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DEFENSE MECHANISM OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE

STORIES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES BY SIR ARTHUR

CONAN DOYLE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

YOSEPH OEDIPHUS ABEL

Student Number: 124214016

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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DEFENSE MECHANISM OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE

STORIES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES BY SIR ARTHUR

CONAN DOYLE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

YOSEPH OEDIPHUS ABEL

Student Number: 124214016

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016


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To a Great Mind, Nothing is Little

– Sherlock Holmes

When you have eliminated the impossible,

whatever remains, however improbable,

must be the truth

– Sherlock Holmes

There is nothing new under the sun. It

has all been done before

– Sherlock Holmes

Who am I to judge

– Pope Francis


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This page is dedicated for:

My parents,

Friends,

and

You. . .

Yes, You..


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, thank you God for the life and for everything that happened in

my life.

Second of all, I would like to thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum

who gave me a lot of help and very great advice in finishing this undergraduate

thesis. Without his help I think I would not be able to finish this undergraduate

thesis. I would like to also thank Dr. F.X. Siswadi M.A. who gave me a lot of

advice on the detail that I missed. Their inputs have improved my undergraduate

thesis and I am totally grateful for their guidance.

With this thesis I would like to say thank you to my parents that gave me a

chance to go to college and encourage me to finish my study. Because of them, I

am able to finish this undergraduate thesis. I hope I can return their favor by this

undergraduate thesis

I am grateful to all of my friends too, Gatot, Satrio, Dryan, Doni, Sandy,

Wibi, Mas Gigih, Cahyo, Mas adit, Gaby, Vania, Nityassa Sony, Dhany,

especially Tjia who helped me a lot in the process of writing this undergraduate

thesis and to all of my friends who I cannot mention one by one.

Yoseph Oediphus Abel


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TABLE OF CONTENS

TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................ ii

APPROVAL PAGE .................................................................................. iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................. iv

LEMBAR ERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI

KARYA ILMIAH ....................................................................................... v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ........................................................ vi

MOTTO PAGE ......................................................................................... vii

DEDICATION PAGE ............................................................................... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................... ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................... x

ABTRACT ................................................................................................. xi

ABSTRAK ................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1

A. Background of the Study ................................................................. 1

B. Problem Formulation ...................................................................... 3

C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................... 3

D. Definition of Terms ......................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................ 6

A. Review of Related Studies .............................................................. 6

B. Review of Related Theories ............................................................ 11

C. Theoritical Framework .................................................................... 19

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................ 21

A. Object of the Study.......................................................................... 21

B. Approach of the Study .................................................................... 23

C. Method of the Study ........................................................................ 24

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS .................................................................... 26

A. Defense Mechanisms ...................................................................... 26

B. Type of Defense Mechanisms ........................................................ 49

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................ 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 58


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ABSTRACT

ABEL, YOSEPH OEDIPHUS. Defense Mechanism of Sherlock Holmes in

Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Yogyakarta: Department

of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016

Life is full of emotions and experiences. Those emotions and experiences

are gathered in someone‘s mind. Human‘s mind is divided into two parts, which

are consciousness and unconsciousness. The reason someone does a defense

mechanisms lies in the unconsciousness in their mind. Defense mechanisms are

forms of self-defense that help people avoid a cetain kind of event that threatens

them or make them stressed. People must have something that they really want or

a feeling about love, hatred or something that threatens them. Unfortunately,

because of some reasons, for examples norms in the society and status of

someone, they cannot get the thing they want or express their feeling. In order to

avoid the unexpressed feeling or something that threatens them, people use

defense mechanism. Even though defense mechanisms are psychological events in

human, the defense mechanisms also can be seen too in the literary works.

There are two objectives in this study. The first objective is to find when

Sherlock Holmes uses a defense mechanism. Thus, this study will reveal under

what circumstances that Sherlock Holmes displays a defense mechanism. The

second objective is to determine what type of defense mechanism used by

Sherlock Holmes. The types of defense mechanism are classified based on

Sigmund Freud‘s idea about the types of defense mechanism.

The method of study of this undergraduate thesis is library research. The

primary data are taken from Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories

Volume I and the secondary data are taken form internet sources and some

theories from books like Beginning Theory and Theories of Personality.

The results of this study are Sherlock Holmes did a defense mechanisms

under six circumstances, such as when he got compliment from other people,

romance things, difficult cases, coversation about bad effect of his addiction to

drugs, having no case, and a condition where he did not have any friend. Then,

there are four types of defense mechanisms that are used by Sherlock Holmes

under those six circumstances, those are displacement, repression, regression, and

fixation.


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ABSTRAK

ABEL, YOSEPH OEDIPHUS. Defense Mechanism of Sherlock Holmes in

Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Yogyakarta: Program

Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016

Hidup penuh dengan emosi dan perasaan. Emosi dan perasaan tersebut

berumpul di dalam benak manusia. Benak manusia dibagi menjadi 2 bagian, alam

kesadaran dan alam bawah sadar. Alasan seseorang melakukan mekanisme

pertahanan diri terdapat di alam bawah sadar mereka. Mekanisme pertahanan

adalah bentuk perthanan diri yang membantu individu untuk menghindari hal –hal

yang membuat mereka merasa terancam atau membuat mereka tertekan. Setiap

orang pasti memilike sesuatu yang sangat mereka inginkan atau perasaan suka

terhadap sesuatu, rasa tidak suka atau sesuatu yang membuat mereka merasa

terancam atau tertekan. Sayangnya, karena beberapa alasan, seperti norma-norma

sosial dan status seseorang, mereka tidak bisa mendapatkan apa yang mereka

inginkan ataupun mengekspresikan perasaan mereka. Untuk menyembunyikan

perasaan mereka tersebut atau bersembunyi dari hal-hal yang membuat mereka

merasa tertekan, orang-orang melakukan sesuatu yang di dunia psikologi dikenal

dengan mekanisme pertahanan. Meskipun mekanisme pertahanan adalah kejadian

psikologi pada manusia, mekanisme pertahanan ini juga bisa dilihat pada karya

sastra.

