A Look at Holmes's Image

Holmes is always seen as a man in a poncho almost cloak like apparel. He also wears a funny hat and has a pipe in his mouth and holds onto a magnifying glass. I don't see how this image seems to be associated with Holmes. From what I've read so far, he's only used a magnifying glass in two cases. I would imagine him to have more class and dress more elegantly, but then again he does get his hands dirty in his cases, so the fancy clothing wouldn't suit him. I can imagine him looking more like this:In this picture, he looks like a man of high class and one who has many connections. Here's another picture of him:

This is how he is usually portrayed when he's solving cases. Maybe it's the style of the 19th century. But all in all he's always holding the pipe. I guess that makes someone more intelligent looking than if he/she were to put on glasses. So whenever movie characters hold a pipe, such as an evil villain or something, I'd say they're refering to Holmes because Holmes always smokes a pipe while mulling over a case.

The Case of the Greek Key (Post 5)

So, WWI finally begins with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The government keeps sending messages and documents to Holmes to decode. So, Holmes is basically just another weapon for the war. He's the only one who can break the code. Furthermore, Holmes actually has a master. Well, his master is one of the only people in the world who know the code of Linear B. Holmes finds out that a man named Dr. Gross also knows the code and is the one who is feeding the plans to the Germans. Here, we see that a war that takes place brings Holmes a case. I'm surprised that the government doesn't seek out Holmes's master, Strachan-Davidson, to break the naval code. So Holmes, stays up all night and studies Linear B from a book written by Sir Arthur Evans (he is another person who knows Linear B). The code is written in Linear B and Holmes is able to figure out what the messages say. To comment on Holmes's work rate, I kind of feel sorry for him because he always exerts so much of his mind and heart into a case, but he never gets any reward for it. Maybe the reason Holmes is so popular is because he doesn't work for money, he works because he loves the thrill of coming face to face with danger and finally figuring out a very difficult problem.

The Case of the Greek Key (Post 4)

I would also like to comment on how the development of technology is affecting Holmes. Since the war started, electricity is starting to be used. Holmes uses sulfuric acid to create a battery that powers a transmission device that jots down the signals that are intercepted from the naval code. He takes the print-outs and tries to decode them. But Holmes's enemies are also benefiting from technological advances. England has built a powerful warship and Germany has stolen the plans. Pretty soon, automobiles are going to be used more and Holmes might be involved in car chases. I'm pretty sure the machine gun has already been developed in this time period, so Holmes might come face to face with an enemy who does have one. In the previous books, Holmes had to rely on different methods to help him solve his cases. For example, Holmes employs the Baker Street Irregulars and uses a dog named Toby to obtain more evidence and track down crooks. Now technology is being advanced and it'll only further benefit Holmes as he'll probably track down his enemies much faster.

Also, I looked up Sherlock Holmes on Wikipedia. He isn't a real person, but he was based off of a man named Dr. Joseph Bell, whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Bell was able to make conclusions based on little evidence. He was also interested in crime and even helped the police solve some cases. What was funny is that many of the British believe that Holmes is an actual historical figure. Wikipedia claims that 58% of teens actually believe that he really did live at 221B Baker Street. Of course there is an actual musem in London on Baker Street, so maybe that confuses people. I just found this amusing and figured I share it.

The Case of the Greek Key (Post 3)

I would like to comment on the direction that the Holmes story is taking. Holmes is helping out the war effort instead of receiving cases to solve like in the first two books. It seems like the government is using Holmes as another weapon in the war (WWI, I think). Well, I learned from the Beekeeper's Apprentice that Holmes was a spy. But I didn't learn much about what he was spying on and for whom. Even in that book he received cases to solve. Now he is portrayed as a man leading the war effort, perhaps. Once Holmes breaks the code, England has a much better chance against the Germans.

In addition, Holmes seems to resemble Robert Langdon from The Davinci Code now. The First Sea Lord came back to Holmes with another type of code and Holmes says that the type of code dates back many centuries. Now he is like Langdon and has the knowledge of scripts and symbols. This just shows that Holmes has many abilities. All of which help him solve mysteries.

The Case of the Greek Key (Post 2)

It is ironic that the government is relying so heavily on Sherlock Holmes to decode the German Naval Code. The government's own decoding squad couldn't even determine the type of code. Holmes believes he has the advantage of "recognising what sort of code it appears to be," (111). Here we see Holmes's conceited attitude. He seems to somehow know that he'll actually figure out the code. We also see that he's still the same workaholic. He doesn't stop his work. He has many, many books laid out on his desk trying to solve the case. I guess this is part of what makes Holmes so compelling. To readers, he may seem like the person who never gives up until something is finished. Plus, Holmes can solve every case that is thrown at him.

In this case, he does solve the code. He finds the answer in one of his books, called Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. He was shocked to find out that the answer lied in this book. He considered this book to be one of the last books he'd have to look through.

The Case of the Greek Key (Post 1)

The Case of the Greek Key is another short story which is part of The Execution of Sherlock Holmes book.

