The Detectives Place in Society - Essay Example

The Detectives Place in Society It is told that Conon Doyle was annoyed with the unprecedented and enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes and thought that the great detective was obscuring his other works and deserved to be killed. Whatever Doyle thought, Sherlock Holmes undoubtedly was his best work from any angle and Doyle is rightly remembered as the originator of Holmes, the greatest detective of the fictional and non-fictional world, ever. Criminology and the birth of criminal science started with the advent of Holmes. “The investigations of Sherlock Holmes witness the beginning of a new way of thought concerning criminal investigation being shaped between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century” http://associazioni.comune.firenze.it/holmes/inglese/ing_agostinis.htm Holmes stresses on method, style, verifications, physical peculiarities, civic identity, personal anagraphical data, which eventually gave rise to anthropometry and dactyloscopy and remains perhaps the greatest fictional detective till date, who fulfills all the professional requirements of one, and other lesser detectives are compared with him to their disadvantage. There are many differences and similarities in Holmes of Speckled Band and Marlowe of The Deep Sleep. Characteristics, ways of solving crimes, diverse approaches show the gulf between them more than the similarities. Holmes’ professionalism is rooted on astute Observations and logical reasoning. Conon Doyle, being a medical man, with extensive travel knowledge and science background, created the unerring master brain. Holmes is assisted ably by Dr. Watson, who is a confidant; friend, trustworthy colleague and Marlowe lacked this assistant who brings great insight and freshness to Holmes’s novels. This also created a human touch, a specific relationship side of an otherwise dry, awfully focused, brittle nature of the master detective, whose remark ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ created the signature line of detective world (did not appear in the books). A man of unlimited skills to perfection, he could collect evidence by observation of seemingly unimportant things like footsteps, ashtrays, clothing and gait. Marlowe lacks an assistant and is not blessed with subtle insights. Holmes is a ‘consultant detective expert who is brought into cases that have proven too difficult for other investigators.” He also calls himself “a competent cryptanalyst….the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject”. In method Holmes differs from the rest. “Holmes is a detective who is strong in deduction, and he supports this by close research, keen observation and keeping precise records,” http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1773/2006/064/LTU-CUPP-06064-SE.pdf He is a kind of ‘Bohemian’ according to his own admission and is not a stuffed up, stiff Victorian. He has a touch of bipolar mania, mainly due to his hyperactive brain, which hates any kind of apathy, and Watson describes him as a ‘desiccated calculating machine’. In modern terms, he is a human computer with extraordinary intelligence and an acutely balance mind and hated to be inactive. He never longs for a social life or company. He is a complete person who does not need complimentary support. Holmes is a bachelor without any interest in women, with an ‘aversion to women’ calls them ‘quicksand’ and has a rather low opinion about them. He uses cocaine, despite Watson’s remonstrations, his ‘only vice’. He is a heavy smoker too; but smoking is not referred to as ‘vice’. Holmes has no literary interest, though he talks about Shakespeare and Goethe; but he plays violin regularly. He is interested in chemistry, poison and science of all kinds. He uses his pipe for ‘quiet analyses’ and uses ‘psychoactive substances’. Dr. Watson says Holmes could bend the truth like lying to the police, conceal evidence or even house break, when it suits him. He uses everything in his power to solve the crime, even the methods in the legal grey zone. He can think best in silence, and is able to solve the case many times without leaving the house. He maintains extensive case records and an impressive research library. He is a city dweller, lives and works in London. Holmes comes across as a true, strong hero. Money was not particularly important to him, as we see him solving the cases, for fun, out of generosity, for kindness and sometimes for nothing, just to fulfill his detective urge. Philip Marlowe, on the other hand, is more human, prone to mistakes and wrong assumptions, works in Los Angeles and cannot be called a hero of the classical mode. Invention of Raymond Chandler, Marlowe became one of the best known modern detectives when the films were made on him. He cannot attain the gregarine heights of Sherlock Holmes; but he made distinct ripples in the detective world. Big Sleep had sex, money, values, thrill and women. Marlowe is shown as a brainy detective, but a simpleton at