14. Analysis

The lesson 'Dying Detective' by Arthur Conan Doyle portrays one of the best detective characters sketched in literary history 'Sherlock Holmes'. Like any other detective story, this story uses suspense and twist as major elements. The readers travel along with the story and are exposed to the twists with an equal amount of surprise as the characters. Sherlock is portrayed as sick initially, and there is no element of suspicion here. But as the story progresses, he does not allow Watson to treat him and is slightly rude, making us wonder. When Mr. Smith is introduced, Watson does not suspect him of anything as Holmes speaks highly of him. This is an element used in detective stories to give weightage to the twist that is about to unravel. Smith does not confess at all in the beginning. Holmes earns his trust slowly. When people are praised, they stop thinking logically. Similarly, Smith likes the fact that Holmes is under his mercy. He also sees the ivory box and completely believes that Holmes had been stung by the box. Slowly, he lets his guard down and, to show that he won, confesses that he killed his nephew. He gets arrested for his foolish decision to gloat.