Apparently Holmes is a man of humanity. He has a will and he kept a list of correspondences in his old trunk. They were "letters or notes to the poor and the desperate for whom he had worked without fee, rather as great defenders in the criminal courts will take poor persons' defences without recompense of any kind," (97). He has a philosophy similar to Francis Bacon--that "every man is a debtor to his profession and must make some return," (97). So, Holmes isn't so heartless as I once thought. He actually does care about the people and the connections that he is associated with. And again, Holmes shows that he has many connections. he knows the First Sea Lord and architect of the new Royal Navy. So he gets to see a new battleship in action. I'd also like to add to Holmes's special abilities. The British government wants him to break the German naval code. They said that all their workers couldn't do it. Holmes sees the documents and instantly finds an answer. This reminded me of the Davinci Code. Robert Langdon seems to be a Holmes type of character. Except he is devoted to codes and scriptures. Holmes is more of know it all. It is also ironic that the British government would actually come and find Holmes to decode a message. It just shows how intelligent Holmes really is.

The Execution of Sherlock Holmes (Post 4)

From my continued readings, more of Holmes's abilities are revealed. When he was trying to escape the prison, he was able to recall how to scale a prison wall. He was taught how to scale walls by a man named Henry Williams. I think Holmes used to work for a chimney sweeping company and Williams was his master. While he was scaling the prison wall, he kept remembering some of the things that his master used to say. I particularly like the one: "The blades may hurt you, but they won't kill you. Not unless you let'em," (62). The earlier books didn't never revealed that Holmes was an expert at scaling walls. He really gets his hands dirty as a detective. He was also characterized as having the suppleness of a cat. In addition, like in the Beekeeper's Apprentice, he uses disguises as usual. He was disguised as a one arm beggar and hid until it was time to come out of hiding.

Furthermore, we see a change in the relationship between Watson and Holmes. In the Beekeeper's Apprentice, Holmes revealed that he always used Watson and that Watson couldn't keep a secret. In this book, Holmes actually relies on Watson a lot more. From reading the first two Sherlock Holmes books, Watson was always following along and Holmes did all the solving. This time around, Watson is actually able to figure out some of the clues that Holmes sends to him. They communicate through codes whenever Holmes is away or in disguise. There was a musician who Watson stumbled upon and he played a certain tune which triggered a memory in Watson and the memory revealed where to meet Holmes. So we see that Holmes is cooperating with Watson a lot more.

Holmes is almost invincible. He is able to escape anything even his own death. That brain of his is really something! This ends the short story, The Execution of Sherlock Holmes.

Some Movie Tie-ins

In addition, I'd like to tie this in with a movie. Both National Treasure movies are about a man named Benjamin Gates who solves puzzles to find hidden treasure. Gates is a lot like Holmes because he can solve almost any anagram or decode any scriptures thrown at him. Also, Gates can get out of dire situations. In the second movie, Gates was able to find a way out of room filled with water. Gates volunteered to leave himself behind while another person would go through the door. I forgot how he did it though, it happened too fast. I'm probably going to have to re-watch these movies to do a more indepth analysis.

Yeah, I also saw another movie yesterday called, Hot Fuzz. The movie is about the British police force and the main character, Nicholas Angel, had wanted to be a cop since he was like five years old. He was incredibly intelligent and athletic because he held the record for the 300 meter dash or something and aced all the academy exams. He was the top cop in London. He had a record 350 arrests or something and only injured 3 times in action. He took his work really serious. He took it so serious that he had to be relocated to the countryside because he was making the other cops look bad. It was because he was arresting so many people. So in the countryside, he is just as serious and instantly arrests three people a day before he was to begin his new job. He was just like Holmes because he also didn't have a woman in his life. In addition, he was really strict. He pulled someone over for going like 40 mph in a 30 mph zone. He uses his trusty notepad and records the conversation between him and the driver. Angel manipulates him and gives him a ticket. Well, his wife left him because he took his job too seriously. In the countryside, he had to solve a crime because people were starting to die. Angel finds out that the head of the police there was trying to keep the village the best village in the country. It was an award handed out each year and so the conspiracy begins here, they plotted to kill all the criminals, such as graffiti artists or shoplifters. Angel finds the pit where the skeletons of these criminals are and he comes back with some heavy firearms and just annilates the village.

The Execution of Sherlock Holmes (Post 2)

Now, Holmes decides to try and break out of the jail. However, he still isn't successful because he is portrayed as helpless, defenseless and weak. He is sentenced to death and he finally realizes that the only way that he can get out is by using his intuition. He starts out by determining the location of the jail. He hears chimes and bells throughout the jail. He heard all these chimes from different churches that are around the city and from this he figures out that he is in Newgate Prison. Now this is just incredible because Holmes seems to have sharpened and improved his other senses in addition to his eyes. From sounds, he is able to figure out this much. I wonder what else he can figure out from just smaller bits of information.

So, Holmes starts off by using his stare to try and scare the guards. He doesn't succeed with one of them, but he does succeed with one of the guards named Mac. Now Mac is not as evil as the others. Holmes noticed from staring at him that Mac is somewhat more kind-hearted than the others. So, as usual, Holmes uses this weakness to his advantage. He still has the same intuition, he can figure out a person's history just from observing them. Holmes notices that Mac is a former Corporal from the Battle of Omdurman. He even figures out that Mac tried to marry someone and this really freaks him out. He eventually turns Mac to his side and makes an ally out of him. And Holmes asks for water and burnt biscuits. What's really interesting is that he observes all the intervals in which the guards check on the prisoners and he works his magic then. He opened the gas chamber and let the room he was in fill with gas while a guard was in there. He used the burnt biscuits and a pillowcase to make a respirator and from what he has seen of the jail, decides what to do next. Now this is very interesting because Holmes is a very good improvisor. He uses what he has and makes something of it. Also, he seems to know everything and things just come naturally to him, especially knowledge.