Humanities101

Sherlock Holmes was very fascinated with Irene Adler. Adler seemed to be very much Holmes’ equal more than anything. He was not accustomed to someone being able to outwit him. This equality seemed to draw Holmes into a new level of fascination. She seemed to somehow be able to throw Holmes off his game a bit and make him unable to have all the answers. Adler was able to stay one step or more ahead of Holmes. On occasion, Holmes may be able to get her to fumble a slight bit, but he was never able to truly outwit her. It was like a chase of cat and mouse with Holmes and Adler. I have not watched the movie about Sherlock Holmes, so I cannot give a comparison of the two.

Scooby Doo is a fun mystery cartoon. Scooby Doo (a dog) and all his friends are mystery detectives. Just as Sherlock Holmes is a mystery detective. The mystery is always solved in the end, but it may not be what we were lead to believe in the beginning. Scooby and his friends seem to always try to live a normal everyday life and somehow end up with a mystery of some kind to solve. Holmes on the other hand, seems to live his life waiting on a mystery to solve. Scooby and his friends use many of the same methods that Holmes used to solve the mysteries. The biggest thing is pure observation! Just stop and look at what is around you. Observe the behaviors of those you interact with and listen to what is being said. Both Sherlock Holmes along with Scooby Doo and his friends make solving the mysteries appear simple as if there were really no mystery at all.

Oh this was such a fascinating read! Sherlock Holmes makes it seem so simple how he “knows” things. He can tell where someone has been, what type of work they do, and hobbies all by simple observation. It’s truly impressive how to others he seems so brilliant but yet he downplays his abilities. Holmes’ personality is sporadic. However, he seems to think things all the way through. With his methods of seeming to “know” things, you would never expect that he would have any type of physical assertiveness with the bad guys. However, he does! John Watson narrates the whole story wonderfully. He himself makes Holmes intriguing and brilliant. At times, the way he tells the story is like he is invisible to others and he is just watching from close by.

Sherlock Holmes is a famous detective that is able to solve unsolvable mysteries. I chose the above photo of him because the photo itself seems a bit mysterious. It seems to be of a person that appears to be a detective. However, is it a man or a woman? Is this an actual photograph of a person or is it a drawing? Just as Holmes was full of questions that would lead to answers, the same goes for this photo. One of my favorite cartoons has always been Scooby Doo. I love that just like Sherlock Holmes, Scooby and the crew always solve the unsolvable mystery. Sherlock Holmes has inspired many books, television shows, and movies that are continuing to be made and enjoy to this day.

Victorian’s loved to see anyone or anything that wasn’t the norm. Giants, bearded ladies, midgets, conjoined twins, etcetera, were all part of a “freak show”. For many years, “freaks” were able to make a good living by being put on show in front of many people for money. As times changed, television invented, and medical advances found was to help many deformities, “freak shows” slowly came to an end. If you go to New York’s Coney Island, you will find a modern day freak show

The conjoined twins pictured above, would have been in a Victorian “freak show” if they would have been alive in that era. These two girls are very happy together and live a healthy life capable of independence most people would not expect.

Rikki Tikki Tavi is a representation of Imperialism during the Victorian Era. Rikki the mongoose was a native of the land that the British family had recently moved. He was welcoming of the family and willing to help them. He was able to guide them and protect them. In return, his life was made better in his eyes. The snakes were also natives, but did not like the British family. Eventually, Nag and another snake were killed by the Rikki and the man, with only Nagina and her baby barely escaping with their life. Nag and Nagina wanted the family gone so they could go back to their old way of life in which they ruled the way they wanted. However, in the end, the British family stayed just as Britain stayed in new territories.

The meaning of the story of a mad tea party isn’t what I anticipated it to be. I had always heard that it was a hallucination of someone’s mind. However, after learning the political meaning and reading it with a new understanding, it makes since. So much of our lives is all about the political aspect that it’s hard to understand the true meaning. There seems to be so many riddles that have no answers, just as the Hatter had asked. Alice tried to work things out with the others, but in the end she left the craziness of the tea party and went her own way. When she looked back, it’s as if she was not missed in the slightest of way and the craziness continued.

The Walrus and the carpenter show us how easy it is to fall prey to others. The Walrus is a business man with plenty of money to spend. He is always looking for ways to make more money. The Carpenter is always willing to find ways for the Walrus to spend his money so he could get more for himself. He didn’t mind doing whatever it took to get ahead. If it meant doing wrong to others, then it was just they way things were done. Unfortunately, the oysters are a dime a dozen and used for cheap labor until they are no longer able to work, as if their life was meaningless. This is how the lower class of people were and are treated when it comes to labor.

Lewis Carroll was known for being a mathematician, author, and photographer. His photography however, makes one wonder about his relationship with children. There is one family in particular that had three girls he photographed regularly. Alice was his most photographed child. However, recently there was a full frontal nude photograph of her older sister taken by Carroll when she was prepubescent that surfaced. There is another photograph of Alice kissing Carroll with what appears Alice opening her mouth on his lips. These types of photographs are what caused the talk of him being a pedophile. Both of these photographs are disturbing of young children. It is photographs such as these that make one question what type of relationship Carroll really had with this children and others. It recent years, Michael Jackson was in controversial situations similar to that of Carroll. Jackson tended to keep himself surrounded by children (mostly younger ones). Many adults questioned his behavior with these children.

The Goblin Market can relate to modern life in different ways. One way is that we can get distracted with things in life that draw us away from what is truly important for our future. The Goblin men lured Laura into their direction which distracted her from doing what she needed to for herself. Unfortunately, drugs today tend to lure people away from bettering themselves. In today’s times, bettering ourselves could be things like going to school, working for a promotion, or anything in that manner. For Victorian’s, they were always wanting to move up (either in their own class, or into another class). This was a big deal for Victorian’s and each member or the family was expected to do their part to better the rest of the family.