times. “I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like 'em myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them long winter evenings” he says. His language is very ordinary, compared to the scholarly English of Holmes. Even though their profession is the same, they represent two different worlds. While Holmes is polished, intimidating, clever and overwhelming, Marlowe is ordinary, useful, trustworthy and a good detective without great pretensions of claims. Marlowe is social and likes the company of women. His conversation in The Big Sleep is a kind of fencing with other characters. It is as though he has a compulsive desire to be in command or clever. In The Big Sleep, he emerges victorious and the plot is absolutely sleazy. This work is terribly confusing at times, compared to the more serious and hard-hitting Speckled band. Marlowe’s conversation sometimes could be witty, but not extra-ordinarily clever. They do have an earthy originality in them. "Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.” “You want to tell me now...what it is you're trying to find out. You know it's a funny thing. You're trying to find out what your father hired me to find out, and I'm trying to find out why you want to find out”. In his serious venture of protecting Sternwoods, Marlowe finds many twists and turns; but does not give up easily, and this is a point in his favour. As against the ordinary and rather rude dialogues of The Deep Sleep, Holmes’s deductions are subtle and polished. “I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary in order that he should reach the ventilator” The difference amongst the two regarding money matter surfaces when Miss. Stoner tells him that she is unable to reward him for his services, Holmes says: “As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you best”. Holmes shows his wisdom in social matters and individual psychoanalysis when he says: "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! It’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." Another difference between the two is that while Holmes is a true detective to the core, Marlowe comes across as a hired cop working for a rich family, and trying hard to do justice to his job and the money he takes from them. While it is immaterial to Holmes whether he earns through his profession or not, it is the most important inspiration for Marlowe that he should earn good money. Naturally both the works reflect the society of the time. While Speckled Band is rooted in late Victorian English society and beyond, The Deep Sleep reflects American society with very casual language and conversation. Both the works show the immense need of the society for good detectives and how important it is to have them in any society, because societies need calculative and dedicated brains to solve the crime in addition to police. There is also the difference of classical detective with dream-like qualities and circumstances with a touch of unreality of Sherlock Holmes, compared to the hard-boiled Marlowe, with absurd and almost common reality. There is endearing eccentric intellectuality in Holmes, while Marlowe remains ordinary detective working for money. Holmes is unpredictable and Marlowe is very predictable. That makes Marlowe engaged in detective work, and rather committed to it, while Holmes remains whimsical and his own master. He is more of a criminologist than a detective. In his cynicism there is a hidden genuine concern for the victim and a compulsion to punish the criminal. His personal commitment comes because of his values and Marlowe’s comes from his desire to fulfill the terms of his employment and also to earn money, name and fame. Marlowe has a love interest, unlike Holmes. He has professional responsibility and personal integrity. Chandler made Marlowe utterly believable and loyal to his clients. But once again unlike Holmes, Marlowe is a soft character and not particularly a knight-errant, despite Chandler’s trying to show him as one. Holmes’s time was before the war and it was a socially secure England where weapons were not misused and Marlowe belongs to the after-war world devoid of its niceties. In spite of all these differences, basically both are clever detectives, needed by the societies of all times, who could make their marks on their chosen field. Slight differences apart, both belong to the same profession and art. This does not obscure the fact that Sherlock is the greatest and purest detective in the classical mould while Marlowe is an ordinary detective with a concentration on his earnings. . BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Chandler, Raymond (1988), The Big Sleep, Penguin. 2. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (Please fill up details of this book like above. I had used the online version. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://associazioni.comune.firenze.it/holmes/inglese/ing_agostinis.htm 2. http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1773/2006/064/LTU-CUPP-06064-SE.pdf 3. Read More