Bohemia and The Final Problem Essay

When he reaches the Englischer Hof, the innkeeper has no idea about any sick Englishwoman. Realizing at last what has happened, Watson rushes back to Reichenbach Falls only to find no-one there, although he does see two sets of footprints going out onto the muddy dead-end path, but none coming back. There is also a note from Holmes, explaining that he knew the report Watson was given to be a hoax and that he is about to fight Moriarty, who has graciously given him enough time to pen this last letter. Watson sees that towards the end of the path, there are signs that a violent struggle has taken place. It is all too clear: Holmes and Moriarty have both died, falling to their deaths down the gorge whilst locked in mortal combat. This bit is so sad and shows Sherlock Holmes’ respect for Dr Watson as he lets him go back. Sherlock Holmes is a noble man in this scene and tries to protect Dr Watson from the pain of his death. However Dr Watson is left clearly upset saying he will forever regard Sherlock Holmes was â€Å"the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known†. This did choke me up a little as I read the last words of the story. I think overall the 1st person narrative by Dr Watson really works. There are a few problems but they have been solved by the way that the stories are written. For a setting to be typical of that of a detective story it needs to be a little scary and quirky, with the most successful murder mysteries taking place in dilapidated and isolated old houses. There is one striking resemblance of all the villains in the stories we have studied, they are all very noticeable. Dr Roylott and Dr Moriarty both tall and imposing, Irene Adler is beautiful and dainty and Hugh Boone is ugly and repulsive. The two most evil villains, Dr Roylott and Dr Moriarty it says have both inherited their evil tendencies. The literary pairing of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson works well because they are different, two vivid characters, so different in their functions and needs and as all partnerships should be, based on a great friendship. I think generally there is only one story which we have read which could be described as a typical murder mystery or detective story and that is The Speckled Band. This is the only one with a typical setting, villain and story sequence. The others are not so, with A Scandal in Bohemia not having a typical setting, The Man with the Twisted Lip having a villain who is the same person as the victim and The Final Problem resulting in the death of the detective. So I think that you can categorize stories into genres but it is much harder to say â€Å"this is a typical detective story† or â€Å"this isn’t because †¦ † In the end each story is different. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.