A character like Sherlock Holmes

In 1887, Conan Doyle published the first story about the Greatest Detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes. Doyle probably never envisioned the immense popularity this fictional character would enjoy, and still enjoys, more than a century later. Every year a lot of tourists travel to 221B Baker Street to see the imaginary house of the world’s only consulting detective. A lot has been written about this character, not all of it being fictional, but actual articles about Holmes and Watson, by people who believed them to be real, and Doyle fictional.[1]   This essay will centralise around a suggestion made by Christopher Clausen: “A character like Holmes could grow to full stature only in a time when crime could plausibly be seen as the greatest threat to order and its detection the greatest of services, when the police were widely believed to be ineffectual, when science was viewed by its enthusiasts as a new force crusading for progress against ignorance and unreason.”[2]

In order to fully investigate this statement, I have broken it up into several pieces. Each paragraph contains a part of this statement and will provide more insight into the popularity of Sherlock Holmes and thus a fragment of argumentation. In the conclusion, there will be a further consideration of this statement and my ideas about this enormous phenomenon and this suggestion.

“A character like Sherlock Holmes…”[3]

As stated, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character written by Conan Doyle. Holmes made his first appearance in 1877.[4] He is egotistical, introverted, mercilessly analytical, often very cynical and above all, he is always, always rational. He refuses to let himself fall in love, as emotions cloud his clear reasoning. This does not appear to be a character that everyone could absolutely adore, and yet they did.[5]

            Holmes was immensely popular, from the very start. He is the first character in whom people believe to such an extent, that they will go as far as to claim that Sherlock Holmes is real, and his author imaginary. Since 1891, people either believed Holmes existed, or claimed that they did; Holmes and his trusty sidekick Watson were treated as real individuals.[6] The Sherlockians do not just focus on his character: his entire world is considered to be real, including the crimes. This phenomenon continued for over a century, far longer than any other obsessions with other fictional characters.[7] Even in the present day society, Holmes is still around. Thanks to the popular BBC series, fans all around the globe once again have the opportunity to enjoy the adventures of Holmes and Watson.

“…could grow into full stature only in a time when crime could plausibly be seen as the greatest threat to order…”[8]

Sherlock Holmes was written in a period stretching over forty years, from 1887 until 1927. [9] This is very important in order to understand the enormous popularity that Holmes enjoyed and still enjoys. The early nineteenth century is well known for the Industrial Revolution.[10] This revolution had several consequences, most of them good, but some were unsettling. Times were changing so fast, that the population often experienced a ‘dis ease’ about constantly needing to run to keep up with time. During the last decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a distinct climate of cultural pessimism among intellectuals.[11] Progress towards the rational, the move away from the supernatural was widely associated with this ‘modernity’. The general public had been ‘disenchanted by the world’.[12] Sherlock Holmes, however, demonstrated how the modern means could once again help in order to re-enchant the world. Holmes often proclaimed his ‘love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum of everyday life’.[13]

            In late-Victorian society, revolution and crime were concepts which were closely linked together as both these concepts detailed threats to the social order.[14] The Industrial Revolution had also brought a growth of poverty and social unrest. Those whom had placed their interests in the natural social order as it had existed for a long time, naturally felt that these interests had to be protected.[15] Crime was a threat to the delicate social order.[16] The society was fascinated with crime and all its components. It was during this time that two major models for criminal investigation were created. One method focussed upon the specification of the characteristic criminal body, the other identified the specific bodies of criminals of a certain crime. Holmes applies both these models to the whole of society.[17] Everyone in Holmes’ universe is open to his deductions, his ‘scientific use of imagination’.[18]

“…and its detection the greatest of services, when the police were widely believed to be ineffectual…”[19]

Until the 19^th century, law enforcement was handled locally. It was not until 1829 that London finally got its official police force. The majority of the population was against the forming of this centralised police force, based on two facts: the society placed a vital importance on individual liberties, and there was the deep rooted tradition of the local responsibility of law enforcement. The distrust remained, even after the formation of this police force. [20] The police was considered incapable of solving the crimes which threatened the society. They are confined by their conventions, are unable to think out of the box.[21] This is where Holmes steps in.

