Endlessly snarky, a bit insufferable, and utterly genius, Sherlock Holmes is a man known intimately by many British and American readers alike. His legacy has grown to an enormous reach—in fact, with the multitude of successful adaptations like Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes, BBC’s Sherlock, and CBS’s Elementary, you would be hard pressed to find someone that’s never heard of the man at 221B Baker Street. In fact, it is (I believe) a source of pride for Londoners that this man, grown so famous that he seems more historical than fictitious, conducted his best work out of a little flat in their own city. The fact that 221B Baker Street is a real place makes the stories a little more exciting for fans…or maybe that’s just me, but I do hope we get the chance to stop by his doorstep!
Indeed, Sherlock’s residency in London is very important to the stories he exists within. Many aspects of the story rely on the rich, urban setting that London provides. Just one obvious example is that since London is a city, it is filled with many people, meaning that there are many more people physically in one square block of the place than is common in most other towns. This fact means that statistically there will be more criminals, because there are more people; therefore, the cramped spaces also lend themselves to conflict more easily.
We can clearly see how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle formed the plot of “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” around the bustle of London at Christmastime. Once Holmes and Watson have discovered the incidents leading up to Peterson being left with Henry Baker’s hat and goose, and learn the circumstances under which the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle was stolen from the Hotel Cosmopolitan, all that was left to do was to fill in the details in the middle. Their literal goose chase (clever, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!) eventually brings them to Covent Garden—a marketplace where it would have been all too easy to blend in without being seen. The true events that occured could potentially have been lost forever at such a place, that is, if the detective were anyone other than Mr. Holmes.
When Holmes and Watson discover James Ryder, head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, it doesn’t take long for them to discern that they have their man—but what could possibly have been his motive? Or his method? Sherlock sees a working class man and quickly understands his motive:
“Well, the temptation of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you.”
The method, as Ryder explains, seems to have derived from a great anxiety about traveling through London with the gemstone on his person. Ryder says:
“But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived.”
The lengths at which Ryder went to in order to remain undetected with the stone seem absurd to me as a reader, who wonders, “why not just play it cool and blend in with the crowd?” All his plots involving the goose were, of course, all for nothing, as the gemstone never actually makes it into his hands.
Knowing this, and knowing that he will be too scared to try such a trick again, Holmes decides against turning this man in—an act that would certainly ruin his life. This choice aligns with Holmes’ statement early in the story about the crime scene, or lack thereof, in London:
“No, no. No crime. Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have already had experience of such.”
Holmes is positive that the case will not involve legal crime, which ends up being untrue. He is correct, however, to comment on the increased incidents that occur in such a place as London, as not all being criminal.
Finally, this passage reminded me of something Sherlock has said in another of his stories, “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”:
“It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.“
“You horrify me!”
“But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.”
If anything, I was glad to find that Holmes consistently defends the activities of Londoners as mischievous or troublesome at worst, and according to the above quote, held in check by the ever-present townspeople. His take on the countryside, though particularly dark, is very interesting, because what he says about concealment is actually quote true. Either way, Holmes’ allegiance to London is charming and a reassuring testament that he knows very well the city that he services.
References:
Doyle, Arthur Conan. “Adventure 7: “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”” and “Adventure 12: “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”.” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Lit2Go Edition. 1892. Web. 17 May, 2018
Elsa — Nice job drawing from another Sherlock Holmes story here. You do a nice job here of suggesting that, while we might assume that Holmes is located in an urban environment because such an environment generates more crime, in fact Conan Doyle turns the tables on our expectations to some extent. Though there is certainly a lot of questionable activity going on in the streets of London that escapes the notice of that “public opinion” he describes in the quotation you offer!
There’s a museum on Baker St. at the approximate address that would have been 221B. Beware of the long lines to get in! If you don’t have time to tour the house (which is by some accounts a bit of a tourist trap–though I haven’t been inside), the shop is kind of intriguing .
Elsa,
I think you did a really great job of pointing out why London is so important in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Not only does it seem to serve as a backdrop, but it almost appears to be a sort of character itself. It’s interesting that you pointed out that Ryder could have seamlessly blended into the crowd and nobody would have been the wiser; in such a populated city, it seems very easily accomplished. It makes me wonder, however, whether or not the population would increase pressure more than it would ease it. Would Ryder have been concerned that, because there are so many people, somebody might have caught on to his crimes? In such a populated city, is there pressure to go along with the crowd rather than deviate from it? I think that’s part of the reason why he’s so scared in the end: he doesn’t want to do anything that would draw such attention to himself again.
The last two quotes you pulled, one from this story and one from another, were super interesting to me. They both paint Holmes as a man who is so proud of the wit and ornery nature of Londoners. When he says those in the countryside aren’t aware of the law, he says it as if it is a pity, and that Londoners are therefore more evolved in some way than those who live in the country. The fact that Londoners try to push the boundaries by committing “crimes” doesn’t seem to be so much of an act of defiance or of criminal nature; rather, it seems like they are committing such acts to continue to challenge themselves. The whole thing seems like a game in a way, and I think Holmes is the one who not only continues to win, but also gets the most enjoyment out of playing the game.