Final notes on Holmes

Holmes' sleuthing comprises:

• Analyzing the situation beforehand. Holmes tends to walk around and think the case through even before he attempts to collect any clues.
• Ensuring he does not make any assumptions before he has analyzed all the evidence.
• NEVER guessing. He feels that it is very wrong to predispose oneself before acquiring a firm footing of evidence to base one's beliefs on.
• Collects all the facts in a very diligent and systematic manner, keeping all his assertions to himself unless asked to divulge them by Watson. Even in this event, Holmes may decline to offer any thoughts lest he preempts himself or offers wrong conclusions.
• Most importantly, applying his keen methods of deduction to all the evidence that he finds. He does this by applying a lot of prior knowledge that he has acquired from his work and studies on previous cases, since he believes that no murder is ever really 'new' and that everything has been done before but with variations. Most cases Holmes comes across he is able to compare to one that he has come across previously.
• Finally, Holmes believes in an objective flow of thoughts, uninhibited by emotion and impartial to all sentiments. Such is the attitude that Holmes exhudes, one of objectivity to emotional attachments especially in the case of women and falling in love.

Holmes' very objective take on things.

Holmes' method of detachment DOES help him a lot in his sleuthing. As a matter of fact, in the story that i just read, which i will be blogging on shortly, Holmes totally loses respect (maybe not respect but a certain amount of trust or loyalty) in Watso because Watson commits the worst atrocity in Holmes' books: he falls in love. (ohhhhhhh! how could he?) And Holmes makes his stand on women very clear: that they are a pretty distraction in the field and subtract one from his impartiality while looking at things. As for the general assertions as to what Holmes' character does for the future of mystery novels as well as incorporating what i've learnt into my Independent Reading question, i'm going to hold off on that till i'm done with all my Holmes' stories for, who knows, maybe Holmes was acting out of character or maybe something happened that isn't in the norm for most of the other stories. I think it's better to get evidence now and make assertions later. Okay, stay tuned for my next feature presentation, blogging on the Holmes story, "THE SIGN OF THE FOUR" - coming to a blog near you, soon!

How the Holmes stories typically play out.

Most of the time the entire story is summed up in one major sudden moment of revelation-usually provided by Holmes himself, this epiphany- and is then followed by a totally voluntary confession of the entire crime by an arrested party that played a major role in the perpetration of the murder/theft/whatever the crime may be. Watson's being a veteran does not really affect his POV much and serves mainly for plot development so we know where Watson was and how he came to be in London for the first time. He is rather protrayed simply as the perfect conduit for the story as he is loyal to Holmes, provides all the details, and is always in the thick of the sleuthing-always being challenged by Holmes to try and solve little mysteries along the waybefore he (Holmes) reveals their true nature. And about the questioning, Watson does ask! As a matter of fact, at one point he's so fed up of all the secrecy that he comes out and asks Holmes point-blank what the hell he is doing with his life. This is when Holmes elucidates on the whole crime-solving undercover master-sleuth thing. About the analyzing of people, Holmes quite enjoys the practice and frequently implores Watson to do the same, including making the same observations about him (Holmes). Holmes really has nothing to hide and would be more than happy to see someone else (even Watson) attempt to unravel the mystery that is him (Holmes) through the use of his own methods of deduction.