Sherlock reminds the reader that Sherlock is not foolproof and that he is after all human. Sherlock uses a smoke bomb as a way of distracting Irene so that he can establish the location of the photo needed by the duke. However, Irene suspects that the man pretending to be an elderly clergyman is indeed Sherlock and thus knows his intentions. According to Doyle, Irene dresses up as a man, passes by Sherlock’s house greets him “good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes” and considering that Sherlock takes interest to the greeting, Irene confirms that it is indeed Sherlock (25-27). Here, Doyle makes sure to point out to the reader that Irene is in fact an actress and, therefore, knows how to use a disguise thus allowing her to outwit Sherlock (28), otherwise the reader would not have been convinced that an ordinary woman can come up with such a strategy. Plot Doyle makes the book interesting by using a lot of suspense in every opening chapter of each story. Every story starts with a strange observation, which is revealed to the reader through the detailed observations made by Sherlock. Doyle makes sure that the reader keeps on wondering how Sherlock will solve each case, using which means, and the climax of each story. Often, the reader tries to think like Sherlock and try to identify the culprits only for them to realize that Sherlock used a completely different approach that worked. For instance, in “the Boscombe valley mystery” everyone is convinced that James McCarthy murdered his own father. Circumstantial evidence showed that the two were seen arguing, James clothes were stained with blood, and that Mr. Charles had head injuries which seemed to have been caused by the but-end of James’ gun (68). Additionally, James makes a sort of a confession when he says that he “is getting his just desserts”. Well, everyone in this case does not include Sherlock, as the latter is convinced that James is innocent and that someone else murdered Charles McCarthy. This arouses the curiosity of the reader, who becomes very interested in trying to figure out who could have killed Charles and for what reason. Evidently, Doyle uses this kind of suspense to develop the plot and to make sure that the reader continues reading until the crime is finally solved. Apart from suspense, Doyle also involves a lot of conflict among the characters in the stories to further develop the plot. For example, the conflict between Turner and McCarthy leads to the “the Boscombe valley mystery” case in which Turner is identified as Mr. Charles McCarthy’s killer. Another conflict involves Dr. Roylott and Helen Stoner, where the former had caused the mysterious death of Helen’s sister Julia just before her marriage. The case between the duke and Irene Adler is also a conflict which develops the story and leads to a mutual agreement. All these conflicts develop the story further by ensuring that Sherlock is involved in investigating and solving the conflicts. Narrator Doyle uses Sherlock’s partner, Dr. Watson as the narrator in the stories. This allows Doyle to convince the reader that the stories are real considering the fact that Watson was with Sherlock in all the investigations. The narration by Watson gives real time information about all the activities carried out by Sherlock in times when Watson was with him. Considering that Watson accompanied Sherlock in all his investigative and case solving ventures, the narration becomes very interesting as the narrator records every conversation between them and Sherlock in detail. Using Watson as the narrator is effective in keeping the reader interested although it is at times counter-productive since in instances where Watson is not with Sherlock, the reader is oblivious of the happenings during that period. For instance, according to Doyle at the beginning of “a scandal in Bohemia” Watson gets married and is no longer actively involved in Sherlock’s investigations (9). Without Watson’s presence, the reader only knows that Sherlock is still investigating, although no specific cases are mentioned, and is still taking cocaine. During this time, the reader is curious to know what Sherlock has been working on and unfortunately since Watson is absent from the cases, there is no way of knowing. Conclusion “The adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is an interesting read that keeps the reader interested from the beginning to end. The arrangement of the book is in such a way that each story builds up to an interesting climax by using relevant and captivating characters. The use of suspense, conflict, and tension to build the plot keeps the reader interested in reading the entire book. The characters, led by Sherlock, and Watson, who is also the narrator also have interesting personalities thus keeping the reader interested in the book from start to finish. Work cited Doyle, Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Middleton Classics. 2010. Print. Read More