The gripping stories about Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been long attracting the readers. Somehow the author had managed to create such characters that carry specific purposes to advancing people’s thinking. Moreover, he deeply hid the main aim of his stories so that readers could unveil it themselves. However, having gotten acquainted with Conan Doyle’s style, it appears evident that he mainly encourages readers to advance their imagination, logical thinking, and reasoning while investigating the cases along with the widely known detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Silver Blaze, part of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, is a not-so-special case investigated by the most famous detective in London, Holmes. However, the most gripping part of the story is how Holmes manages to solve this case with the help of his fellow, Doctor Watson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mainly focuses not on the investigation but on the means to complete it. Watson’s character is shown as a reader who questions Holmes’ guesses and hypothesizes throughout the story. For instance, at the beginning of The Silver Blaze, the detective explains the information already known about the horse kidnapping and its coach murder. However, he unconsciously leads Watson, as well as a reader, to notice the small details that are crucial to solving the case. Holmes’ companion is always eager to share his guesses with his fellow, “One moment, did the stable-boy, when ran out with the dog, leave the door unlocked behind him?” (Conan Doyle 16). There are other examples of Doctor Watson’s theories, for instance, regarding possible reasons of Straker’s death, “It is not possible that the incised wound upon Straker may have been caused by his own knife in the convulsive struggles which follow any brain injury?” (Conan Doyle 18). John Watson, as well as a reader, tries to solve the case throughout the whole story and yields guesses and suspicions on every detail of the investigation.
Inspector Gregory’s character, in turn, is implemented in the stories by Conan Doyle as the one who is clever enough, though lacks the imagination to solve any case correctly, “See the value of imagination, it is the one quality which Gregor lacks. We imagined what might have happened, acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves justified” (Conan Doyle 24). His wrong theories serve as a helpful tool for a reader to understand his flow of thoughts and the guesses that led him to draw such a conclusion.
By analyzing inspector Gregory’s ideas, Holmes shows a reader what is wrong about them and how his findings, even wrong ones, can be used in further stages of the investigation, “He lies under suspicion of having poisoned the stable-boy, he was undoubtedly out in the storm, he was armed with a heavy stick, and his cravat was found in the dead man’s hand. I really think we have enough to go before a jury” (Conan Doyle 19). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle focuses attention on how the evidence found is improperly used by the inspector due to his lack of imagination. This way, he convinces the reader that to solve any case, one needs to acquire logical thinking and reasoning and have enough creativity to go beyond the basic interpretations of the evidence.
Furthermore, the inspector’s actions frequently are not approved by Holmes; however, he deeply respects the policeman and values the effort he puts into his work. The detective tends to use sarcasm when discussing the cases with Gregory showing his admiration towards the policeman, “My dear Inspector, you surpass yourself!” (Conan Doyle 23). No matter how strange it seems, it is clear that Sherlock Holmes encourages and approves of the inspector’s work. Nevertheless, the detective constantly questions Gregory’s findings and analyzes the evidence himself, “I am afraid that there are no more tracks, I have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards in each direction” (Conan Doyle 23). Thus, Holmes still explores the ground and manages to trace horses’ and coaches’ footpaths. With this method, Conan Doyle proves to the reader to constantly question the acquired information and to use logical reasoning to find the truth.
Moreover, Conan Doyle mentions plentiful evidence in the investigation process that sometimes is not even needed to complete it. Thus, the reader becomes actively involved in analyzing the findings and proceeding with only the valuable ones. For instance, the author focused on a found knife, drugs, cravat, and candle that the inspector misinterpreted as he used only the primary ways of understanding them. That is why while focusing on the inspector’s theories, readers find themselves surprised when learning the actual murderer of the horse’s coach.
To sum up, in Silver Blaze, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used various techniques to engage the reader in solving the case together with the characters. He showed Doctor Watson as constantly questioning the acquired information and noticing the minor details to move in the right direction to complete the investigation. The inspector’s Gregory character, on the contrary, is the one who tends to misinterpret the evidence because of his lack of imagination. Therefore, Conan Doyle proves to the reader that the most valuable skills to acquire in life are logical and creative thinking and reasoning that people indeed tend to lack.
Work Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. “Silver Blaze.” The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arcturus Publishing, 2018, pp. 11-36.