An Analysis of the Prime Example of Fictional Immortality
Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most recognizable fictional character of all time, something which is somewhat remarkable considering how many faces he’s worn. It seems strangely suitable that Sherlock Holmes, among his many skills, should also be a master of disguise. For each time he returns, be it to the stage, the screen, or on the page, he is never quite the same. In all the different faces which have represented Sherlock Holmes we have come to recognize him mainly by his distinguished silhouette: the large beak-like nose, the tall lean figure, the deer-stalker hat, and calabash pipe, all of which are signature to his demeanor. Yet ironically, most of these are credited, not to Conan Doyle himself, but to British illustrator Sidney Paget. Even Holmes' well-known catchphrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” comes, not from the original work, but from author P.G. Wodehouse. These are not the only well-known Holmesian characteristics which are credited to other creators. Ever since Conan Doyle let loose detective Sherlock Holmes into Victorian London in A Study in Scarlet, artists have been creating their own interpretations of the world-famous detective, and thus he has become immortalized, not just by one, but thousands of reworkings and adaptations. It may therefore seem somewhat misleading to fully credit Arthur Conan Doyle with the creation of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps it is more suitable to say rather that Conan Doyle did not in-fact create Holmes. He discovered him.
Though it may seem an odd statement, it seems that Sherlock Holmes is, in fact, more influential than the man who created him. This in itself is entirely bizarre, for Holmes, of course, is fictional. Yet even in his time, multitudes of readers were convinced of his existence. To Doyle's own dismay, he received countless letters all address not to him, but to Sherlock, imploring the detective to help solve their tragedies and mysteries. In the present day, Sherlock Holmes seems more alive and real than Conan Doyle himself. So, Holmes has become the reality and the author the shadow, a silhouette perched in an armchair behind the figure of his creation. Though the simple solution would be to dismiss this as a case of excellent story-telling, someone like Sherlock Holmes would not be convinced of such a mundane conclusion.
It deems worth noting that Sherlock Holmes is not the only fictional character granted this endowment of immortality, nor is he the only one who has skipped the line between reality and fiction so effortlessly. Figures like King Arthur or Robin Hood of Loxley, to name a few, have also crossed this line, slipping out of the fictional world and leaving behind relics and remnants of misplaced evidence, as if they might actually have existed. Indeed, to this day experts are still uncertain whether or not these figures actually existed, and to what extent the stories we have about them are true. While their origins may be obscure, their influence, however, is undeniable. Sherlock Holmes himself does not have much in common with these figures, it is their mutual prestige on the public which makes them so extraordinary. Of course, there is one other key point in which these figures share: they are all heroes.
King Arthur, the righteous and just king, leader of the Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood, the noble outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, we’ve all heard of them. But what exactly does Sherlock Holmes have to do with them?
When we think of Detective Sherlock Holmes, words like righteous, just, and noble are certainly not the first that come to mind, if, in fact, they come to mind at all. Sherlock Holmes is flawed, often times selfish, and at times completely unsympathetic. Indeed, he has been compared to machine. What's more, it is his lack of human weakness and emotion that most fascinates those fictional characters who come know him, and those who in their turn come to know him on the page. Even so, when it comes to fictional immortality Holmes somehow manages to exceed them all. While King Arthur and Robin Hood were the heroic figures of their own time, Sherlock Holmes has become a heroic icon, not only of his own time but most every time since.
When a character becomes immortalized in this way they will inevitably become, not just a character, but an idea. Robin Hood, for example, exemplifies justice. He is a hope for the poor, a reclamation of a better world in a time of oppression. In the same way, Sherlock Holmes has also become the incarnation. He is the image of the ultimate expert. A man who, with his powers of deduction and wit can unravel any mystery. Sherlock Holmes springs out of an era of order, an industrious empire, a society overtaken with invention and vision, and yet a society overcome by the ever-growing fear that their world, a world of which the pace was ever quickening, was spinning out of control. This is a fear which is no less relevant in today’s society than it was to the Victorians who witnessed the First Industrial Evolution when the world began to move too quickly. One could argue that the world has not stopped its Industrial ascent since.
It is perhaps for this very reason that, more than a decade after his initial appearance, Sherlock Holmes has still not retired, despite what Doyle tried to make us believe in The Adventure of the Lion's Mane. And if he has indeed retired at one point or another, he has been raptly replaced by a successor, a new Sherlock Holmes for a new time.
Since Conan Doyle’s death in 1930, the public has seen Sherlock Holmes return again and again. Indeed, ever since Arthur Conan Doyle brought back Sherlock Holmes ten years after his supposed death, it seems it is quite impossible to kill him. His immortality is so adamant, and the public’s adoration so persistent, that not even his creator could kill him off. We see in Sherlock Holmes that something truly fascinating occurs when a character outlives his creator with such perpetuation. Not only has Sherlock Holmes outlasted his time, he has pervaded through every time since, slinking straight out of the fog of Victorian London into the present day, solving mysterious and delivering justice, whether that be to protect innocent murderers, or the wrongfully accused; to restore honor to the disgraced or repair trust for those that have been torn apart by a crippled system. He is a shadow of a man instantly recognized by his fans, fans who as a mass manage to maintain the illusion that Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the detective who has, and most certainly will, outlive them all, is still out there today, solving mysteries, dispelling superstitions, disproving irrationality and illusion; debunking legends even as he himself becomes one.