Ada dua tujuan dari studi ini. Tujuan yang pertama adalah menemukan

kapan Sherlock Holmes menggunakan mekanisme pertahanan diri. Maka dari itu

studi ini akan mengungkap dala situasi seperti apa Sherlock Holmes menunjukan

mekanisme pertahanan diri. Tujuan yang kedua adalah menentukan jenis

mekanisme pertahanan seperti apa yang digunakan oleh Sherlock Holmes. Tipe

dari mekanisme pertahan dikelompokan sesuai denagn teori yang dikemukakan

oleh sigmund freud.

Metode yang digunakan untuk studi ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumber

utama diambil dari buku Sherlock Holmes:The Complete Novels and Stories

Volume I dan sumber sekunder diambil dari sumber internet dan beberapa buku

teori seperti Beginning Theory dan Theories of Personalities.

Hasil dari studi ini adalah Sherlock Holmes benar melakukan mekanisme

pertahanan dalam 6 jenis situasi, seperti ketika ia sedang dipuji oleh orang lain

atau menerima pujian, tentang cinta, kasus sulit, percakapan tentang efek buruk

dari kecanduannya terhadap obat-obatan, tidak punya kasus, dan keadaan dimana

ia tidak mempunyai teman. Tipe pertahanan diri yang digunakan oleh Sherlock

Holmes dalam 6 situasi tersebut ada 4 jenis, yaitu pemindahan, represi, regresi,

dan fixasi.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Life is full of emotions and experiences. Those emotions and experiences

could be good or bad and those emotions and experiences are gathered in the

human mind. In supporting the point, Ryan states that ―The life of the mind is a

mixture of cognition and emotion, conscious awareness and unconscious

awareness, rational and self-directed behavior and instinct –driven action (2012:

43).‖

Unconsciously, everyone must have something that makes them feel

threatened. Deep down, everyone must have something that they really want and

in some conditions, because of some reasons they cannot have the things that they

really want or they have an unexpressed feeling due to the society‘s construction

that prevents them from expressing it, and they have no choice but to repress their

feelings. As stated by Michael Billig ―Freud believed that people repress, or drive

from their unconscious minds, shameful thoughts that, then, become unconscious

(1999: 1).‖ Michael Ryan also said more or less the same thing

Some feelings and thoughts are repressed or pushed permanently out of

consciousness because we find them threatening. Some experiences, such

as traumatic events of abuse in childhood, must also be pushed out and

repressed because they are too upsetting. They evoke feelings of

helplessness and harm that the conscious self cannot tolerate (2012: 44).

The reasons why human feel threatened to something can be various.

Sometimes, it is because of a traumatic experience that happened in the past.

There is also another reason for it, for example, because it is really shameful for


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him/her to express their feelings. Like the reasons why someone feels threatened,

things that threaten them also could be anything. It could be about love, about

fear, or about hatred.

The concern about this thesis is the defense mechanisms that Sherlock

Holmes does to himself and his relationship to another people. Since in the

elementary school people taught that humans are social being. It means that

humans cannot live without another human being, thus people need each other is

presence in life. For example, students need teachers to teach them about

something that they might need or useful for them in the future. On the other side,

teachers also need the student so they have a job to get some money to fulfill their

needs. Humans will have an interaction with other humans in order to

communicate what their needs in life. Through that interaction and

communication, a relationship can be constructed, for example: friendship,

partnership, or love relationship.

Since it is human nature that needs other human being to live, there is quite

impossible for humans to against their nature so they do some defense

mechanisms their feelings. It can be because they are shy or maybe it is because

of the demand of their job. The feelings that are repressed also can be anything.

For examples, hatred, love or hobby.

Besides human nature, society also has some norms that might prevent

someone express something that they want. The norms in the society also can

make someone do a defense mechanism to their feelings.


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In this undergraduate thesis, the object that is discussed is the main

character named Sherlock Holmes in all Sherlock Holmes stories that written by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes is chosen as the character that is

analyzed because in some movies and TV series, he is described as an anti-social

person. He does not like to have an interaction with other people if it the

interaction is not related to his case.

Defense mechanisms are the main foci of this study. To find what defense

mechanisms that Sherlock Holmes does in the stories are, The writer had to find

Sherlock Holmes‘ unusual action.

B. Problem Formulation

Questions that are going to be answered in this study are:

1. Under what circumstances does Sherlock Holmes use his defense

mechanisms?

2. What kind of defense mechanism does Sherlock Holmes use?

C. Objectives of the Study

Sherlock Holmes has some defense mechanisms. The concern of this study

is to find Sherlock Holmes‘ defense mechanisms. The main concern of this study

became a foundation of the problem formulations, which were answered in this

study.

The first purpose of this study is to find when Sherlock Holmes uses

defense mechanisms. The first step is finding Sherlock Holmes‘ denial, which is


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the first characteristic of defense mechanisms. Every kind of defense mechanisms

begin with a denial, it is one of the characteristics. Finding Sherlock Holmes‘

denial means looking for when Sherlock Holmes uses defense mechanism. Denial

is just like the first step of defense mechanisms. So, it is important to find

Sherlock Holmes‘ denial in the first place.

