The short stories, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” and “The Blanched Soldier,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are filled with adventurous investigations featuring the genius detective Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and is his trustworthy assistant, Dr. Watson, investigate the problems that are brought to them by clients, Helen Stoner and Mr. James M. Dodd, whom both seek their help in coming up with solutions to their cases. In “the Adventure of the Speckled Band,” Helen Stoner, a desperate young woman, is in need of Holmes assistance to solve her sister’s murder case, as she believes her life may be in great danger with her stepfather being around. While in “The Blanched Soldier,” Mr. Dodd brings a case in which his good friend, Godfrey
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As Helen Stoner sits before him for her consultation he is observing everything and proves this by asking her if she took the train that morning. As she is shocked by his accurate theory Sherlock Holmes responds with, “I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove,” giving his client a glimpse of his observation process (Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band 1). She goes on to explain her own theory of how she believes her sister has died of pure fear. However, Holmes is not quite satisfied with these results because she forgets to speak about her stepfather, “’he is a hard man,’ she said, ‘and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength,” as he notices her wrist displays an imprint of a hand (Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band 5). In “The Blanched Soldier,” Sherlock demonstrates the same observation method as Mr. James Dodd sits before him for the interview. He begins to take some guesses about where Dodd is from by saying, “from South Africa, sir, I perceive,” “Imperial Yeomanry, I fancy,” “Middlesex Corps, no doubt,” all were accurate, giving James the same shock as Helen Stoner (Doyle, The Blanched Soldier 1). James did most of the investigation himself before meeting with Sherlock, while he trusted his every word he listened carefully to the evidence given to him by James. Conan Doyle displays Sherlock Holmes’ genius observation skills by impressing his clients at first chance to show it was not something of magic but mere sense of logic and observation and responds to their state of shock with, “I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see,” (Doyle, The Blanched Soldier 1). During the Victorian Era interest in knowledge is important with cases like these while Doyle clearly shows this through
As Helen Stoner sits before him for her consultation he is observing everything and proves this by asking her if she took the train that morning. As she is shocked by his accurate theory Sherlock Holmes responds with, “I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove,” giving his client a glimpse of his observation process (Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band 1). She goes on to explain her own theory of how she believes her sister has died of pure fear. However, Holmes is not quite satisfied with these results because she forgets to speak about her stepfather, “’he is a hard man,’ she said, ‘and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength,” as he notices her wrist displays an imprint of a hand (Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band 5). In “The Blanched Soldier,” Sherlock demonstrates the same observation method as Mr. James Dodd sits before him for the interview. He begins to take some guesses about where Dodd is from by saying, “from South Africa, sir, I perceive,” “Imperial Yeomanry, I fancy,” “Middlesex Corps, no doubt,” all were accurate, giving James the same shock as Helen Stoner (Doyle, The Blanched Soldier 1). James did most of the investigation himself before meeting with Sherlock, while he trusted his every word he listened carefully to the evidence given to him by James. Conan Doyle displays Sherlock Holmes’ genius observation skills by impressing his clients at first chance to show it was not something of magic but mere sense of logic and observation and responds to their state of shock with, “I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see,” (Doyle, The Blanched Soldier 1). During the Victorian Era interest in knowledge is important with cases like these while Doyle clearly shows this through