While a dedicated observer of life with many viewpoints and opinions Holmes maintains a solid, multicultural approach to different nationalities and races. He observes the differences of each culture, without casting judgment.
Henry Baskerville has spent time in America and in Canada farming. He comes to England to accept his new position and proves to be pleasant, pugnacious in strength and character and unwilling to be frightened by the drama lying over his inheritance. He is perhaps the most benign American to be found in the Holmes oeuvres.
With a more sinister persona Abe Slaney from The Adventures of the Dancing Men comes to reclaim his Elsie, while wreaking havoc upon her health and the disposition of her new husband. Slaney comes from Chicago, which at the turn of the 20th century was already a hotbed of crime, corruption and a fertile ground for the emerging crime syndicate.
Dangerous men abound everywhere in the U.S. and the Mormons, as portrayed in A Study in Scarlet, are particularly vengeful. Even though Doyle later apologized for depicting the religious group as violent and inflexible, the group which left Illinois on a pilgrimage for religious freedom definitely had a strict agenda.
The KKK in the Five Orange Pips gives certain Americans a very bad name, especially southern men who fought in the Confederate Army. Holmes leaves out the racism and focuses on the supremacy and corruption of the Klan members.
And Irene Adler, also a singer like Sinatra, left New Jersey to seek her fame and fortune. Notorious and glamorous, they both warbled their way into the hearts of many.
No comments:
Post a Comment