After Sherlock Holmes‘ denial is found, second question is to classify

Sherlock Holmes‘ act, what kind of defense mechanism it is. It will be done by

matching the Sherlock Holmes‘ act to the characteristics of each kind of defense

mechanisms.

D. Definition of Terms

Defense Mechanisms here are the idea proposed by Sigmund Freud where

people defend themselves from the event that makes them feel threatened.

We use defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from feelings of anxiety

or guilt, which arise because we feel threatened, or because our id or

superego becomes too demanding. They are not under our conscious

control, and are non-voluntaristic. With the ego, our unconscious will use

one or more to protect us when we come up against a stressful situation in

life (Mcleod, 2009).

Consciousness is the part of our mind that takes role on our act toward

something in everyday life. It is simply known as thoughts that a person wants to

do something. As stated by Ryan, ―Refer to your awareness of yourself and of the

world – your ―thought process‖ as you move through any day (2012: 45).‖

Unconsciousness is the place where our desires, bad experiences, and

shameful thoughts are gathered and repressed.


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it refers to the part of the mind that is unavailable to consciousness. The

unconscious contents simple yearnings and desires such as ―I hope I do

well in exam‖ or ―I hope he loves me.‖ But also consist of repressed

feelings and ideas that the conscious mind cannot tolerate (Ryan, 2012:

45).


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Another researcher that analyzes Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle is Christopher Redmond. In his book, In Bed with Sherlock Holmes,

he tries to analyze the romantic elements in Sherlock Holmes stories. Sherlock

Holmes stories here mean the four novels and the fifty six short stories.

The object to be analyzed in his book In Bed with Sherlock Holmes is not

only the main character, which is Sherlock Holmes, but also other characters like

Watson and the detectives from Scotland Yard. The concerns of his study are the

romance and sex that exist in Sherlock Holmes stories.

Christopher Redmond states that the stories about Sherlock Holmes are not

just a detective story.

There is something that readers do not realize. Sherlock Holmes stories are

not just contained with adventure and mystery, but also romance and sex.

Readers simply do not look for sex and romance in the Sherlock Holmes

tales; but they are there, and though boys may not benefit for them, they

are an important source of the richness that keeps adult readers coming

back to Sherlock Holmes (Redmond, 1984:10).

In the early part of the book Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four, Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes addiction to cocaine. His bad

habit of using cocaine relapses whenever he does not have any case to be solved.

Watson is not very happy about Sherlock Holmes‘ addiction and lectures him.

Christopher Redmond found the attitude of Dr. Watson towards Sherlock Holmes

when he was using cocaine is like a wife lecturing her husband when he is taking


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cocaine. ―He (Dr. Watson) is nagging Holmes rather as a wife would do about his

drug-taking. (Redmond, 1984:39)‖

Redmond also writes about romance between Dr. John Watson and Ms.

Mary Morstan. Ms. Morstan was telling Dr. Watson to stay in the room and

saying that the presence of Dr. Watson will be helping her. Redmond said that by

saying those words, Ms. Morstan is showing her interest to Dr. Watson. So does

Dr. Watson too, he has the same feeling towards Ms. Morstan. He said so because

Dr. Watson is portrayed as the man of the word and try to show off in the rest of

the story to get Ms. Morstan‘s attention.

Different from Christopher Redmond, E. J. Wagner tries to find the

scientific things in Sherlock Holmes stories and the inspiration of stories in

Sherlock Holmes, his book titled The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From

Baskerville Hall to the Valley of fear, the Real Forensics behind the Greatest

Detective’s Greatest Cases.

E. J. Wagner said that where Sherlock Holmes investigates a case in which

the victim was killed by poison, ―The Adventure of the Speckled Band,‖ is also

found in the real world. Almost similar to Sherlock Holmes‘ case where the

victim was killed using poison from animal, a woman was also found dead in her

house because of poisoned. Police didn‘t know the cause of her death, They just

found tiny hypodermic mark on her. Later on, police found out that Kenneth killed

his wife by injecting insulin to her. Injecting insulin to a person that is not a

diabetic could kill her.

The police, questioning Kenneth‘s coworkers, had discovered that his

nursing job involved injecting insulin. It was known that Elizabeth was not


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a diabetic, therefore injecting her with a large dose of insulin would result

in fatal hypoglycemic shock. There was no precedent murder by insulin,

no accepted test. (Wagner, 2006: 45)

Wagner also states that the way Sherlock Holmes observes a crime scene

in the novel A Study in Scarlet is similar to what Hans Gross, a brilliant professor

of criminology from Vienna that made a standards for investigating. The time

Hans Gross made the standards was about the same with the time when Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle wrote Sherlock Holmes.

From Dr. Watson‘s description about Sherlock Holmes when Holmes

observes a crime scene in the novel A Study in Scarlet, Wagner said that Holmes

is very concentrateting to the scene and had so much detail, ―When examining the

scene of crime, Sherlock Holmes exhibits an amazing of intensity of concentration

and passion for detail (Wagner, 2006: 76).‖ It is similar to Hans Gross,

Gross believed you must have strictly accurate and complete data before

reaching a conclusion. To this end, he required that at crime scene, the

investigator keep in mind that anything and everything may be of

importance. He stressed that absolutely nothing is too small to have a

bearing on the case. (Wagner, 2006: 77)

Sherlock Holmes in the stories is always described as a strict and

conscientious person, and also he is not really good in relation with other person

in the story. Karl Albrecht Ph. D sees Sherlock Holmes‘ actions as a symptom of

mental disorder named Asperger syndrome. He sees three main characteristics of

Sherlock Holmes that makes him think like that, those are Holmes‘ observation

skills, his memory, and his ability in making a deduction.

