Sherlock Holmes Essay: A Reflective Fan Fiction.

Write a reflection explaining how you transformed the text in the light of the literary theories and methods of creative writing.

Idea and Literary Theories

The following story is based on the world famous work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which is the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The TV series SHERLOCK is the modernized version of the famous fictional character that lives in London and is a high functioning sociopath who works as a detective to avoid getting bored and to fight his problem of drug and substance abuse. The following story is based on the same base but the setting has changed and modernized and belongs to a different time frame. In the previous version Sherlock lived in 225 Baker Street, London with his partner and flat mate Dr. John Watson who is a retired army personnel and the story is set to be written in the late 1880s. But in the following story the main character Sherlock Holmes lives in the city of New York and is accompanied by his partner who is a female named Dr. Watson. Dr. Watson was a surgeon who once lost a patient due to her mistake which costed her license to practice medicine and surgery. She thinks that being with Sherlock will give her the chance to help people. She also monitors and keeps a check on the addictive habits of Sherlock which is one of the reasons why Sherlock’s rich father has asked her to be with him. Moreover, Sherlock finds Dr. Watson’s medical background helpful in finding out the forensic details at the scene of the crime which adds up to his accuracy to solve crimes.

The story of Sherlock which is an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes and the following story is a fan fiction in which the city in which the main character lived has been changed from London to New York. Fan Fiction stories have new storyline, characters and new plots which increases the scope of the main character or the entire story (Barry, 2017). In this fan fiction Sherlock is a drug addict and is sent by his rich father from London to New York due to his infamous record in solving crimes in association with the Scotland Yard. In the original version of Sherlock, he is not attached to the suspects and criminals on an emotional level and does not appeal to the humanity of the criminals but in the following story Sherlock has to manipulate the prime suspect’s feelings in order to get the real criminal. This story is an experimental fiction based on the real fiction to upgrade the timeline at which the real character existed which has given a new dimension to the story (Bertens, 2017). Since the following story is based in New York Sherlock has to depend on the local police to know the places of a new city. Moreover, in this experimental fiction Sherlock is accompanied by a female partner rather than male, retired military manas it was written in the original text. Generally fan fictions are written to change the outcome of the original story or to add a new character or they are based on different fan a theory who likes to make their own versions of the original story (Burroway, 2007). The following story is partly a fan fiction.

Theory of Fan Fiction

Another literature theory which has been incorporated in the following story is adaptation. There a number of ways in which a literary work may be adapted. It can be done to make a film, a documentary or to write a short story in the same genre or another genre which has been done in the following story (Grenville, 1990). It is a real adaptation in the same genre of fiction writing and since it has been taken from the TV series Sherlock it is said to be an adaptation. This story is also a contradiction to the theory of adaptation as movies are made from the original text but in this scenario a story has been written based on a TV series. In any adaptation like the following story, the characters, concept, story and action play a major role which has been justified (Heise, 2017).

The next literature theory which is concerning the following story is that of reader response criticism. This theory of literature is about the reader which may be an audience in context of plays and their experience of reading the story (Schilling, 2017). As any work of literature is written keeping the readers in mind it becomes the most important aspect of imaginative writing. The following story being an adaptation and partly a fan-fiction does justice to its readers as the story is more intense and there are very few characters to remember which is in contradiction with the original story. It does not lags the change in scenario and it pretty much direct and to the point, whereas the original Sherlock Holmes stories are more about the details and minute observations which a reader often misses while reading the story. The following story progresses with each step clearly stating the sequence of events and proper explanations rather than the older style of keeping secrets and mysterious stuff. This adaptation is for the readers who have got bored by reading the classic Sherlock Holmes stories which were more about the character himself and his bravado and his sense of adventure whereas the following story is about the new genre of crime solving with less façade and direct approach towards the ending.

There has been many technological advancements sine the day the original story was written and this story is a reflection of how such a prominent character of Sherlock Holmes can adapt to the new world and what is the scope of its expertise in the new world. Readers often fantasize that if the characters of the older days would have existed in today’s world then what would have been the scenario? This story appeals to those curious and over imaginative readers and patrons of Sherlock Holmes series who wanted him to exist in the modern world, equipped with technological advancements and sophisticated gadgets for him use to solve crimes of the modern era.

Dr. Watson came down from her bed room in the morning to see Sherlock buried in a pile of papers and a photograph in his hand. He looked flush, tired and deprived of sleep which makes it evident for Dr. Watson that he has been up all night. Dr. Watson was prepping up to go for a jog according to her daily morning routine but she got involved in a conversation with Sherlock about his last night adventure. Sherlock told her that he has been researching some police papers and records about a boy named Adam who was abducted in 2005 from Brooklyn by the serial killer named “The Balloon Man”. Dr. Watson acknowledged the name of the criminal as she used to live in that area at the time of crime. She asked Sherlock that why is he being so interested in that old case to which he replied by telling about a recent abduction which happened last night with the same modus operandi of The Balloon Man. Sherlock was sure that NYPD will call for his help on this case as the case involved a serial killer. He was very excited about being a part of the investigation as he was a high functioning sociopath. Within minutes he got a call from the investigating officer of the kidnapping case asking him to come over at the crime scene.