            Holmes practises the science of deduction, and in order to do so, his mind has to remain free from assumptions. The only way society and its fragile social order can be protected, is by a man who does not share its orthodoxies, a man who perhaps shares more with the criminal classes than with many of his clients.[22] Holmes knew the language of the underworld, and yet placed his loyalties with the bourgeois.[23] This fulfilled the social need for security, the thought that all crimes in the world could be solved by the greatest detective of all time. With his clear rational reasoning’s, no one could escape him, unless they were considered to not be a threat to society. In this aspect Holmes is independent, he is not tethered to an official institute.[24] This could have made him very dangerous to society, but he was not considered that way. He was loved by all.

“… when science was viewed by enthusiasts as a new force crusading for progress against ignorance and unreason”. [25]

Holmes carefully observes the generality of life and transforms the unobserved into clues and a number of these clues into a believable and plausible narrative.[26] His observations are ‘elementary’, as his method is nothing ‘but systemised common sense’.[27] Holmes treats his brain like a great storehouse. His mind is filled with facts which, at first glance appear miscellaneous and irrelevant. These facts are available to him when he focusses upon them, then utilising them in order to solve the crime. According to critics, Holmes is not engaged in hermeneutics, but in puzzle solving. [28] He observes random facts, deduces their origin and their part in the story, and then seeks out the most plausible course of events. This is how the science of deduction works, always relying upon other sciences in order to observe and deduce the story. Holmes is the face of the future, of the modern era, he demonstrated the romance of reason, and thus re-romanticised the modern time, of which so many had felt alienated because of the rapid passing of time.

A character like Sherlock Holmes could only have grown in a time in which crime was believed to be an actual threat to order. This part of the statement has proven to be correct. Victorian times are characterised by many changes, caused by the Industrial Revolution in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Crime and revolution were closely linked concepts, and both were considered a very serious threat to the fragile social order as known in that time. Things were so rapidly changing, that especially the upper classes were desperately protecting their interests, which were placed in the order of society as it was.

            As noted, this was also the time in which many people believed the police to be incompetent and ineffective. The stories about a great detective, who can solve any crime thus captured the imagination and reassured the society that everyone would eventually get caught, no crime could ever go unpunished. Science was the new force, crusading for progress against ignorance and unreason. This is definitely visible in Holmes’ character. He is rigidly rational, dismisses everything that cannot be explained by pure rational reason. In the Sherlockian universe, reason always triumphs.          

            Is it then the case that Holmes could only have become such a huge cultural hero, because he was written within this time and specific context? I cannot help but doubt about this. Yes, the context in which Holmes was written is extremely important, but surely this context has changed to such extents over time, that this cannot be used to explain Holmes’s present day popularity. The new show with Benedict Cumberbatch captures an astonishing amount of viewers. There is hardly anyone over the age of 10 who does not know about Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps it is the alienating character of Sherlock Holmes, his cynicism that makes him such an attractive character, or perhaps it is the fact that absolutely nothing seems to escape his notice. Either way, the character exists and there can be no doubt that the context in which he was written was a great influence on his immediate popularity. Either way, the game’s afoot! And hopefully it will be for a long time.

Bibliography

Clausen, Christopher, ‘Sherlock Holmes, Order and the Late-Victorian Mind’, The Georgia Review, 38 (1984), 104-123.

Encyclopedia Britannica, The Editors of, ‘Industrial Revolution’, Encyclopedia Britannica (2015) < https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution > [accessed 4 November 2015].

Harper, Lila Marz, ‘Clues in the Street: Sherlock Holmes, Martin Hewitt and Mean Streets’, The Journal of Popular Culture, 42 (2009), 67-88 (p. 69).

Jann, Rosemary, ‘Sherlock Holmes Codes the Social Body’, Johns Hopkins University Press, 57 (1990), 685-708.

Kissane, James and Kissane, John M., ‘Ritual of Reason’, Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 17 (1963), 353-362 (p. 357).

Saler, Michael, ‘Clap if you believe in Sherlock Holmes’, The Historical Journal, 46 (2003), 599-622.

Shepard, Robin, ‘Police: History’, Encyclopedia.com (2002) <https://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403000181.html > [accessed 4 November 2015].

Wilson, Philip K., ‘Sherlock Holmes’, Encyclopedia Britannica (2014) <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherlock-Holmes > [accessed 4 November 2015].