AN ANOMALY IN THE HOLMESIAN CANON: “THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMB”

Year 2024, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 210 - 226, 28.12.2024

Arda Bade Şenli

Abstract

This article investigates the cryptic narrative of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (1892) and argues that this particular tale is a striking anomaly within the broader Holmesian canon. Unlike the quintessential Sherlock Holmes stories where justice often prevails in the end, this anomaly unfolds as Holmes fails to capture the criminals, thus deviating from the established and satisfactory resolution seen in the famous detective’s other investigations. The study claims that the atypical narrative of “The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb” serves as a reflection of the prevailing collective anxieties during the time of its creation. By dissecting the narrative elements of this particular story, especially Sherlock Holmes' failure to re-establish order, and the principles of Victorian detective fiction at large, the article aims to shed light on the underlying tensions and anxieties regarding the perceived threats to the British Empire and English masculinity during the late Victorian era.

Keywords

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb, Detective fiction, Imperial anxiety

HOLMES KANONUNDA BİR ANOMALİ: “MÜHENDİSİN BAŞPARMAĞI”

Abstract

Bu makale, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'un “Mühendisin Başparmağı” adlı eserinin gizemli anlatısını derinlemesine incelemekte ve bu hikâyenin Holmesian kanonu içinde önemli bir anormallik teşkil ettiğini savunmaktadır. Hikâyenin sonunda adaletin yerine getirildiği tipik Sherlock Holmes anlatılarının aksine bu hikâye, Holmes'un suçluları yakalayamaması ile öne çıkmakta ve ünlü dedektifin soruşturmalarında görülen alışılagelmiş ve tatmin edici sonlardan sapmaktadır. Bu çalışma, “Mühendisin Başparmağı” hikâyesinin alışılmadık anlatısının, yazıldığı döneme ait kaygıların bir yansıması olarak işlev gördüğünü ileri sürmektedir. Bu sebeple, bu makale Viktorya dönemi dedektif kurgusunun prensiplerini ve başta Sherlock Holmes’un adaleti sağlamadaki başarısızlığı olmak üzere bu tuhaf hikâyede kullanılan anlatı bileşenlerini derinlemesine inceleyerek Viktorya döneminin sonlarına doğru hem Britanya İmparatorluğu’na hem de İngiliz erkekliğine yönelik olduğu hissedilen tehditlerin sebep olduğu derin kaygıları aydınlatmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Mühendisin Başparmağı, Dedektif kurgusu

References

• Auden, W. H. (1948). The Guilty Vicarage. Harpers. https://harpers.org/archive/1948/05/the-guilty-vicarage
• Berberich, C. (2019). “Englishness and Rural England.” In J. M. Allan, C. Pittard (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Sherlock Holmes (pp. 55-67). Cambridge UP.
• Bertolette, W. F. (2004). German stereotypes in British magazines prior to World War I. [Master’s Theses, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College]. LSU Scholarly Repository. https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2740/
• Clarke, C. (2011). “Professionalism and the Cultural Politics of Work in the Sherlock Holmes Stories.” In K. Macdonald (Ed.), The Masculine Middlebrow, 1880–1950 (pp. 73-89). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Clarke, C. (2019). “Doyle, Holmes and Victorian Publishing.” In J. M. Allan, C. Pittard (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Sherlock Holmes, (pp. 29-41). Cambridge UP.
• Doyle, A. C. (1970). The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Doubleday & Company.
• Foss, E. (2012). “Villainy and Physiognomy: Identifying the Dangerous Foreigner in Sherlock Holmes.” The Real and the Reflected: Heroes and Villains in Existent and Imagined Worlds. (pp. 183-192). Brill.
• Harpham, J. S., & Michael A. G. (2011). “Sherlock Holmes, Crime, and the Anxieties of Globalization.” Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society, 23(4), 449-474.
• Kestner, J. A. (1997). Sherlock’s Men: Masculinity, Conan Doyle, and Cultural History. Ashgate.
• Laurie-Fletcher, D. (2019). British Invasion and Spy Literature, 1871–1918. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Lennox, S. (2016). “The Beautified Body: Physiognomy in Victorian Beauty Manuals.” Victorian Review 42(1), 9–14.
• “Magazines.” Morning Post. May 4, 1871. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18710504/006/0003
• Malton, S. (2009). Forgery in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture: Fictions of Finance from Dickens to Wilde. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Mangan, J.A., & Walvin, J. (1987) Manliness and Morality: Middle Class Masculinity in Britain and America, 1800-1940. Manchester UP.
• Pittard, C. (2003). Victorian Detective Fiction: An Introduction. University of Newcastle.
• “Reviews: Magazines for May.” Lincolnshire Chronicle, May 5, 1871. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000354/18710505/005/0003
• Showalter, E. (1990). Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siécle. Penguin Books.
• Vogler, J. P. (2022). “Rivalry and Empire: How Competition among European States Shaped Imperialism.” Journal of Historical Political Economy 2(2), 189-234.