"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Exposition
Backround: Sherlock Holmes is a dectective. His friend, Dr. Watson has assisted him in sloving many cases.
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Colonel James Barclay, Nancy Barclay, Miss Morrison, Henry Wood
Setting: England, mostly in the Barclay's house during the late 1800s.
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man" makes more sense if one knows the backround information about Sherlock Holmes. He is an accomplished private detective. His good friend, Dr. Watson, has accompanied him on many cases. Watson is not as good of a detective as Holmes so he mainly watches as Holmes solves cases. Watson has recently been married.
Conflict: Character versus Society
Sherlock has to solve the mystery of Mr. Barclays death.
Rising Action
Holmes comes to Watson's house late at night. He tells Watson about how Colonel Barclay has recently been murdered. He talks about how Barclay fought for the Royal Munsters in India. He says that Barclay got along well with his wife. He tells how Mrs. Barclay went to a meeting with Mrs. Morrison. He says that the Barclays were heard arguing. Then many screams came from the room. Mr. Barclay was found dead. Holmes tells how he questioned Miss Morrison. He said that Miss Morrison told him that she and Mrs. Barclay ran into a man named Henry Wood. Holmes says that Wood told Mrs. Barclay something that made her angry at Mr. Barclay. Holmes takes Watson to question Wood. Wood tells how Barclay tried to kill him many years before so he could steal his wife.
Climax
Wood explains that Mr. Barclay died because seeing Wood's face scared him to death.
Falling Action:
Wood agrees to go on trial to prove his innocence. Medical evidence proves Wood's story.
Resolution
The mystery is solved. Mr. Barclay is the real criminal and Wood is innocent.
Protagonist: Sherlock Holmes
Antagonist: The mystery of Barclay's death.
The antagonist is more important to this story, because without it, there would be no conflict. The mystery is the whole reason the Sherlock comes to Watson's house in the first place. If there had been no mystery, the story would be pointless. If the protagonist, Holmes, wasn't in the story, there would still be a story. There would just be someone else solving the mystery.
Figurative Language
1.) Allusion- "You remember that small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba?" -This explains why Mrs. Barclay screamed, "David!"
2.) Simile- "...they were as keen as a set of terriers round a rat cage." -It explains how Barclay sent Wood out into a bunch of soldiers who wanted to kill him.
3.) Simile- "I read death on his face as plain as I can read that text over the fire." -It explains that Wood witnessed Barclay die because he saw his face.
Symbols
1.) The Crooked Man- Henry Wood was once a handsome man. He became very ugly because of what Barclay did to him. This symbol show how badly Barclay hurt Wood.
2.) Mrs. Barclay screaming- The screaming makes the story confusing because it makes it sound like a horrible murder happened even though there was no murder.
Favorite Part
My favorite part was when Henry Wood told his story to Holmes and Watson. I liked it because it solved the mystery for Holmes. Wood told how Barclay ruinied his life by killing him so he could marry his girlfriend. It showed that Barclay was the real criminal and he got what he desevered. He was so guilty about what he did that seeing Wood's face scared him to death.
Theme
Bad things you do can come back to haunt you.
Why Theme is Important for Future Generations of Readers
This story teaches an important lesson about how what goes around comes around. Barclay tried to kill Wood and Wood came back a long time later and scared him to death. This teaches how if you do something bad now it may affect you later.