A Study In Scarlet
by:Arthur Conan Doyle
Synopsis
A Study in Scarlet begins
with Dr. John Watson, the narrator, settling in London to recover from a wound
and illness he sustained while acting as a military doctor during the Second
Afghan War. One day he runs into an acquaintance, Stamford,
while at a bar. Watson confides in his friend that he needs a new living
arrangement, as his previous one was too expensive. Stamford responds that
another friend of his has also expressed this desire, and takes Watson to the
university laboratory where his friend –Sherlock Holmes –is
working on an experiment.Stamford gives some background information on Holmes,
such as the fact that his true profession is unknown, that he is eccentric and
brilliant, and that his knowledge is specialized but diverse. After discussing
their personal idiosyncrasies, Holmes and Watson decide to live together.
Watson watches the enigmatic Holmes and notes his strange behavior and
interests. The living arrangement proves itself pleasant for both men.
One morning Watson notices an article about
the art of deduction based on observation. The tiniest detail can yield a
multiplicity of information. Watson scoffs at this theory, but is surprised to
learn that Holmes was the article's author. Holmes explains that he is a
consulting detective; his powers of rational, reasoned observation and
deduction allow him to help clients and even solve crimes. He laments that
there have been very few good cases of late.
However, a good case soon drops in his lap
when he is asked by Scotland Yard detective Gregson to
assist him in solving a crime just recently committed. Holmes asks Watson to
accompany him and they travel to an empty house in a London neighborhood. There
they observe a crime scene that includes cab prints in the street and
footprints in the yard, a dead man who has been poisoned but not robbed laid
out in a room, and the word RACHE (the German word for revenge) in blood on the
wall. A woman's wedding ring falls off of the body when it is lifted. The dead
man's name is Enoch Drebber,
and he was from Cleveland. There was a note to his secretary, Joseph
Stangerson.
Over the next couple of days Watson watched
more pieces of the puzzle fall into place for Holmes. He informed Watson how he
determined the murderer's age and height from his observations, as well as his
complexion. An interview with the constable on duty that night revealed that a
drunken man in the street was actually probably the murderer returned for the
ring. In the middle of the investigation, another Scotland Yard detective on
the case named Lestrade,
whom Holmes respected, bursts into the Holmes’ and Watson’s apartment
announcing that Stangerson had also been killed. This turned out to be a result
of a stabbing, not poison. In Stangerson's room was a box of the pills that
Holmes identified as the method of death for Drebber. With this piece of
information Holmes excitedly announces that his investigation is complete.
Moments later, a cab driver that Holmes called for arrived to pick him up.
Holmes burst out that this man,Jefferson Hope,
is the murderer of Drebber and Stangerson. With the help of Watson and the
detectives, the man was subdued. This is the end of part one.
Part two begins with a vivid description of
the wild, isolated, and dangerous great American desert. There were two
travelers struggling to survive after the deaths of their companions –the tall
and gaunt John Ferrier,
and his tiny and lovely adopted daughter Lucy. They were rescued from
starvation by a massive caravan –the Latter Day Saints on their exodus. Their
leader Brigham
Young allowed Ferrier to travel with them if he converts; the latter
agreed. The caravan continued to Utah.
The subsequent years saw the population and
wealth of the Mormons' chosen site of Salt Lake City explode. Ferrier grew
prosperous amongst the Mormons, but refused to marry. Lucy grew up beautiful
and independent. One day she was saved from near death in a herd of stampeding
cattle by the handsome, solitary, and industrious hunter/miner Jefferson Hope.
The two fell in love and Ferrier gave them his permission to marry when Hope
returned from a few months' journey.
This was unacceptable to Brigham Young, who
personally visited Ferrier and commanded Lucy to marry one of the sons of the
Elders, Enoch Drebber or Joseph Stangerson. He gave Ferrier a month for her to
decide. Young's behavior was typical of the manner in which the Mormons had
been conducting themselves; they were once persecuted but had now turned persecutors.
Their community was secretive, violent, controlling, and exclusive. Ferrier had
long hated the Mormons and promised his daughter she would not have to marry
either of the sons and that they could escape.
Drebber and Stangerson arrogantly visited Ferrier's
house to talk to him about Lucy, but he threw them out. This egregious act of
disrespect increased the surveillance and threats levied upon Ferrier and his
daughter. Finally, the night before the month was up, Jefferson Hope arrived at
their home in the middle of the night and the three escaped into the mountains.
Unfortunately, when Hope went off to hunt game to feed to famished escapees, he
returned to an empty campsite –Ferrier had been murdered and Lucy abducted for
marriage.
Hope made his way back down to Salt Lake City
and learned that Lucy had been married to Drebber a few days before. Within a
month she died from heartsickness. Hope swore that he would spend his life
exacting revenge for the murders (he deemed Lucy's death a virtual murder).
Taking her wedding ring off her dead finger before she was buried, Hope fled
Utah to concoct a plan and raise money.
He tracked Drebber and Stangerson all over
Europe. The two men had been part of a fringe group of Mormons that had broken
away. They were also aware that Hope had been dogging their steps for many
years, and always managed to be a step ahead of him. Hope finally learned they
were in London and set in motion his plan to murder them.
At this point the narrative returns to Holmes,
Watson, the detectives, and their detainee. Hope was taken to the police
station but asks to tell his tale because he would not be going to be able to
have a trial or go to prison. The men learned this was because Hope had an
aortic aneurism that could burst any day. He was allowed to finish his
narrative.
Hope explained how he got a job as a cab
driver and tracked Drebber and Stangerson. He caught Drebber drunk one night
and killed him with poison. He tried to do the same with Stangerson but had to stab
him in self-defense when the latter fought back. He remained driving the cab
for a few days so as to not appear suspicious. The next day Hope was discovered
dead of the aneurism, a peaceful smile upon his face.
Holmes spoke with Watson about his ability to
reason backwards; this method helped him solve the case. He further elucidated
the ways in which he figured out certain aspects of the case, especially that
it was about a woman. The novel ends with Holmes and Watson reading a newspaper
article about the end of the investigation; it only mentions Holmes as an
amateur detective who helped but gave primary credit to Lestrade and Gregson.
Criticism
Doyle's
"A Study in Scarlet" is a perfect and wonderful example of
Pragmatism since it deals with the use of theory into practical solution
to resolute the cases. Sherlock Holmes was a famous character known as the
great detective. He was able to solve the case through his backward reasoning.
In this novel, Watson witnessed how Holmes worked and solved
the case even they found only few evidences in the crime scene like cab
prints around the place, a dead man, named Enoch Drebber who
was poisoned yet not robbed and the word RACHE. Holmes immediately closed the
case when the primary suspect, Joseph Strangerson was killed by stabbing and
later found on his room a box of pills which Holmes identified as the same pill
that poisoned Drebber. Holmes concluded that Jefferson Hope was the real
suspect and Hope admits his crime.
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