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Carlos Serrano

Professor Molina

ENC-1102

24 July 2012

How and why does Holmes differ from Arthur Conan

Doyle in his attitude to the supernatural?

Sir Author Conan Doyle, the famous author of the acclaimed series ​The

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ​was a person who believed in supernatural

explanations and magic situations. In contrast, the character of Sherlock Holmes was a

totally rational and evidence driven investigator, who used logic and facts to solve the

most complicated and mysterious cases.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was “the world’s most famous exponent of spiritualism”

("More Intelligent Life"). He financed the construction of the Rochester Square

Spiritualist Temple with the money that he earned from Sherlock Holmes stories. Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle grew up on a dysfunctional family. His father was an alcoholic and

his mother was a great storyteller, she used to tell him many stories to keep him away

and unhurt from his father’s compulsive and destructive behavior.

"In my early childhood, as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories

she would tell me stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life."

(“Official Website of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate”)This quote describes

the influence of imagination and illusion in his early childhood, and how this could have

led him to find it joy on things beyond reality. The fact that he spent seven years in a
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Jesuit Boarding School, a place where he used to be physically punished, could have

also been a factor to hold on to his imagination. After all, that provided him a sense of

safety and joy.

A third novel, written at that time, was a very strange and confusing tale

about the afterlife of three vengeful Buddhist monks called ​The Mystery of

Cloomber​. This story illustrates the most serious and incomprehensible

schism in Conan Doyle's personality. Under one hand, he was capable of

writing brilliantly about deduction and pure logic, on the other, he was

obviously fascinated by and inexorably drawn to the paranormal and

ultimately to spiritualism ("Official Website of The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Literary Estate").

As an adult, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle began to develop curiosity for spiritualism

and he incorporated that to his stories.

“It may well have been his resulting depression which caused him to become more and

more fascinated by "life beyond the veil"”("Official Website of The Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle Literary Estate").Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had lost his father and his first wife

Louisa was dying of tuberculosis; this could have encouraged him to explore things

beyond the physical world to find peace within him. In the field of psychology, trying to

find an alternative reality that is more suitable for a person’s mind is considered a

coping mechanism to overcome negative situations.

He had long been attracted to Spiritualism, but when he joined the Society
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for Psychical Research, it was considered to be a public declaration of his

interest and belief in the occult.("Official Website of The Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle Literary Estate")

He finally decides to do join a group of people who share his attitude towards

supernatural things and spiritual beings. This confirms his beliefs and enables him to go

and explore the paths of spiritualism; he was driven by the joy and adventure that this

could bring to his life. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many books which include; ​The

New Revelation and ​The Vital ​Message (​ First Spiritual Temple) ​to inform other people

who might be interested in Modern Spiritualism based on his investigations and studies.

As Sherlock Holmes said “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.

Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts”

(Doyle, “A Scandal in Bohemia”). He was a total advocator of what we call now the

scientific method; he based every single one of his theories and hypothesis on facts that

were relevant to each case. He was a master of deduction; he took every detail into

account to create a solid and big piece of evidence to solve every case.

He could notice information by paying attention to little details. For example,

when he first met his closest friend and loyal side kick Dr. James Watson (Moffat, ​Study

in Pink).​ Sherlock Holmes was able to know about Dr. Watsons personal family life,

profession, war wounds, psychological condition regarding the psychosomatic pain on

his leg and the conflict where Dr. Watson serve for the British Military.

“I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before we get to Lee.
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It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can get nothing to go upon.

There’s plenty of thread, no doubt, but I can’t get the end of it into my

head. Now, I’ll state the case clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and

maybe you can see a spark where all is dark to me”. (Doyle, “The Man

with the Twisted Lip”)

It is evident that Sherlock Holmes would not make any theories if it was not well

supported by fact. His attitude towards the supernatural was totally skeptical since he

never attributed anything to magic, spirits or coincidence. He linked everything through

facts and deducted from the evidence acquired. On The quote above, he was trying to

present all the evidence he had about a mysterious case to his partner Dr. James

Watson. He was not sure about what to deduce from the information acquired so he

asked his friend for his useful help.

Unlike his creator, Sherlock Holmes was not interested on doing research on

 
spiritualism but in chemistry and other science related experiments. He had a skull in

his office that he used to experiment with (Moffat, ​A Study in Pink). ​This would perfectly

fit to his personality since he was a great observer and also very careful about the small

details.

“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear” (Doyle, “A Scandal in

Bohemia”). As mentioned before, Sherlock Holmes was a great observer, he would not

settle for a theory if such theory can accurately be proven and verifiable. If someone

could bring an argument that implies that something happened for supernatural
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reasons, he would commit himself to find the “real” causes and debunk the myth. He

would go to great lengths to find evidence and solve any mystery that was presented to

him. He was portrayed as someone who would not stop analyzing evidence over and

over again, spend sleepless nights and put himself in terrible conditions just to find the

answer for something that bugged his mind.

Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?'

'To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.'

'The dog did nothing in the night-time.'

'That was the curious incident,' remarked Sherlock Holmes.'" (Doyle,

“Silver Blaze”)

This quote is a clear example of the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes; he

would take the small details as crucial evidence to solve a case. On this case, he

discovered how a racing horse called Silver blaze was stolen and how his trainer died in

the process.
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First Spiritual Temple, . "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." ​First Spiritual Temple Mediumship​.

The Ayer Institute, 2001. Web. 21 Jul 2012.

. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Biography ." ​The Official Website of The Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle Literary Estate​. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jul 2012.

http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/conan-doyle-spiritualism