These three core characteristics have led many to speculate that Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle, his creator, had – more or less unconsciously – diagnosed


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him with what‘s now known as Asperger (or Asperger‘s) Syndrome.

(Albrecht, 2011)

He also explains how Sherlock Holmes gets that syndrome that the idea of

that syndrome came up at 1944 and the stories of Sherlock Holmes was published

long time before that. He said that it is a part of characterization, where it is ―the

art of elaborating the psychological make-up of a person as a distinct,

recognizable, and believable personality (Albrecht, 2011)‖ and he said that Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by someone, which is Joseph Bell, his old

university professor.

And, he probably had a very useful role model, in his old university

professor Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle reportedly wrote to Bell, "It is most

certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes. Round the centre of

deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate

I have tried to build up a man." The wikipedia.org biography for Conan

Doyle indicates that his old school mate Robert Louis Stevenson

immediately recognized Bell as the character model for Holmes, as he read

the stories in faraway Samoa. (Albrecht, 2011)

Leslie Klinger, the editor of the most comprehensive annotated version of

the Sherlock Holmes stories, also said the same thing. As Lisa Sanders had wrote,

Klinger was saying that Sherlock Holmes has mild form of autism, ―Others,

Klinger adds, have suggested that Sherlock Holmes may have had a mild form of

autism, commonly known as Asperger‘s syndrome (Sanders, 2009).‖ The

characteristics of Asperger‘s syndrome are problems with social interaction and

intense focus on only one topic or object. ―He described four bright and articulate

boys who had severe problems with social interaction and tended to focus

intensely on particular objects or topics (Sanders, 2009).‖


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Those statements are strengthened by Ami Klin, a director of autism

program at the Yale Child Study Center, that states a basic thing that defines

autism as a condition where a person is having a difficulty to understand about

other people and to socialize. ―the fundamental quality that defines all forms of

autism is ―mind-blindness‖: difficulty in understanding what others feel or think

and thus in forming relationships (Sanders, 2009).‖

Lisa Sanders said that all those symptoms are shown by Sherlock Holmes

in the stories. She said that when Sherlock Holmes is interacting whith another

person, he often show rudeness, even to his closest friend Dr. Watson.

In Conan Doyle‘s portrayal, Sherlock Holmes at times exhibits all of these

qualities. His interactions with others are often direct to the point of

rudeness. And even when Holmes is speaking to Watson, his closest

friend, his compliments are often closer to a rebuke. In ―The Hound of the

Baskervilles,‖ when Watson, pleased with his own detective abilities,

reports to Holmes the results of his investigation, Holmes tells him that he

isn‘t a source of light but a conductor of light, a mere aid in solving

mysteries only Holmes himself can untangle. (Sanders, 2009)

The statement above proves that Sherlock Holmes does not know what other

people feels, and make him difficult to gain any friend.

She also states that Holmes was also showing intense focus on a strange

object and he has a very detailed knowledge about that. Sherlock Holmes has very

detailed knowledge about cigar that does not seem to be a common thing to know

about. Sanders says that it is proving about what Asperger called as ―autistic

intelligence.‖ It is a condition where people are able to see something from a very

different perspective.

Holmes brags frequently of his detailed knowledge of all kinds of strange

phenomena. He is said to have written a monograph on the differences

among 140 cigar, pipe and cigarette ashes. He demonstrates what Asperger


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called ―autistic intelligence‖ — an ability to see the world from a very

different perspective than most people, often by focusing on details

overlooked by others. (Sanders, 2009)

Different from them, this study is focused on the defense mechanisms of

Sherlock Holmes that ―protect‖ him from the things that threaten him. This study

focuses on when the defense mechanisms of Sherlock Holmes shows up and

categorizing his actions into what types of defense mechanisms those are. The

analysis is based on Sherlock Holmes‘s action.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Defense Mechanisms

According to Peter Barry, psychoanalisis is a form of therapy used by a

psychologist to cure his/her patient‘s problems. The method is to make the patient

talk freely so, the repressed feeling that causes trouble comes up in conscious

mind and can be cured.

Psychoanalysis itself is a form of therapy which aims to cure mental

disorders ‗by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious

elements in mind‘ (as the Concise Oxford Dictionary puts it) (Barry, 2002:

98)

Since the main thing in psychoanalysis is interaction, which needs two ways of

conversation, psychoanalytic criticism is a little bit different, because the

characters in the story cannot talk to the analyst, thus the process of analyzing the

character is done through images, symbols and metaphors in the stories. As Barry

states, ―The basic reason, again, is that the unconscious, like the poem, or novel,

or play, cannot speak directly and explicitly but does through images, symbols,

emblems, and metaphors (2002: 102).‖


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Psychoanalysis is proposed by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis is more

concerned about the development of human‘s mind. For this study, the concepts in

psychoanalytic theories that will be used are about defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms are a form of defense that protect people from an

event that threaten them because of traumatic event in the past, unwanted desire or

shameful thought that they have. It is a normal thing actually, but under an

excessive anxiety, our mind can take an ―extreme way‖ to dismiss the threat. It

can become more extreme and lead to other effects, like compulsive, repetitive

and neurotic behavior. ―although defense mechanisms are normal and universally

used, whenever carried to an extreme they lead to compulsive, repetitive and

neurotic behavior. (Feist, 2006:34).‖ Type of Defense Mechanisms are repression,

reaction formation, displacement, fixation, regression, projection, introjection, and

sublimation.

