Sherlock Holmes - Essay Example

Sherlock Holmes Introduction Sir Arthur Conan Doyle built Sherlock Holmes as a fictional detective. Sherlock Holmes is a consultant detective based in London. He is known for his intelligent logical reasoning. He also has an ability to adopt in any disguise and rely, on forensic science, to solve difficult cases. Sir Conan Doyle based the Sherlock Holmes character on Dr. Joseph Bell who was a surgeon. Sherlock Holmes and Joseph Bell were known for basing their conclusions on the smallest observations.

Sherlock Holmes uses his power of observation, in addition to perseverance and intelligence (Doyle 93). These attributes show that Sherlock Holmes was an independent and insightful investigator. His independence and insight play a crucial role to the story because they help in the creation of drama, conspiracy and suspense. Sherlock Holmes was an independent investigator because of the fact that he was a consulting detective. He worked privately and independently, unlike employed detectives. He was paid by private citizens in order to investigate crimes, on a freelance basis.

In the story, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock Holmes investigated the death of Julia Stoner independently. He was approached, by Helen Stoner, to investigate the unknown causes of Julias death (Doyle 105). Helen Stoner is also worried about her safety. In this story, Holmes set out to look for the cause of Julia’s death. Holmes’ personal view was that he was an independent investigator. As an independent investigator, he was extremely specialized and followed each case minutely and personally.

Helen Stoner sought Holmes’ assistance because the authorities investigating the case could not find the cause of Julia’s death. They could not find evidence of poison or violence. The authorities also concluded that nobody entered Julia’s room because Julia locked the door from inside. Holmes’ independent investigation led to the conclusion that Helen’s stepfather had a motive for killing the two sisters because of their inheritance (Doyle 108). In the Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, Holmes was independently involved in the investigation of the theft of a blue carbuncle.

Sherlock Holmes approached this case independently in order to obtain the right information that would enable him to solve the case. The independence that Holmes had in solving his cases enabled him to use different tricks in order to obtain information from suspects and witnesses (Doyle 90). In this case, he employed his tricks on Breckinridge. The trick paid off because Holmes was able to see Breckinridge’s sales record, which also enabled him to see that Breckinridge had bought the geese from Mrs. Oakshott. Sherlock Holmes is an insightful leader because of the thinking techniques and methods that he used.

Sherlock Holmes had a high degree of self-awareness, which helped him to sharpen his perceptions and solve challenging cases. Insight also played a crucial role in enabling Holmes to enhance his creative powers. In the Adventure of the Red-Headed League, Holmes uses his insight to resolve a case in which Wilson was losing money. His insight into the case directed Holmes to identify how Wilson was losing 4 pounds a week (Doyle 21). He resolved the case, and together with three detectives they confronted the thieves, in the bank vault.

Additionally, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet shows that Holmes is an insightful investigator. In this story, he analyzes footprints at lengths while charging around in disguise (Doyle 148). The case was against Arthur because his father woke up and found him with the damaged coronet. However, Holmes based his investigations on his experience and insight from previous cases. He was not convinced that Arthur was guilt. In solving this case, Holmes decided to focus on other people within the household.

Work Cited Doyle, Arthur. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Project Gutenberg e-Book. 12th Edition. 2005.