When people think of Sherlock Holmes, what often comes to mind is
his emotionally detached personality and his insensitive attitude. These characteristics are classic conventions of Sherlock, which have been present since Doyles earlier Victorian texts to the modern day television adaptation, Sherlock. In every short story and television episode, Holmes lacks social skills and is unable to act properly when put into a social situation. For example, when Watson lets Sherlock observe his watch in The Sign of Four, Sherlock brings up Watsons history about his father and his alcoholic brother. In response, Watson gets offended because of Sherlocks insensitivity towards such a personal subject; however, Sherlock claims that he views the matter as an abstract problem and had forgotten how personal and painful it must have been for Watson (Chapter 1). This excerpt demonstrates how Doyle presents the 19th century Sherlock as an individual who is only capable of thinking logically and objectively in any given circumstance. Similarly, the 21st century version of Sherlock still lacks empathy and remains insensitive. In the episode The Great Game, Sherlock acts callously towards Molly when he claims that her partner Jim is homosexual. When Molly asks why he would say such a thing, Sherlock responds by giving logical explanations based on observations he had made about Jim, such as his styled hair and tinted eyelashes (The Great Game). Because Sherlock cannot help but to run down the extensive evidence that Jim prefers the company of men, he comes off as rude and does not know how to censor his thoughts in a social situation (John Teti). It is evident that the 21st century version of Sherlock remains similar to Dolyes 19th century version because in both cases, he did not consider Watsons nor Mollys feelings and allowed logic to overpower emotions. Thus, it is crucial that this element of Sherlock is kept the same because his over analytical and objective traits are what embody his whole character; in fact, without these traits, Sherlock would simply be perceived as a common man, defeating the purpose of his distinctive personality. Another classic convention of Sherlock that is kept the same in Doyles Victorian texts and the modern television show is his use of drugs. For example, in The Sign of Four, Sherlock uses cocaine to keep his mind stimulated and even claims that he craves mental exaltation and desires to work on the hardest and most analytical problems (Chapter 1). Sherlocks use of cocaine emphasizes his restless personality because he cannot stand to live without having something to work on; in fact, he would rather turn to drugs to numb and save himself from the boredom. Comparably, in the Sherlock episode A Study in Pink, Watson walks in on Sherlock using nicotine patches and asks what the purpose of them is; in response, Sherlock claims that they help him to think when solving a case and aid in stimulating his mind. The fact that Sherlock still relies on some sort of drug further demonstrates his continuous need to keep his mind occupied and how he believes that they satisfy his boredom. Sherlocks dependence on drugs is kept the same in Doyles text and the television show because it emphasizes his restless personality and his constant need to have his mind occupied both of which are classic qualities of his character. If these traits were absent from Sherlocks personality, there would be no consistency to his character and the audience would not recognize him as the unique genius he has always been known for. Additionally, the only difference between the 19th century version of Sherlock and the 21st century version lies in the fact that he uses cocaine in The Sign of Four, and nicotine patches in A Study in Pink. This difference is primarily due to the fact that cocaine was easily accessible to everyone in London since it was legal and heavily used in medicine (Panek); however, in modern day, nicotine is the more dominant and popular drug that people turn to. The change from cocaine to nicotine reflects how the norm has changed from the 19th century to the 21st century and demonstrates how the plot has been altered to make it more appealing and relatable to the modern day audience.