Repression

It is the most basic defense mechanism because it‘s related to other

defense mechanism. Its job is to push all unwanted feelings such as unadmitted

desires, shameful thoughts, and traumatic events in the past into realm of

unconsciousness. ―whenever ego is threatened by undesireable id impulse, it

protects itself by repressing those mpulses; that is, it forces threatening feelings

into the unconscious (Freud, 1926/1959a) (Feist, 2006:35).‖ It is keeping the

threatening thoughts in our unconscious mind from becoming conscious. This

defense mechanism represses our thought that makes our mind feel endangered or

repress something that cannot be fulfilled. Like Peter Barry also said in his book


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The Beginning Theory, he stated that repression is ―‗forgetting‘ or ignoring

unresolved conflicts, unadmitted desire, or traumatic past event, so that problems

forced out of unconscious awareness and kept in the realm of unconscious (Barry,

2002:96).‖

Reaction Formation

It is one of defense mechanisms that where a repressed feeling is realized

in the opposite of what has been repressed, the way that it is realized is not usual,

and sometimes it is done too much. As stated by Feist, ―One of the ways in which

a repressed impulse may become conscious is through adopting a disguise that is

directly opposite its original form (2006: 35).‖ For example, when a poor boy that

falls in love with the richest girl in campus, but he represses that feeling because

her friend will mock him because he is dreaming too much, then to avoid this

painful event, the unconscious concentrate on the opposite act which is hatred so

he can forget the feelings.

Displacement

Displacement is more or less similar to reaction formation. In reaction

formation, it is limited towards the thing that makes them repress their feeling.

While in displacement, the subject that a person drives his repressed feeling to

could be different. ―In displacement, however people can redirect their

unacceptable urges into a variety of people or objects so that the original impulse

is disguised or concealed (Feist, 2006: 36).‖ For example a person is angry at his

father, but he cannot yell at his father because the society will have a negative

judgment about him, so he redirects his anger toward something else, like his son,


14

his coworker, or even a pillow. The person keeps loving his father but the way he

loves his father will not be excessive like in reaction formation, it displacement

the love will be as usual.

Fixation

Taking a new step in life sometimes is not easy. It can be stressful for

some people, and when it is too stressful to them, fixation happens. Fixation is

like a time when people are stuck temporarily or even permanent when they have

to take the new step in their life. ―When the prospect of taking the next step

becomes too anxiety provoking, the ego may resort to the strategy of remaining at

the present, more comfortable psychological stage. Such a defense called fixation.

(Feist, 2006: 36).‖ For example when a kid is going to elementary school for the

first time, he has too many worries, then he asks his mother to be close to him

during school time. It can make him always depend to his parents and keep him

away from learning to be independent.

Regression

Regression is related to the fixation. It is the time when someone has

already passed the fixation process and he faces a stressful event that is excessive

for him. When he faces that kind of event, he tends to get back to the earlier stage,

the fixation stage. ―Once the libido has passed a developmental stage, it may,

during times of stress and anxiety, revert back to the earlier stage. Such a

reversion is known as regression (Feist, 2006: 36).‖ What people do in regression

is usually related to the fixations that happen to them before. For example after the

kid in the fixation example grows up, becomes independent, then one day he faces


15

a stressful event, that is excessive to him. He will go to his parents‘ house to run

from the problem.

Projection

Projection is an act to reduce threatening event by relating the threatening

feeling to something. It is like a person diverts his unwanted feeling that lies in the

unconscious to something else. ―When an internal impulse provokes too much

anxiety, the ego may reduce anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to an

external object, usually another person. This is the defense mechanism of

projection (Feist, 2006: 37).‖ For example when a person does not like his

parents, instead of saying he hates his parents, he says that his parents hates him.

Introjection

It is a defense mechanism where a person does not feel good about

himself, so he is ―imitating‖ positive things from someone else to make him feel

better, more confident about himself. ―Introjection is a defense mechanism

whereby people incorporate positive qualities of another person into their own ego

(Feist, 2006: 37).‖ The person that they imitate could be anyone, like their parents,

idol, or friends. For example a man that imitates style from a movie star, or their

father‘s leadership

Sublimation

It is a defense mechanism where someone expresses himself or something

in his unconsciousness to something that is more acceptable to the society or have

a positive effect. ―Sublimation is a repression of the genital aim of Eros by


16

substituting a cultural or social aim (Feist, 2006: 38).‖ Here, in sublimation, what

is repressed is expressed in a way that is more acceptable in the society.

The reason why someone does a defense mechanism to something is based

on what is in his unconsciousness are. The unconsciousness itself is an

uncontrolled part of our mind. It is the place where we unconsciously put our

secret desires, unpleasant feelings, or shameful thoughts that we have. As Ryan

stares,

We all have unconscious, a realm from which feelings well up or thoughts

emerge unexpectedly. It is a part of ―us‖ but we do not control its

operations. Psychoanalysts believe it is where banished feelings, desires,

and thoughts go that our conscious mind or ego cannot accept for one

reason or another (personal history, social preasures, cultural norms, etc.)

(2012: 43-44).

Unconscious realm itself cannot be accessed by consciousness. Even though

cannot be accessed by consciousness, sometimes unconsciousness is the reason

behind our unintended action towards something. As stated, ―To him (Sigmund

Freud) the unconscious is the explanation for the meaning behind dream, slip of

the tongue, and certain kinds of forgetting, called repression (Feist, 2006: 24)

In order to understand a defense mechanisms there are usually ―sign‖ that

someone uses a defense mechanisms. There are denial and parapraxis. The denial

and parapraxis can be used to analyzed someone‘s unusual action. Like, their

action is contradictive to their words.

