	In his Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creates a detached detective, who amazes with his eccentricity. He is cold, recollected and an overall intimidating figure for the common reader. Doyle manages to establish exciting tales of the great detective in a rather limited number of pages. The structure of these stories provides the foundation of Holmes’s personality traits. He is a very simple, uncomplicated character who can be summarized in a few lines as exceedingly intelligent and reclusive, yet morally driven to his work. He is so detached from society and spends his time seeking ways to continuously stimulate his mind. For this reason Doyle deliberately includes Watson; as a bridge between the common reader and Sherlock Holmes.   
	The reader gets a clear sense of how detached Sherlock Holmes’s personal life is, through Watson’s descriptions. Outside of his detective work, Holmes takes no interest in any normal social relations, save for Watson’s friendship.

This further emphasizes Holmes’s reclusive nature, and gives us insight into what his extracurricular activities entail. He spends his time seeking mental stimulation by either expanding his knowledge or by the artificial stimulation of drugs. Thus, the reader is not distracted by superfluous interactions of Sherlock from the main plots of the mysteries. This way Doyle greatly simplifies Holmes’s character and makes him easier to fit into a constricted set of pages. Furthermore, this gives the reader a sense of awe at this character that has such a mental capacity that needs to be continually stimulated and nourished, even if it means doing so illegally. This makes Holmes rather overwhelming and aloof, which is very simple to describe briefly.
	Doyle also upkeeps this eccentric image of Holmes by exploiting the fact that he is a private investigator, not working in complete compliance with the authorities.

This puts the Victorian audience in a state of astonishment at the fact that someone who resolves crimes would bypass the legal system. It also allows Doyle to forego showing a long and tedious, although realistic, legal trial. Beyond that, this establishes the fact that Holmes’s sense of justice is based on his own moral agenda. He is inclined to do what is best for society. It would have been unnecessary to arrest James Ryder, given that Holmes had already retrieved the stolen jewel and would vindicate the innocent man. In fact, arresting Ryder would have only brought harm upon him and further contributed to the misery of others. 
	This inclination to do what is best for others is not a mere consequence of convenience as may be portrayed in “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” but rather stems from Holmes’s innate care for the people he helps. 
