Friday, July 12, 2013

What things do we learn about Sherlock Holmes, and how we learn them in "A Scandal in Bohemia."

There are many things that we learn about Sherlock Holmes,
one right after the other,  in Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia," which appeared in title="A Scandal in Bohemia, Sir Arthur Conana Doyle. Penguin Readers Factsheet. Mary
Saunders. Pearson Education."
href="http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com/Samples/9781405879347_FS_12_07.pdf">Strand
and was the first of the Sherlock Holmes stories to be published. The things we learn
about Holmes come through the musings and memories of Watson; Holmes's conversations
with Watson and others; and Holmes's explanations of his logical observations and
deductions. The basis of all that is learned throughout is built in the first few
paragraphs of Doyle’s story.


In the first paragraph we
learn about Holmes's emotional capacity and his peculiar strain of temperament that
makes him the logician and observer that he is:


readability="7">

All emotions ... were abhorrent to his cold,
precise but admirably balanced mind. ... the most perfect reasoning and observing
machine the world has
seen.



We then learn about his
"fierce energy" and his unfortunate habit of using cocaine when boredom overwhelmes
him--it is interesting in and of itself that Doyle gave this unfavorable trait to Holmes
in the strict and rigid Victorian era; one wonders whether Doyle is, as a doctor and
writer, pointing out a secret strain of escape from Victorian restraint running through
London or simply giving Holmes a very human failing to enhance the
character.


In addition, we also learn of some of Holmes's
background; e.g., "the case of the Trepoff murder." This is an interesting narrative
device employed by Doyle, because, of course, "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the first
Sherlock Holmes story and therefore the first Sherlock Holmes case--as he didn't exist
previously! We then learn, in relation to Watson's own activities, that Holmes is given
to pacing the room when involved in a mystery ("I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice
in a dark silhouette") and that he is tall and lean, "spare." We also learn the date of
his newest case, "March, 1888," and the location of his abode, "Baker Street," where he
and Watson had formerly shared rooms before Watson's marriage, which he associates "with
my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet" (more of the narrative
device establishing a flashback to a background preceding Holmes's
creation!).


Finally, in the beginning paragraphs of Doyle's
finely crafted story, we learn of Holmes's gift for observing--and trusting his
observations--and his gift for deductive reasoning. He observes points of Watson's dress
and deduces--correctly!--that Watson has gone back into private medical practice; has
gained seven and a half pounds in marriage; has recently gotten very wet and muddy; and
has a "most clumsy and careless serving girl." We further learn that Holmes and Watson
have a relationship of fondness and mutual respect and good will so that their
friendship is indispensable to each other:


readability="7">

Stay where you are [Doctor]. I am lost without my
Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it. ... I may
want your help, and so may
he.



The remainder of the
story adds more details in a similar fashion--woven into the action and the thoughts and
the conversations of the participants--to produce a full-blown picture of Holmes and
Watson, all built upon the revelations in these first few paragraphs.

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