Discussion Post: The Adventure of the Creeping Man

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Hello, all! How did everyone find The Adventure of the Creeping Man? It's a bit of an odd one, isn't it? We definitely have some questions to ponder, but first, I'd like to apologize for my timing with these posts (and tags, commenting, etc.) -- I'm still getting used to modding, and I have been flying by the seat of my pants a bit. Pair that with some IRL issues and things really go off the rails. I'm going to set up a more concrete schedule for myself so everything will be more predictable and reliable. I am very sorry about this, and I promise I'll do better for you all. That aside, on to The Creeping Man!

- Could this story be considered science fiction? It borders the concept at least, which is strange territory for Sherlock Holmes. Holmes treads very rational ground as a rule, but this premise of essentially a were-monkey strains credulity indeed. Is science fiction desirable for a detective story, or is it better to stick to the plausible world? Would going even further into science fiction be better, throwing Holmes and Watson into all-new, bizarre-even-for-them territory?

- Holmes expresses a very grim, social-Darwinist view at the end of the story, lamenting the prolonging of "worthless lives" and the "survival of the least fit". Is this a step too far for Holmes or does it still make sense for his character? He is a cold fish on a good day, but this is a dark place even for him. And does the position even make sense? Doesn't it almost make an argument against health care entirely, perhaps saved only for a select set of worthy people? Who decides the worthy? Holmes himself? Seems like a very strange position for a man whose best friend is a dedicated physician.

- Not an important point or an actual question, but this is the second week in a row we've had a villain get his throat bitten out by an enormous dog. It's a bit of a funny trope to see twice in such a short span of time, a quirk of our alphabetical schedule. At any rate, Doctor Watson must be getting better at caring for these kinds of wounds with all the experience he's had.

Comments

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly survival of the fittest, though, is it, because Holmes laments the possibility that the "spiritual", those with higher values as he sees them, should be swamped by those with less worthy aims, not that the *biologically* less fit survive. After all, in biological terms he is the loser - a bachelor with no progeny.

It seems to me he is arguing actually in a slightly *irrational* way, that certain values and priorities are intrinsically superior and that yes, he is pretty much qualified to say what they are (that is defintely in character!). After all, Presbury is a brilliant scholar with (pre-serum) many good personal qualities. It is not his survival that Holmes deplores, it's the idea that he can't accept that time moves on for all of us, and that you can't recapture the passions and vigour of youth against nature.

True medicine works in harmony with natural processes, I see nothing to suggest Holmes is against health care properly understood, only against cheating the inevitable for 'unworthy' ends. That doesn't seem to me to be a particularly dark place.

This is definitely into science fiction, something we know ACD was also interested in from his Professor Challenger stories. At the same time, quacks in the early 20th century and later did hawk around serums made from various animals supposed to induce virility, fertility and various cures for illness. It's no different to powdered rhino horn - sympathetic magic, and any effects were of course psychosomatic - or were they? (kidding);-)

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right to point out the difference here between spiritual fitness and biological fitness. There's an important distinction to be made, and Holmes is definitely focused on one and not the other.

Agreed too that his making himself the arbiter of human worth is in character. Judging people is his entire business.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

The fact that Holmes seems to accept the possibility that Presbury could become a monkey does jar with me. Although it makes for a good story, does the premise really fit with Holmes' intellect? Of course, going further into science fiction would offer lots of opportunities but they seem to me at odds with Holmes' own methods of deduction.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

I agree that Holmes' methods are not suited at all to investigation of the supernatural. But Holmes' innate and (usually) unswerving rationality is part of the reason I think it would be fascinating to put him into a true science fiction or fantasy scenario. What does it mean to the world's most rational man if, say, ghosts are suddenly real? How does he uncover it and what does he think? Can he accept such a truth?

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I agree, Holmes in a true science fiction scenario could be fascinating (thank you Spock). I suspect he would continue to work by his premise that having eliminated all the other options what is left has to be correct (sorry, badly paraphrased) and therefore he would accept that ghosts are real (or at least in the particular universe that he found himself in).