An examination of how Sherlock Holmes' abilities and techniques,

allied to his personal characteristics, enable him to solve crimes

There are many reasons to explain why Sherlock Holmes is one of the
world's most famous fictional detectives. However, the main reason for
this is that not only are the stories complex, but the actual
character of Sherlock Holmes has extreme depth, with some subtle
elements of his character only becoming apparent when he is in certain
situations. This is why Sherlock Holmes is one of the most, if not the
most interesting fictional characters to study.

One of Holmes' most famous professional characteristics is his power
of observation. An example of this is where Holmes is examining a room
"Why, it's a dummyit is fastened to a hook" (The Speckled Band). This
is a very unlikely thing for a normal person to observe; but not for
Sherlock Holmes!

However, Holmes' powers of observation would be worth nothing without
his excellent reasoning and deduction abilities. An example of this is
connected to the quote above (from The Speckled Band). After Holmes
discovered that the bell pull (rope) was a dummy, and taking into
account only facts that may be considered, by lesser men,
insignificant he solved the mystery of a woman's death. "It would
crawl down the rope.... sooner or later she must fall victim" (The
Speckled Band).

It is by Holmes' use of reasoning and deduction that one of his most
famous personal characteristics also comes to light. This is his
characteristic of making people around him feel beneath him, in other
words, Holmes has a high level of self-esteem. He astounds people with
his intelligence. He pretends that he does not mean to do this "I do
not wish to make a mystery" (A Scandal in Bohemia). There is but one
case that I have come across in which Sherlock Holmes is outwitted by
someone, and when he realises that he has been outwitted, he is amazed
"Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and surprise" (A Scandal in
Bohemia). He is especially amazed that it is a woman that has
outwitted him. This has some, but only a slight, effect on his
belittling characteristic "He used to make merry over the cleverness
of women, but I have not heard him do it of late" (A Scandal in
Bohemia).

Holmes has a great store of knowledge that he has acquired over many
years at his disposal, and this helps him greatly in his cases "my
special knowledge of tobacco ashes enabled me to pronounce as an
Indian cigar" (The Boscombe Valley Mystery). This yet again proves
just how intelligent Sherlock Holmes is.

Holmes categorised and sub-categorised many pieces of information on
almost every person and subject imaginable "Irene Adler...Kindly look
her up in my index, Doctor" (A Scandal in Bohemia). This shows just
how organised Holmes is; he not only possesses plenty of knowledge,
but he knows how to have it organised to be accessed easily. This is
an example of Holmes' logical and perfectionist approach to things.

Holmes has a very 'hands-on' approach to things "fell upon his knees
upon the floor...began to examine minutely" (The Red-Headed League).
This approach can also lead him to take direct action "sprung out and
seized the intruder by the collar" (The Red-Headed League). As this
quote also shows, Holmes can become very intense about things. Holmes
can also become the subject of mood swings "The swing of his nature
took him from extreme nature to devouring energy" (The Red-Headed
League). This is no doubt contributed to, in no small part, by his
drug taking "cocaine injections and all the other little weaknesses"
(The Man with the Twisted Lip).

Holmes is assisted greatly in his cases by the fact that he is not
only an expert in crime, but also in many other fields. Probably the
most famous example of this is his ability to disguise himself
"returned...in the character of an amiable Nonconformist clergyman" (A
Scandal in Bohemia). Not only can he disguise himself, but he can act
well, as well "The stage lost a fine actor" (A Scandal in Bohemia). He
is also an expert in science "science lost an acute reasoner" (A
Scandal in Bohemia).

Overall, I feel that the factor that contributes most to the fact that
Sherlock Holmes is able to solve crimes so well is the fact that he
can analyse things - reason with them, as well as observe them. Also,
he does not allow emotion to cloud his reasoning "grit in a sensitive
instrument...would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a
nature such as his" (A Scandal in Bohemia). Holmes was a misogynist,
so there was not much, if any chance for emotion to enter his finely
tuned brain. I feel that this quote best describes Sherlock Holmes "He
was.... the most perfect reasoning machine that the world has ever
seen" (A Scandal in Bohemia).