Mode

Author's Note: A response to the mode of the different short stories of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It was obvious from the start that it was comedy and it might seem to be boring after a while, especially with short stories, but it turned out to be a good thing. I felt like no other mode would really fit a mystery story. Irony wouldn't make since and neither would Tragedy, because with both the mystery might never be solved. Romance would just be dumb, because there wouldn't be much of a problem and therefore no mystery. So the fact that it was always comedy is not a bad thing. By Shaun C. 

A person emerges from the stormy night, and comes to Sherlock Holmes’s house. He tells him of his mystery, and of course, Holmes examines the evidence and comes up with an answer. This is more or less how every one of the Sherlock Holmes stories go, obviously comedy. Sherlock can always solve whatever mystery confronts him. However, it is quite fitting for a mystery story.

The stories always start with some sort of normalcy. Whether it be Holmes and his accomplice, Dr Watson, sitting in Sherlock’s home, or Watson on his own affairs, and then being called by Holmes. Then, they are presented with a problem, or in the case of the book, a mystery. It wouldn’t be a mystery story if the mystery wasn’t solved, so Sherlock Holmes uses his almost superhuman powers of deduction to save the day. The crime is solved, and everything is back to normal. The plot line of each story clearly points to comedy.

Although, along with the plot, there are some symbols. One of the first things I noticed was that in many of the stories, it is raining. This confused me at first, because it is a tragic symbol. But, I found out that it rains very often in London, so it led me to believe it was not a symbol at all, just acting as a characteristic to add to the setting. In exception, some of the stories take place on warm summer days, which makes the stories feel even more like comedy. One of the very major symbols is Sherlock Holmes’s living room. Holmes and Watson are always sitting in front of the fireplace in Holmes’s house. This setting feels very much like comedy.

The Sherlock Holmes stories are so distinctly comedy. It is pretty much the most comedy as you can get. In some cases, this would be bad and boring, being so unquestionably comedy. It would be very predictable, especially with short stories. However, in the case of mysteries, comedy is the right mode. The mystery is the problem, and it would be dumb if it weren’t solved. The stories stay interesting because of Sherlock Holmes’s powers of deduction, and it is always fun to see how he will solve the mystery this time. The stories are clearly comedy, but it is very fitting for the theme of the story.