Korayma Arriaga Professor Lynda Haas Writing 37 2 February 2014 Perfection!

Nope, not even the best of the best like the character of Mr. Sherlock Holmes can pass as perfect being. Arthur Conan Doyle created this eccentric character in his novels and stories who for the most part is perceived as a perfect crime solver, but there have been some cases in which this is not completely true. Holmes in Conan Doyles works is a human being never the less and humans do make mistakes, some are just more noticeable than others. In Silver Blaze Sherlock Holmes admits to his mistake, Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson- which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than anyone would think who only knew me through your memoirs. (Conan Doyle adventure 1) this admittance to his mistakes shapes and develops his character by showing that perfection doesnt exist and that all must make mistakes to ultimately reach a concise conclusion. As the readers discover more about the development of Sherlock Holmes character in Conan Doyles novels and short stories, it is visible to the eye that his character does make mistakes, and this is developed throughout the multiple stories of his life which leads to one of his biggest mistakes that was made notable when his mistakes led him to fake his death in the The Final Problem.

Experts like Sherlock Holmes are faulty as well, everyone makes mistakes and that is a process detectives go through to eventually find the correct track once again. Making mistakes is a normal behavior for everyone even the character that has shaped the way crimes are solved

now a days. By showing Holmes errors, Conan Doyle expresses a more humanized side of Sherlock Holmes, proving that he is not a robot and builds his relatable character in which one can feel more adaptable to. Meaning that having someone who always gets everything perfectly right and has no flaws at all makes the story less believable, leaning towards the fantasy land. This added detail of Holmes imperfections like his lack of emotion in most occasions, lets the reader know that having an intuition like his is possible, unlike a super hero power that is less likely to be real and adaptable.

While reading Silver Blaze a notable mistake is made by Sherlock Holmes, he misreads the footprints and goes onto the wrong trail, not thinking about the many other possibilities, he closes his mind off from other options. In the Sign of the Four, Sherlock Holmes states that to be an ideal detective all you need is observation, deduction, and knowledge. He as well impulses the fact that Dr. Watson, his sidekick, as well as the other police detectives observed only the obvious and lead themselves towards the wrong direction, for example in The Adventure of Blue Carbuncle Holmes tells Watson the following, I can see nothing, said I, handing it back to my friend. On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences.(Doyle 5348) Sherlock advices Watson not to fall into observing only the observable, but to look deeply into the nonvisible and to keep his options open, but he himself fails to do this in multiple occasions. Holmes in the Silver Blaze limits his imagination and doesnt think that it is possible to disguise the horse so it wont remain hidden. That was his mistake, which led him into the wrong path, just like another mistake in which he thought he was doing the right thing when he let Irene Adler go, instead of taking action and grabbing the picture while he was in front of her.

In Conan Doyle novels and short stories, flaws in the main character whos supposed to be this genius detective who eventually defines perfection, actually makes mistakes also. Sherlock Holmes has a greater eye for observation and greater knowledge than the common people, but never the less he is a human being and tends to make mistakes once in a while. This characteristic of Sherlock Holmes allows the readers to connect to him in the way that we can relate to the aspect of making mistakes, but that from those mistakes we are able to find our way to the right path, just like he always does and solves the mystery. In modern-day mystery texts and shows the detectives also make mistakes, sometimes they commit huge mistakes while at other times they are barely noticeable. Next time while watching shows like Psych, House, and especially Sherlock (BBC), dont overlook at their perfection to solve crimes, but also take note that they also make mistakes which eventually they accept they made and go back in the right direction or usually their conductor of light leads them back onto the right track, simply a mistake is not the end of the world, move on and solve the problems of life.

Works Cited Conan Doyle, Arthur. Silver Blaze. In The Complete Sherlock Holmes. New York: Gramercy Books, 2002 02 Feb. 2014 Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of Four. 1890. Books. 02 Feb. 2014 Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Adventure of Blue Carbuncle. In The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Ney York: Gramercy Books, 2002 02 Feb. 2014 "Lessons from Sherlock Holmes: Preconceptions and the Blunting of Imagination." Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.