Sherlock Holmes Vague Identity
Semiotic Identity by Farhad Jamalpur
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their meaning and use. It is also defined in some dictionaries as "semantics". But semiotics is not merely about analyzing linguistic meaning; it can also deal with many concepts such as casual speech, commercial advertisements, gender relations, and social hierarchy. Such cultural phenomena can be studied under a microscope. Semiotic analysis can provide a fresh perspective that permits the discovery of vague acts dealt with, in every day life. Viewing a particular personality in this way, can also reveal how the individual signs and codes of a person function to express that unique identity to the world.
Though Sherlock Holmes, hero of Sir Arthur Conan …show more content…
Will he be a machine today, or a human being? Will he pursue his current investigation for the sake of public justice, or for personal satisfaction? Will he pedantically lecture Watson to stick to the facts, or will he allow his emotions to show and simply treat him as a good friend? Holmes, consciously or not, makes these kind of decisions continually, and also negotiates and compromises as necessary to incorporate both aspects of himself into his life. All the internal pieces in combination create the whole person that he presents to the world publicly, and to himself privately. Every time Holmes engages the external world, he communicates who he is through his words and actions. To comprehend the meaning of all his contradictions, one simply needs to both see, and observe.
Works Cited
Carr, John Dickson. The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Two Volumes, continuously paginated. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1930.
Starrett, Vincent. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Toronto: University of Chicago Press,
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their meaning and use. It is also defined in some dictionaries as "semantics". But semiotics is not merely about analyzing linguistic meaning; it can also deal with many concepts such as casual speech, commercial advertisements, gender relations, and social hierarchy. Such cultural phenomena can be studied under a microscope. Semiotic analysis can provide a fresh perspective that permits the discovery of vague acts dealt with, in every day life. Viewing a particular personality in this way, can also reveal how the individual signs and codes of a person function to express that unique identity to the world.
Though Sherlock Holmes, hero of Sir Arthur Conan …show more content…
Will he be a machine today, or a human being? Will he pursue his current investigation for the sake of public justice, or for personal satisfaction? Will he pedantically lecture Watson to stick to the facts, or will he allow his emotions to show and simply treat him as a good friend? Holmes, consciously or not, makes these kind of decisions continually, and also negotiates and compromises as necessary to incorporate both aspects of himself into his life. All the internal pieces in combination create the whole person that he presents to the world publicly, and to himself privately. Every time Holmes engages the external world, he communicates who he is through his words and actions. To comprehend the meaning of all his contradictions, one simply needs to both see, and observe.
Works Cited
Carr, John Dickson. The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Two Volumes, continuously paginated. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1930.
Starrett, Vincent. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Toronto: University of Chicago Press,