Imagining The Criminal

Imagining The Criminal 

During our visit to Madame Tussauds The Sherlock Holmes Experience, as a class we were able to ‘imagine’ the criminal present within Victorian literature. Our journey through the Holmes Experience led us on an interactive detective challenge. The simulation brings to life the fascinating life of Sherlock Holmes by allowing attendees to become the detectives themselves. Similarly as in A Scandal in Bohemia, we help Dr. Watson and Holmes crack a case through the use of clues. Present in the story, readers are exposed to Sherlock’s cunningness and cleverness, particularly his ability to solve complex cases. Although Holmes explains his reasoning with ease, Watson remains amazed. Watson states, “I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours" (Bohemia.1.12-13). Watson seems to understand Holmes’s reasoning much clearer after it has been explained, almost like that of a magic trick explanation. At the end of The Sherlock Holmes Experience, we are met face to face with Holmes himself who explains that the answer to the case was with us all along on the back of the message, stating that we often miss the clues that are present right in front of us.

Bibliography:

Conan Doyle, Arthur. “A Scandal in Bohemia.” The Strand Magazine, 1891.

Time Out London. “The Sherlock Holmes Experience | Things to Do in London.” Time Out London, Time Out, 12 July 2016, www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/the-sherlock-holmes-experience.