Literary Theory of Adaptation

When the duo reached the crime scene they saw that there was interview to start comprising the parents of the child victim. Sherlock stopped the interview by convincing the parents that these media stunts will jeopardize the safety of the child as the killer feeds off resentment and pleadings of the parents and the killer will harm the child before they get a chance to catch him. These inputs from his side were the result of his night long research which he has done on The Balloon Man. Both Sherlock and Dr. Watson went outside the house to find some clue and suddenly his gaze got stuck on a sedan which ad scratches on it as if some big van has sideswiped it in speed. The scratches were of dark brown color with hint of prominent blue and white paint which Sherlock realized it to be an old NYPD van which are sold in auctions at a cheaper rate. This was the first and major breakthrough in the case as it narrowed down the search domain for the Balloon Man. Without wasting time Sherlock called the NYPD and asked them to search the records for that van as vehicles sold in the auctions are listed in the NYPD.

After an hour, the investigating officer told that the van had been identified and they are in pursuit to stop the van which seemed to evade the police detail. NYPD chased the van on the streets and after few blocks of evasion the van was stopped by the cops. A man in the grey hood started running out of the van when he was covered from all sides by the NYPD cars. A strong officer who was closest to the van dashed the hooded man and climbed up on him to cuff him from behind. When the suspect was identified it does not matched the description of the Balloon Man who was believed to be in his mid-forties. The suspect caught was a young boy in his early twenties. When Sherlock reached the place he had a good look at the suspect. He observed a birth mark on the suspect’s neck which was identical to the one which was on Adam’s neck as he saw it in the photograph which he was looking at in the morning. Sherlock was bewildered that a boy who was believed to be dead since last 12 years is alive and was suspected to be the Balloon Man. NYPD took the kid to the precinct to interrogate him but Sherlock and Dr. Watson were perplexed as the complexity of the case has taken a leap from a normal serial killer to something else. At the precinct Adam was locked in the interrogation room where many officers, psychiatrists and other staffs were trying to talk to him so that he can give any insight about the current abduction. But Adam was completely silent and even after all their efforts he has not uttered a word. The time was running out as the kid who was kidnapped last night was still missing and in danger. Sherlock was watching Adam through the observer’s glass in another room and was trying to put the pieces together about the entire case from the first abduction of Adam till the last night kidnapping. He desperately needed inputs from Adam to proceed further in his deductions.

Reader Response Theory

As Sherlock was not a police officer he was not allowed to question Adam himself without any clearance from the higher authority. He went up to the Captain of the precinct and asked for permission which he has to leverage out from the officer. Sherlock without wasting any time went straight to Adam and told him that he is neither a police officer nor a psychiatrist and he will speak the truth to him and will expect the same from Adam. Sherlock understood the relationship between the Balloon Man and Adam as he had studied the case before. Sherlock used his detective skills covered in emotions which would appeal to Adam’s heart and would make him share information about the Balloon Man. Sherlock understood that Adam have been sympathizing with his captor as after all these days Adam called the Balloon Man to be his dad. When Sherlock told Dr. Watson about his conversation with Adam then she told him that Adam is suffering from the Stockholm syndrome in which the victim develops a sense of attachment and starts to sympathize with the captor’s mental and emotional condition. It does not take much for Sherlock to deduce that Adam had helped the Balloon Man in abductions which he did after Adam. But now it was a challenge for Sherlock to manipulate Adam into giving up on his so called Dada and save the 10 year old kid who was in him captivity before any mishap.

Before Sherlock could interrogate Adam further parents of Adam had called a lawyer which gave him the leverage of keeping quiet and not answer any questions asked by the NYPD officials. The clock was ticking and with every passing hour the life of the kid was moving towards a dangerous end. In the meantime, the parents of Adam have cut a deal for his immunity with the District Attorney which made it more problematic for Sherlock and other officials to get intelligence about the Balloon Man from Adam. In a closed door meeting comprising of Adam and the Captain of NYPD, they decided that Adam is prohibited to talk to any official of the NYPD but as Sherlock was a consultant and not a bonfire official of government he can go and talk to Adam and try to know the whereabouts of the Balloon Man an where he has kept the victim. Sherlock went into the interrogation room and appealed to the humanity of Adam and reminded him about the previous victims and his parents. He said that all their bloods is on Adam’s hand and now is the time for his redemption and he can at least try to save the victim from being killed. Adam out of guilt and remorse told Sherlock the address where he lived and where the balloon Man has kept the victim. NYPD instantly raided the pace and found the victim alive with a man named Tony Sinclair who was holding the child at the gunpoint. When Tony realized that he is not going to get out of the trap he put the gun at his head on a point blank range and shot himself. The victim was saved and the case was near to a closure. Sherlock was called to visit the crime scene to salvage any evidence and he was also curious to see the dead body of Tony as it was not what Sherlock has expected the things to turn out. When Sherlock saw the body of Tony he observed a cut mark at the lower vertebrae as if they were operated. He noted the point and went to other rooms of the condo where he found that there was one messy and dirty mattress and in other room which was a bed room he found a master bed with television and other goods of luxury. Sherlock bent down to observe a hair strand on the pillow which was dark in color just like the hair which Adam had and on the dirty mattress he found grey hairs which belonged to Tony. Sherlock checked the medical records of Tony to find out that he was in hospital when last two abductions were done stating clearly that Adam was the real Balloon Man and Tony was his victim. As Adam grew up he turned the tables for his captor and became the Balloon Man.  

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