Was Sherlock Holmes a Mere Fiction ?

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science, and logical reasoning, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients.

Sherlock Holmes, the fictitious character was based on a real man, Dr. Joseph Bell In 1877, a renowned forensic scientist at Edinburgh University under whom Conan-Doyle worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short-stories featuring his creation. Almost all were narrated by Holmes' friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson, with the exception of two narrated by Holmes himself and two more written in the third person. The stories first appeared in magazine serialization, notably in The Strand Magazine, over a period of forty years.

Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed literary human character in film and television history. The character and stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture as a whole, with the original tales as well as thousands written by authors other than Conan Doyle being adapted into stage and radio plays, television, films, video games, and other media for over one hundred years.

Early life

Little is known of Holmes' early life or his family background. An estimate of Holmes's age in "His Last Bow" places his year of birth at 1854; the story, set in August 1914, describes him as 60 years of age.

It is also known that in his younger years, Holmes attended at least one of the British leading universities … though it cannot be ascertained whether he was an alumnus of Oxford, Cambridge, or both.

Process of Thought

Holmes was a straightforward & practical man, His principles were generally of the form, "If 'p', then 'q'," where 'p' is observed evidence and 'q' is what the evidence indicates.

He believed "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."


Example

If --> 'p' says the sides of Watson's shoes are scored by several parallel cuts.
Then --> 'q1': Watson's servant girl is clumsy and careless.
'q2': Watson has been very wet lately and has been out in vile weather.


Unknown Facts

- Holmes was and still remains the greatest detective who never lived.
Sherlock Holmes has an older brother, Mycroft, whom the younger Holmes considered to be more intellectually gifted than himself.

- Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed fictional character in films, Played by almost 75 actors in 211 movies since 1900.

- Holmes is dolichocephalic as told in "The Hound of the Baskervilles".

- Sherlock Holmes was so popular and famous that many have believed him to be a real individual & not a fictional character. It was his craze only that made Holmes fans refer to the period from 1891 to 1894 the time between Holmes' disappearance and presumed death in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House" as "the Great Hiatus".

Quote which defines Sherlock Holmes personality:

"My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don't know."

Written by - Atul Bihari Chakrawarti
Edited by - Prachi Raheja