Why is Sherlock Holmes a Cocaine Junky?

We learn about Holmes' use of drugs in the very first story - A Study in Scarlet. Dr Watson comments:

" . . . for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion."

The Sign of Four opens with another disturbing scene:

'Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case.   With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks.  Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.'

When Watson asks what he is taking Holmes replies:

"It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution.  Would you care to try it?"

It later on emerges that Holmes uses cocaine because he is bored. When he has no cases to solve, when there is 'nothing of interest' in the newspapers, and when 'the monotony of existence' preys on him he reaches for the syringe. He has no lovers, no friends and no real interests other than detective work. But there is more. He lives only for the intellect and has no connection with his own emotions. In fact he seems to have had a mild form of Attention Deficit Disorder - his mind '...like a racing engine tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up...', his energy moving from extremes of lethargy to extremes of hyperactivity.

As everyone knows, Sherlock Holmes is meant to be a genius, who claims to solve cases through 'scientific' investigation and deductive logic. In fact, most of his cases are solved through intuition, imagination and by empathising with the criminal mind.

It is because he denies the power of emotion and because he is stuck in his head that Sherlock Holmes becomes a junky. When you have no outlet for your passion, Bodymind sends up the boredom signal to tell you to go and get a life. And one thing I have noticed about junkies is that they don't do boredom very well.

Isn't it time we stopped using characters like Sherlock Holmes, Einstein and Freud as role models, and over-developing the intellect in our children? What do you think?

Comments

[Chris Jefferson-Jones]

Hi John

As always, another thought provoking blog!

You tie in drug use to boredom and how you have found that junkies "don't tend to do boredom well".

We don't have to look too hard to see that many great people in our history (leaders, artists, scientist, composers, those with that creative ‘spark’) have used narcotics to varying degrees, some recreationally (if there is such a thing) and some in a more dependence capacity. I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle embraces this ‘fact’ very well with Sherlock Holmes, a fictional character who although is a genius of such great logic and deduction, is also so very normal and human with his vulnerability.

With such creative minds needing or wanting to use drugs would this not indicate that, as we all know, drug use changes the way the brain works, therefore rather than escaping boredom aren't drug users trying to find a way of making boredom more tolerable by trying to switch off the ‘spark’?

Or maybe the drug use was actually switching on the creative ‘spark’, whilst reality was a constant boredom?

Not everyone is naturally creative as we are all ‘wired’ differently, but those that are, have an extra ‘spark’ that ignites the creativity. If this ‘spark’ is constantly running wouldn't they need to find a way of turning it off otherwise they would go mad?

We also don't need to look too hard at those creative, or people we would label as "genius", to see those who have ‘lost their minds’ or totally ‘lost the plot’!!

How many comedy “geniuses” have also been manic depressives (bipolar disorder) or those today that have amazing musical/vocal talent that seem to be too busy getting “high”.

So maybe it was all just ‘self medicating’? After all if you have something wrong, you are ill or you have pain, you take something for it. Doctors too often medicate the “unwell” mind with medication but is it always the right medication for the right person?

Looking at those in our history who have used drugs it is sometimes easy to see why they thought that is was right or necessary for them to do but we do not know if the drug use ”held them back” or “set them free”.

There are many, many great people from our history who, as far as we know, never touched narcotics.

Would they have been better or worse for drugs?

Or is it just that life is really that boring?

[John Eaton]

Hi Chris

Thanks for an interesting dialogue here.

I would make a few points:

1. It is true that many people (both ordinary and not-so-ordinary) use certain drugs for transformational purposes. For some (e.g. Aldous Huxley) this worked well. For others (e.g. Coleridge) it didn't. You seem to be making that point yourself.

2. As far as I know, Cocaine hasn't helped anyone improve creativity, or anything else. It just seems to be a highly addictive, and temporary, stimulant.

3. One of the reasons I selected Sherlock Holmes as an example is that he is an over-intellectual character for whom boredom is a real problem because he is so disconnected from his emotions. That is the main point I was trying to get across. That people like him need to lose their sense of intellectual superiority and work harder at recovering their humanity. Instead of using Cocaine as a way of getting off the hook.

John

[mark n]

Makes you think. I read everything about Sherlock Holmes between the ages of seven and eleven. Not just the stories but the stories behind the stories and really bought into the headstuff, didn't become a drug addict though. Guess it stemmed from not being sporty at school but being a "brainbox". Guess getting screwed up starts at an early age and then manifests itself as illness.

[John Eaton]

Hi Mark.

Like you, I started on the Conan Doyle stories early (but 7 years old - wow!).

I agree that the screw-ups are seeded early on - and can be reflected in our choice of reading - but your sense of humour tells me that you have gotten some distance on that!

best JOHN

[Christopher Squire]

These don't read like an account of taking cocaine to me - they suggest an opiate or hashish. Perhaps Conan Doyle, despite being a medical man, was ignorant of the effect of cocaine; or perhaps he was delibertely pandering to the popular prejudice of his day, which mistakenly thought that cocaine was a narcotic.

[Corpus Surfer]

Hmm...my thoughts he was shooting up the yola, but it didn't interfere with his ability to do his job. A lot of things are more dangerous, like excessive drinking, smoking tobacco, etc. etc., so I don't see it as such a big deal. I have extreme A.D.H.D. I am super intelligent, ran my own business after Communication studies until 26, and I'm back in school for a second
bachleror n Environmental Sciene. I hope to study film and science together and start up an environmental communication solution company.

I've been taking narcotics since I was 13 years old. My firs experience was with Methylphenidate (ritalin/pharmeceutical stimulant) to control my A.D.D. It helped, I graduated with Phi Theta Kappa honors, and I ran a successful video production company. I smoked her now and then, and I've turned out fine. I also found coke to be a decent alternative for now since I havent't gotten my Ritalin prescription yet. For me, cooking it up and banging it up with a syringe works the best for me. It seems not to get me zonked out and gives me a steady, focused state of mine for two to three hours. The U.S. Government gave Einstiein a lifetime supply of yola for his work on their projects (probably Manhatan, too) and it was pretty much his ritalin.

For me, yay by itself if small bumps is like coffee and it doesn't affect my memory or cognitive abilities when studying or writing papers.
It helps me calm down, and not tweaked out, like in other people. (A big shot puts me to sleep), so it puts me in chill mode.

Buenas Noches, be smart, keep life positive

That's my two cents.