Nadine Tawfik

A Unique Professor
During the Victorian era, education was developing. As a result, Doyle unconsciously
made Sherlock as a teacher not for moral lessons but for witty conclusions.
Sherlock Holmes teaches the reader many things through different ways. I believe Conan
Doyles detective stories such as: The Sign of the Four, A Scandal in Bohemia and The Man with
the Twisted Lip, are not only fun games to get through, he trains the reader abstractly.
It is interesting how the character of Sherlock teaches us many things because Doyle
eliminate[s] Poes lectures as well as his gropings for the great beyond and, as a consequence,
Doyle brought the detective story closer to pure narrative than Poes Dupin stories(Panek 80).
Even though the author specifically eliminates the teaching part about a detective, the readers do
learn different lessons beyond the stories. The reason why is because Holmes is a solving
machine, a master of disguise and acts like a professor.
First, Holmes solving methods are unique. His specific attention to details, his fast train
of thoughts and his accurate conclusions make him the mathematically accurate crime-solving
machine (Panek 81). For the readers, Doyles stories are intriguing because we want to learn
how to go into Holmes conclusion before him as a challenging game. In The Sign of the Four,
Sherlocks attention to details is shown when he spills all his observations to his audience. The
envelope, too, please. Postmark, London, S. W. Date, July 7. Hum! Man's thumb mark on corner
probably postman. Best quality paper. Envelopes at six pence a packet. Particular man in his
stationery. No address (Doyle 13). The way he mentions the smallest details makes him
interesting. He unwillingly teaches the readers how to observe. Sitting on the edge of their seats,
the readers learn what is pointed out by the teacher. He points out simple, small details which the
human brain does not consciously pay attention to. Thus, as readers, we learn how to train our
brains trying to become as attentive as Sherlock. In her scholar piece, "The Scientific Method of
the Mind" Mastermind: How to Think like Sherlock Holmes, Maria Konnikova talks about
Sherlocks genius and how he implies the way they should be applied in our daily lives.
Konnikova uncovers Sherlocks method: The Scientific Method of Thought (Konnikova 13).
Sherlock tells the reader his elementary inquiry is to investigate all lines of inquiry,
eliminating them one by one (Konnikova 15). The two other important factors in Holmes
genius: Mindfulness and Motivation (Konnikova 21) and practice (Konnikova 23). Thus,
Sherlock Holmes is a living example of how to have a mindful and awake brain.
Moreover, Holmes is a master of disguise. Holmes use of disguise Doyle borrowed
from Gaboriau (Panek 82). The readers try to discover the disguise before Watson reveals it. As
a result, we are taught to pay close attention to the words said to figure out the disguise before
Doyle uncovers it. This method of teaching is revealed in A Scandal in Bohemia. Sherlocks
disguise and plan to enter Irene Adlers house is genius. He describes to his readers the way he
executed his plan. It is interesting how brilliant and simple his plan is. His plan is, when the
row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down,
clapped my hand to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick () When a
woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she
values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have more than once taken advantage
of it (Doyle 16). The way he talks about this psychological method makes the readers almost
believe they can apply some tricks like his in real life. It is simple smart plan, anyone can do it.
This lesson is also seen in the short story The Man with the Twisted Lip. As readers and Watson,
we are introduced to an old man in the bar. Watson describes him, the old man at my side, and
yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe
dangling down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his
fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my self-control to prevent me from
breaking out into a cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him but I.
His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire, and there,
sitting by the fire and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He made a
slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the
company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility(Doyle 3). Once again, we
are taught the sneaky ways of Holmes. The teacher is testing us if we can recognize it is him
before Watson. He trains his reader for the unexpected. His disguises show the reader that not
everything what it seems. Sherlock reveals to his spectators that life could come in many looks.
People could change, so nothing should be based on appearances.
Furthermore, Holmes acts like a professor. Due to all the changes in education through
the Victorian era, Holmes becomes a hidden teacher through the books. In the scholar article
Doyle" Read An Introduction to the Detective Story, Leroy Lad Panek mentions this idea.
During the course of the stories, Doyle creates for Holmes passages which can only be
describes as lectures (Panek 85). One distinctive way to prove how Holmes is a teacher is the
way he feels impelled to point out Watsons errors and to show him how to do the thing
correctly (Panek 85). He teaches the readers how to conclude and think logically. While Watson
relates more to the readers, Holmes trains both the narrator and the readers how to think like him.
For example, the teacher Sherlock Holmes is expressed in A Scandal in Bohemia. Initially, the
teacher was shown through one of his lectures. In the lecture, he explains to Dr. Watson how to
pay attention to all the details around him. His answer was, It is simplicity itself (Doyle 2). He
started tutoring his colleague and readers by comparing his talents to his normal friend. He says,
You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there
are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed (Doyle 3). Although Holmes
purpose is entertainment for the readers, he still teaches his audience. One of Holmes detail
oriented investigation and a lecture is presented in The Sign of the Four. He talks in long
monologue for a while proving his teaching credentials. : Pshaw, my dear boy! it was
simplicity itself. I don't wish to be theatrical. It is all patent and above-board () Now, then,
why did not Jonathan Small get the treasure himself? The answer is obvious. The chart is dated
at a time when Morstan was brought into close association with convicts. Jonathan Small did not
get the treasure because he and his associates were themselves convicts and could not get away
(Doyle 54). In the scholar article "Heroism, Culture, And Dread In The Sign of the Four, the
author Farrell talks about Holmes role in The Sign of the Four. All the while Holmes acts the
parent, giving firm, crisp orders (Farrell 42). This parents attitude towards all his audience
shows his inner teacher. He always comes to the top uncovering his true professor from the
inside.
In brief, Sherlock Holmes is the closest person to a teacher during the Victorian era. Not
only he is amusing and interesting, he makes a good, brilliant teacher. His ways of teaching are
never normal, but they are efficient. He teaches his readers through his meticulous flawless
attention, his disguise and his lectures. He teaches important lessons. He tutors psychological
ideas which are never present at his time; he teaches life is unpredictable like him; he educates
that nothing is based on their looks.








Work Cited:
Konnikova, Maria. "The Scientific Method of the Mind." Mastermind: How to Think like
Sherlock Holmes. New York: Viking, 2013.Web.
http://writing.colostate.edu/files/classes/10452/File_9BD2235C0082-
73859D4855F08C78992A.pdf
Panek, Leroy Lad. "Doyle." Read An Introduction to the Detective Story. 1987. Web. 17 July
2014.
http://writing.colostate.edu/files/classes/10452/File_F6F8C8BD-A883-
C5FC8964F5085E301B81.pdf
Farrell, Kirby. "Heroism, Culture, And Dread In The Sign of the Four.
"Http://www.jstor.org/stable/29532254. Web. 27 July 2014.
<http://writing.colostate.edu/files/classes/10452/File_9DCBBB8F-A36E-43A4-
DD69D6CE7FA1956F.pdf>
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of the Four. PDF.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir. "Lit2Go." "A Scandal in Bohemia". Web. 22 July 2014.
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/32/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/345/adventure-1-a-
scandalin-bohemia/
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir. "Lit2Go." "The Man with the Twisted Lip" Web. 22 July
2014.http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/32/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/350/adventure-6-the-
manwith-the-twisted-lip/