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Similes
Chapter 1 — The Science of Deduction
Explanation and Analysis—Simplicity Itself!:
In Chapter 1, Doyle wastes no time introducing the reader to Holmes's penchant for deductive reasoning and obsession with rational decision-making. Holmes himself describes how he reaches his confounding conclusions with characteristic self-confidence, which he conveys through the use of hyperbole. Additionally, the moment is an example of logos and situational irony:
'It is simplicity itself,' he remarked, chuckling at my surprise—'so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction.
Though observation such as this may be "simplicity itself" for Holmes, the reader—and Watson, who conveys his astonishment through his narration—is rarely able to piece together the reasoning for Holmes's conclusions until he explains himself.
Although he may not think them necessary, Holmes's explanations for his reasoning are essential for the reader's ability to understand his conclusions, and they are excellent examples of the use of logos as a rhetorical device. Logos the only skill that Holmes employs as he takes Watson from clue A to conclusion B is that of cool, logical reasoning, unencumbered by the distractions of estimation or emotion.
Although Holmes, through this reasoning, is a paragon of rationality in the novel, there is some irony to the fact that neither Watson nor the reader would be able to arrive at a similar conclusion without Holmes's help: what is clear to the detective is rarely clear to anyone else around him, and his insistence that his observations are pure "simplicity" frequently comes across as arrogance. It is ultimately up to the reader to determine whether such skills are worth this cold, unflinching attitude, or whether something more like Watson's emotional sensitivity is, in fact, more desirable. It is this sensitivity, after all, that leads Watson into the arms of Mary Morstan for their betrothal, which is the center of novel's happy ending.
Related Themes:
