User:Mrichardson4/Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes
Within the stories of Sherlock Holmes, many of their adventures have been scrutinized for portraying themes of colonialism and repression that occurs through the contagion and contamination of the empire. Various prominent scholars have argued that these related themes are shown throughout the works of Sherlock Holmes. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Arthur Conan Doyle deliberately portrayed these ideas of colonialism stratified ideas of the East. These interpretations are based on an examination of Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes," rather than remarks from himself.

In "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," Susan Cannon Harris, author of "Pathological Possibilities: Contagion and Empire in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes Stories," points out that Doyle's treatment of disease seen throughout the tales of Sherlock Holmes showcases the idea of containment - an attempt to reduce disease. She argues that this theme of containment is shown through each story, including the metaphors of foreigners as the root cause of "infection" within and around Europe. The contagion metaphor specifically, is purportedly seen in many stories, including the investigations that portray the use of poisons and other organic toxins brought in by these "foreigners" of the East. Doyle portrays this theme in many stories, where no medical training is being used, rather only the myths surrounding East India are used as a "evidence" of what to do. He portrays those from East India as bringing in the contagion and being the source of "infection" for those affected simply because of where they originate from in his stories. His portrayal shows the repression of those who are considered to be outsiders or "foreigners," especially prominent in the late 1880's when Sherlock Holmes was written; the East in particular was seen as a source of disease and assumptions were made about those native to the land. This underlying theme of contagion is consistent throughout the compilation of investigative stories within the characters seen in each story and the "mystical" scenery of the world they are part of.

These stereotyped portrayals of the East are also discussed in Lauren Raheja's article, "Anxieties of Empire in Doyle's Tales of Sherlock Holmes," which displays similar metaphors of contamination and contagion. Such contamination is continued through Sherlock's adventures as he portrays these British characters as being corrupt, greedy, and morally bankrupt. Whether intentional or inadvertent, Doyle uses these negative characteristics to paint Eastern colonies in a negative light through having people and things that threaten the well-being of others. For example, in one of his stories, he uses cannibals who throw poisonous darts and try to attack others to show what the detriments of their colony and how they "poison" the rest of the world through their outrageous acts of violence. He portrays these characters with such negativity and in the process, makes them out to be these monstrous groups of "foreigners" that only leave destruction in their wake. He perpetuates these stereotypes throughout his book, each story showing a person or group of people from a specific colony as being or acting a certain way. A major theme seen throughout his stories are the use of poisons through various items and animals in order to harm others. One example of this is seen in "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," where Dr. Strerndale takes a deadly poison from West Africa and brings it back to England. His intentions were malicious, likely due to the isolation he felt after returning from a British colony. As Raheja quotes from the story on page 469, Sterndale "lived an absolutely lonely life, attending to his own simple wants and paying little apparent heed to the afraid of his neighbors." Another story in the compilation that insinuates the link between contagion and Sherlock Holmes is "The Adventure of the Dying Detective." In this story, Sherlock Holmes himself becomes ill due to "a vipers tooth" that was used as a weapon and laced with poison that was then transmitted to the detective. Harris points out that this is one of many examples that is a direct link to Asia, where vipers commonly live. As the story progresses, Watson is asked by Sherlock to call Culverton Smith, a known criminal that "personifies these 'pathological possibilities' themselves as criminals." She continues discussing how the East is once again portrayed as being "criminal" and bringing only harm and contaminated the good, including Sherlock himself.

Raheja argues that another major example of this type of "contamination" was shown in "The Adventure of The Speckled Band," where a man is turned into an eccentric unemployed widower who tries to murder his stepdaughters and succeeds in murdering his late wife's sister. He insinuates that India is the reason the man [Roylott] became a monster, because it "influenced" him to do harm to others and perpetuated his and others' violent tendencies. Doyle's message is seen through the immoral qualities that each of his characters possesses and their propensity for violence due to westernized ideologies. As Yumna Siddiqi points out in her book "The Cesspool of Empire: Sherlock Holmes and the Return of the Repressed;" in the end, Roylott is killed by a snake, and it likely represents the fear the British have of being attacked back by India; India being the "snake" that strikes back. He uses these metaphors to portray issues arising in the East and each story in the book exemplifies this theme. Much scrutiny has come upon Doyle in the years following his book for his portrayal of the East and the issues that have arisen in these colonies. Included in this is the way that some colonials are portrayed in certain stories, such as in "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The Adventure of the Crooked Man." Within these stories, Doyle depicts these returned colonials as "marginal, physically ravaged characters that threaten the peace," meanwhile, he puts the other characters in a much more positive light and portrays them as being respectable and only attaining their social by virtue of their colonial wealth. These themes of contamination and contagion within colonialism is very apparent throughout the book of the "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" within each story. Although it is unclear if Doyle's intentions were to show a stratification between colonies, specifically in the East, or if he simply had his own preconceived notions of the East, and thus wrote these stories with these preconceptions in mind. Ultimately, these themes of contamination and contagion in the East are merely speculations within the literary community and have never been proven to be true or intentional.