Denial, it is a process where the subject tries to ignore or deny because of

some reasons. It is an action of rejecting an event out of consciousness that is

done by someone due to traumatic past experiences or it is too shameful to be

expressed. When the subject denies the feeling, he/she forces that feeling or


17

thought out of consciousness and enter to the realm of unconscious. As stated by

Mcleod ―Denial involves blocking external events from awareness. If some

situation is just too much to handle, the person just refuses to experience it

(2009).‖ It is like when a boy who is attracted to a girl, but because of some

reasons like the girl is too beautiful or too rich for him, he feels ashamed to

introduce himself to her. When his friend asked him whether is he likes her or not,

he says no. The answer that he gives is a denial. He actually likes her but he

denies that feeling, and when he denies that feeling, unconsciously the feelings are

brought into unconscious mind that result into a repression.

Parapraxis, it is also a psychological term which means an unintended

action that caused by repressed material. It is where the repression/repressed

feeling found its way out of unconsciousness into reality and is not realized by the

person who represses the feeling. As Barry states, ―whereby repressed material in

unconscious finds an outlet through such everyday phenomena as slip of the

tongue, slips of the pen, or unintended action (2002: 98).‖

2. Mistery Genre

Detective story is one of sub-genre of mystery genre. This type of genre is

usually about crime and the process of solving the crime. The ―puzzle‖ in the

story is usually very hard to be solved, lack of clues and require someone special

to solve it using the most acceptable logical reason. The detective is the only one

who has different perspective to something that happened. As Encyclopædia

Britannica say in its article,

Detective story, type of popular literature in which a crime is introduced

and investigated and the culprit is revealed.


18

The traditional elements of the detective story are: (1) the seemingly

perfect crime; (2) the wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial

evidence points; (3) the bungling of dim-witted police; (4) the greater

powers of observation and superior mind of the detective; and (5) the

startling and unexpected denouement, in which the detective reveals how

the identity of the culprit was ascertained. (2016)

Sometimes there are detective stories that put a supernatural conflict in the stories,

but still, the way the detective solves the case uses rational reasoning. It reveals

the supernatural even using logic. Usually the supernatural event turns out just

made by people.

The defense mechanisms theories are meant to be used to a person. Those

theories can be used to analyze a character in a literary work too since the author

put human aspects into the character that he made.

Characters are the person represented in dramatic or narrative work, who

are interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual,

and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their

distinctive ways of saying it –the dialogue –and from what they do –the

action (Abrams, 2005: 46).

Since Sherlock Holmes stories are included as detective stories with mystery

genre, the objective of this study is to analyze the main character, Sherlock

Holmes. However, the theories of defense mechanisms cannot be fully applied in

analyzing the character. It is cannot be fully applied because to analyze someone,

in psychology, it needs two way of communication between the analyst and the

patient. In this case it cannot be done because the character that is analyzed cannot

give a feed back.


19

C. Theoretical Framework

The theories that are used here are denial and parapraxis. The denial is

used to determine what feelings that threatened Sherlock Holmes and when it

happened. It is used because denial is the characteristic of defense mechanisms.

The way that the writer finds his denial is by seeing and analyzing Sherlock

Holmes‘ actions and statements. Whenever he does something unusual, the writer

marks his action. Unusual here means could be mean contradictive to human

nature. Therefore, whenever he did something unusual, there was a big chance

that he tried to repress something. The parapraxis is also used in this study to help

the writer in finding things that threatened Sherlock Holmes in the story. It is

because Freud believes that parapraxes are the reason behind everyone‘s

unintended action and it reveals the unconscious realm of someone.

After the denial is found on Sherlock Holmes, the writer uses the theory of

defense mechanisms to determine what kind of defense mechanisms that Sherlock

Holmes uses. The types of defense mechanisms itself that used in this study are

repression, reaction formation, displacement, fixation, regression, projection,

introjection, and sublimation. Each type of defense mechanisms has their own

characteristic and that help the writer to understand each characteristic of defense

mechanisms. So, to determine in which kind of defense mechanism that refelcts

the acts of Sherlock Holmes, the acts of Sherlock Holmes is matched by the

characteristic of each defense mechanisms.


20

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

Sherlock Holmes is one of many famous detective stories. It was created by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at late 19th

. The first story of Sherlock Holmes was

published in 1887, titled Study in Scarlett and then followed by the second book

titled Sign of Four that was published in 1890.

In the first book, Study in Scarlett, it is about how Dr. Watson met Sherlock

Holmes and about their first case together, which is about a murder crime. In the

second book, Sign of Four, it is about finding a lost treasure that also involed a

murder crime.

After the first two novels, the story of Sherlock Holmes became popular. In

1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first short story of Sherlock Holmes titled

―Scandal in Bohemia‖ and published it at The Strand Magazine. It was followed

by 11 others short stories and finished in 1892. Then, it was published in one book

titled The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. After it was published, Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle still published short stories of Sherlock Holmes in The Strand Magazine

until 1893 and published in a book titled The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Then,

he ―killed‖ Sherlock Holmes.

That are the book that is analized in this undergraduate thesis. Those books

are chosen because those books are the first original story before Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle stopped to write Sherlock Holmes stories for the first time. Even though the


21

objects are novels and short stories there are still a relation to each other that

connect the stories.

