What are the main features of Sherlock Holmes as a man and as a detective?.

             In this essay I shall seek to describe the character of Sherlock Holmes and compare it to his abilities and behaviour as a detective. It should serve as a testimony to the precision and mental ability of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in using his imagination in building detective cases and building a complex character like Sherlock Holmes.

             The Sherlock Holmes stories describe firstly a detective of almost infinite ability in solving the most complex of cases from the smallest of clues. His ability to see the slightest shred of evidence sometimes borders on the absurd for those that are ignorant to these details. One such example of this observation is when Holmes was able to tell how Miss Stoner arrived at his lodgings in 'The Speckled Band".

             The specific traits and abilities that Holmes exhibits are many, including probably the most important – observation. His keen sense of observation is essential to his success and is exhibited in every case. Coupled with his observation skills is an interest in science and scientific research, and he shows a scientific base to almost all of his observations. This is perceived by Watson in 'A Scandal in Bohemia", when he says 'he was the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen". This goes to show that as far as his work is concerned, Holmes uses logical and scientifically – based methods. Holmes shows this in 'The Speckled Band" when he says 'how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data". It is said by Watson at the beginning of 'The Speckled Band" that ' he [Holmes] refused to associate himself with any investigation, which did not tend towards the unusual and even the fantastic". This proves that it is only Holmes who has the observation skills and the logic to solve these cases, as even the police force find it impossible to come to some conclusion, and the cases are dismissed as unsolvable.