Alfonso 1 Michelle Coleen S. Alfonso Dr.

Lynda Haas Writing 37 10 March 2014 The Power of Deduction The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes, states Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles loc 1238). According to TV Tropes, mystery is a genre of fiction in which the plot revolves around a puzzling happening that the reader tries to solve as he/she experience the story. With any given problem there is a solution; however, and the question is how does one come about to that solution? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle established the standard conventions of the detective who solves the mystery in the character of Sherlock Holmes; he possesses an extremely high intelligence level, keen observation, creative imagination and sensitivity to details. In the process of solving mysteries, there is always a borderline between mere guessing, a coincidence, and a scientific approach that Holmes calls deductive reasoning. In Conan Doyle's 1902 novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Mortimer seeks advice from Holmes as he explains the curse that has been plaguing the Baskerville family. With the power of deduction, Holmes realizes that Mr. Stapleton is actually a Baskerville descendant and has been planning to get rid of the other members of the family to claim the family fortune. Conan Doyle tells what the reader and their mind is capable of doing by incorporating Holmes through his novels as he uses observation, deduction and knowledge in solving his cases. One important key characteristic that makes him different from most people is that he sees everything that people often neglect to pay attention to. A remarkable proof of Holmess extraordinary analytical mind is his great sensitivity to minute

Alfonso 2 details and his ability draw conclusions. This is illustrated in Chapter 4, when he observes and deduces information from the letter received by Sir Henry Baskerville. Serving as an alter-ego for Conan Doyle, he characterizes Holmes as the perfect sleuth that appeals to the readers interest and sense of curiosity during his time and still remains popular to the modern audience. A significant factor that differentiates Sherlock Holmes from any other individual is his application of science in solving and unraveling his cases. He refuses to believe anything that is not proven scientifically true. In the novel, Holmes states that one must eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth (Doyle, The Sign of the Four loc 87). As he is given information regarding the crime, he observes and investigates all the possibilities of why it happened and narrows it down by keeping the ones that are strongly supported with evidences. Here, the process of deduction is being applied by striking out the possible options that do not match the clues and whichever is left, no matter how impossible it may seem, is the truth. The first technique Holmes applies to the investigation is his keen observation to minute details. An example of this is shown when he examines the letter sent to Sir Henry right after he arrives at the Northumberland Hotel. The letter says: As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor (loc 235). All the words are cut out from a newspaper, except the word "moor" which is printed in ink. The postmark of the letter is from the Charing Cross, and the written address consists of sloppy and rough characters. With Holmess great mind, he notices that the word moor is the only one that is hand-written. The other words are cut with the use of nail scissors and put together by gum. The fact that it is written like that serves as the driving question for Holmes to further his study about it. While everyone is just blinded with all the

Alfonso 3 available hints and indications around them, Holmes takes everything in, analyzes them and applies scientific knowledge into it. The next step in Holmes process of deductive reasoning is to apply his prior knowledge about the facts that he has gathered. Even so, one should keep in mind that it is not the amount of information that matters, but the relevance of it regarding the case. Simultaneously, Holmes says that The person who had cut and pasted the words had used that Times article (Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles loc 235). In here, with the help of his background knowledge about social statuses of people during that time, he knows right away that the writer of the letter is from the higher class because only the upper class people reads and uses that specific kind of newspaper. Furthermore, Holmes points out the inconsistency of the pen marking used which only leads to one possible reason and deduces that the pen used is of the low quality kind and is usually used at hotels and the like. As Holmes stated, When you have eliminated all the impossible, whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth (Doyle, The Sign on the Four loc 531). This shows that his deductive reasoning skill enables him to eliminate the choices that does not connect to the facts that he already knows from his knowledge about writing, penmanship types and social statuses of people during that time. Curiosity is essential for a detective. Developing hunches based on knowledge, instinct and evidence and following up on them is often what leads to an arrest or fact-finding in an investigation (Woman). Being mindful of his surroundings all the time, Holmes is always a step ahead of everyone. Having the ability to quickly respond to a situation and come up with an answer why it happened has always been elementary to Sherlock Holmes. Its not an easy task, that constant cognitive vigilance, the eternal awareness of our own limitations and the resulting strategic allocation of attention (Konnikova). It is not easy to think just like him but it is

Alfonso 4 something that can be acquired through constant practice and strong dedication. Holmes teaches us how to be mindful of our surroundings and apply it in our lives. He also shows us how to make great connections about the things that we see and the things that we already know and from there deduce the possible cause. The use of deductive reasoning as a convention is crucial because not all readers possesses extraordinary intellect like Holmes but as we, the readers go through the novel, can learn how to expand these abilities ourselves and learn to apply them in our everyday lives. The use of clues and red herrings as the story progresses challenges the readers to act like a detective and solve the crime as they experience the story. Mystery readers enjoy action and are exceptionally intelligent; they attempt on analyzing the psychological makeup and motivational drives of the characters in the story which is still extremely popular to the modern audience of Holmes stories.

Alfonso 5 Works Cited "Do You See Like Dr. Watson or Observe Like Sherlock Holmes?" Slate Magazine. N.p., 03 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Higher Read LLC. N.p.: n.p., 2013. The Hound of the Baskervilles Read It and Know It Edition. Higher Read, LLC. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. "Mystery Fiction." Tvtropes.org. TV Tropes, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. "Qualities of a Detective." Woman. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. "Sherlock's Eyes Never Lie." Web log post. The Art of Deduction. N.p., 16 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. The Sign of the Four. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Kindle Edition. Web.