He ―killed‖ Sherlock Holmes in the short story titled ―The Final Problem.‖

The reason he killed Sherlock Holmes is that he wanted to devote his time in

making historical novel. The public was giving a strong reaction that time, asking

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to bring back Sherlock Holmes. After eight years, he

finally wrote about Sherlock Holmes in a novel titled The Hound of Baskervilles

(1901), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905), Valley of Fear (a novel) (1915),

His Last Bow (a short stories compilation) (1917), and The Case-Book of Sherlock

Holmes (a short stories compilation) (1927).

The stories of Sherlock Holmes had been made into a lot of films since his

first appearance in 1887. Some newest Sherlock Holmes films are Sherlock

Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011) that is played by

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and a TV series titled Sherlock Holmes is

played by Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes that aired in 2010 (first

season), 2012 (second season), and 2014 (the third season). Because of that,

Sherlock Holmes, fictional story made by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is awarded a

world record as most portrayed literary human character in film and TV, 254

times.

In brief, Sherlock Holmes is a detective consultant. He lives in a lodge

house, 221B Baker Street. He shares the lodge with Dr. John Watson, who later

become Holmes‘ assistant and the one who writes the story of Sherlock Holmes

(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes Sherlock Holmes stories through Dr. Watson‘


22

point of view, though a few stories are written from Holmes‘ point of view and

third person‘s point of view).

He got his cases from 3 kinds of sources, given by civilians that come to him

asking for help, some are private detectives and second source is from

government, like Scotland Yard‘s detectives like Gregson, Anderson, and

Lestrade. Even sometimes he got a case from his brother, Mycroft Holmes.

B. Approach of the Study

The approach that is going to be used in this study is psychoanalytic

approach. Psychoanalytic approach is a form of literary criticism that uses the

techniques in psychology in order to interpret or analyze a literary work.

―Psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the

techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature (Barry, 2002: 96).‖

This approach is using some of the techniques in psychology to interpret, criticize,

or analyze a literary work. The aim in psychoanalytic approach is to understand

the aspects of human mind in the literary work, or in this case is to understand the

character‘s behavior and ―the reason‖ behind his action. In real life, the basic

method of psychoanalysis is to make the patient talks freely. Unfortunately, the

subject of this study, Sherlock Holmes, cannot do that. Therefore rhat is the

reason why the approach is used. It can analyze the subject‘s unconscious mind

through the statements that he made. As stated, ―The basic reason, again, is that

the unconscious, like the poem, or novel, or play, cannot speak directly and


23

explicitly but does through images, symbols, emblems, and metaphors (Barry,

2002: 102).‖

C. Method of the Study

The object that was studied in this study was the main character of Sherlock

Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was Sherlock Holmes.

Therefore, to support this study, the writer conducted a library research.

The primary sources of this study were taken from the compilation of

Sherlock Holmes stories entitled Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and

Stories Volume I. For secondary sources the writer used internet sources and some

theories from books like Beginning Theory and Theories of Personality.

In order to find Sherlock Holmes‘ defense mechanisms, the writer did the

following steps.

Firstly, the writer read to understand the theory of defense mechanisms. The

writer did that in order to understand the characteristic of defense mechanisms. It

helped the writer to find Sherlock Holmes‘ defense mechanisms easily.

Secondly, the writer read Sherlock Holmes stories and searched for

Sherlock‘s unusual act. If the writer found an unusual act from Sherlock Holmes,

there was a big probability that his action could be related to defense mechanisms.

Thirdly, the writer analyzed the Sherlock Holmes‘ acts by identified what he

was doing and why he was doing it.


24

Fourthly, the writer matched the characteristics of the act of Sherlock

Holmes and the characteristics of each defense mechanism to identify what kind

of defense mechanisms that Sherlock Holmes uses


25

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

A. The Emergence of the Defense Mechanisms

Sherlock Holmes shows a defense mechanism for the first time in the

novel Study in Scarlet. It happens when Sherlock Holmes is explaining the way he

analyzed Dr. Watson and knew that he just came back from Afghanistan. Dr.

Watson was amazed that Sherlock Holmes knew that he just came back from

Afghanistan, after knowing the way Holmes knew that he just came back from

Afghanistan, he said that it‘s quite simple after all. Dr. Watson said that it reminds

him of a detective in the story by Edgar Allan Poe. ――You remind me of Edgar

Allan Poe‘s Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of

stories.‖ (Doyle, 1986:18).‖ It turns out Sherlock Holmes shows a reaction that he

is not pleased with that and mocking Dupin‘s behavior.

Sherlock Holmes rose and lit his pipe. ―No doubt you think that you are

complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin,‖ he observed. ―Now, in my

opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow. That trick of his of breaking in

on his friends‘ thoughts with an apropos remark after a quarter of an

hour‘s silence is very showy and superficial. He had some analytical

genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe

appeared to imagine.‖(Doyle, 1986:18)

Almost same attitude is also showed by Sherlock Holmes when Watson is

asking about Lecoq

―Have you read Gaboriau‘s works?‖ I asked. ―Does Lecoq come up to

your idea of a detective?‖

Sherlock Holmes sniffed sardonically. ―Lecoq was a miserable bungler,‖

he said, in angry voice; ―he had only one thing to recomend him, and that


26

was his energy. That book made me positively ill. The question was how

to identify an unknown prisoner. I could done it in twenty-four hours.

Lecoq took six months or so. It might be made a textbook for detectives to

teach them what to avoid.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 19)

From the word by Dr. Watson, there is no intention at all that Watson is

mocking Sherlock Holmes. He was just saying that he was recalled about Dupin

and asking whether Holmes was inspired by Lecoq or not. Even though Sherlock

Holmes did not seem to be like those two detectives, he had one or two things that

he had learned from them, those were Lecoq‘s spirit and acknowledge that Dupin

is a genius in analizing something.

In the next paragraph, Sherlock Holmes was angry to the condition that

happened. He had no case to be solved. There was no unique, strange or difficult

case that came to him to be solved. He hated that condition, because he had

nothing to do.

―There are no crimes and no criminals in these days,‖ he said querulously.

―What is hte use of having brains in our proffesion? I know well that I

have it in me to make my name famous. No man lives or has ever lived

who has brought the same amount of study and of natural talent to the the

detection of crime which I have done. And what is the result? There is

nocrie to detect, or at most, some bungling villainy with a motive so

transparent that even scotland yard official can see through it.‖ (Doyle,

1986:19)

That paragraph reveals why Sherlock Holmes was easly angered to Watson‘s

word. He had nothing to do and he felt that his brain was useless. Not being able

to be angry to the condition, Sherlock Holmes unconsciously directing his anger

by being angry to Watson when Watson mentioned two detectives from literary

works.


27

Besides Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes redirects his hatred when he has no

case to something else, to drugs. Sherlock Holmes‘ addiction to drugs is told by

Dr. Watson in the novel entitled The Sign of Four. They both have a debate about

Holmes‘ addiction. As a doctor, Watson was against Holmes‘ addiction because it

was destructive to the body. On the other side, Holmes liked the effect of the

drugs.

Dr. Watson saw Sherlock Holmes was using drug by injecting it to him.

And it was not the first Sherlock Holmes does that. It was the third time Watson

saw him did that. Watson did not have enough courage to protest to Sherlock

Holmes about his bad behavior before. But, Watson could not tolerate what

Sherlock Holmes was doing, and threw a complaint to him. Sherlock Holmes was

not really listening to what Watson had said. He said that the drugs brought him a

good effect. He said that the drugs helped him clarified his mind, so he ignored

the bad effect of the drugs that he had been used because he thought that it was

more benefical to him. Even though Dr. Watson had told him all the bad effect

again, he still did not care about it. Only a case that could stop him doing his

drugs addiction.

―My mind,‖ he said, ―rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me

work, give me the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper

atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulant. But abhor the

dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have

chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only

one in the world. (Doyle, 1986: 123-124)

Sherlock Holmes used drugs whenever he had nothing to do or a case to be

solved. This was said by Watson in the short story entitled ―The Yellow Face.‖

―Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he has no vice, and he only turned to the


28

drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and

the papers uninteresting (Doyle, 1986: 547).‖

The action of when Sherlock Holmes was angry to Dr. Watson and uses

his drug are a defense mechanism of Sherlock Holmes when he did not have any

case at all. To Sherlock Holmes, having no case at all was a stressful event. So, he

showed a defense mechanism to reduce it.

In the Study in Scarlett, Sherlock Holmes shows a defense mechanism

toward another thing. It happened when Watson gave him a compliment after he

explained how did he know that Watson just came back from Afghanistan. He

said that his ability was just a normal thing, but his expression showed the

opposite. According to Watson, Sherlock Holmes seems like he was flattered.

―Wonderful!‖ I ejaculated

―Commonplace,‖ said Holmes, tough I thought from his expression that he

was pleased at my evident surprise and admiration. (Doyle, 1986:21)

When Sherlock Holmes said ―commonplace‖ in the first time, Watson was

complimenting him is a denial. He tried to deny his feeling, a feeling that he liked

to be complimented. Usually, when people got a compliment from other people,

he would say ―thank you,‖ but not him. Even though he tried to deny that feeling,

it did not fully succeed. When someone complimented him, his expression could

not hide the pleasure of being complimented.

A strange attitude was also shown by Sherlock Holmes in the same book

when he ignored the case that he waits. The reason was only because after the

case, only Scotland Yard detectives that will get the credits

―My dear fellow, what does it matter to me? Supposing I unravel the

whole matter, you may be sure that Gregson, Lestrade and Co. Will pocket


29

all the credit. That comes of being an unofficial personage. (Doyle,

1986:22)

In the end, he took the case after all.

Sherlock Holmes also refused to answer Watson‘s questions because he

was affraid that Watson would say that turned out his method was just an ordinary

way after all. Yet, when Watson complimented him, Holmes showed an

expression that he likd the compliment.

You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick;

and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to

the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.‖

―I shall never do that,‖ I answered; ―you have brought detection as

near an exact science as it ever will be brought in this world.‖

My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the

earnest way in which I uttered them. I had already observed that he was

sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her

beauty. (Doyle, 1986:33)

He was also showing same flattered expression just like when Watson

complimented him for the first time.

Sherlock Holmes showed a disappointment when Watson did not give him

a compliment. It was in the short story entitled ―The Stock-broker‘s Clerk.‖

Sherlock Holmes was explaining how he knew that Watson had just been

recovered from from his unwell condition. But here, Watson did not give him a

compliment, he thought that turns out it was so simple after all.

Like all Holme‘s reasoning the thing seemed simplicity itself when it was

once explained. He read the thought upon my features, and his smile had a

tinge of bitterness.

―I am affraid that I rather give myself away when I explain,‖ said he.

―Result without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come

to Brimingham, then?‖ (Doyle, 1986: 567)


30

It is like what Sherlock Holmes had said in the novel A Study in Scarlett ―if I

show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion

that I am a very ordinary individual after all (Doyle, 1986:33).‖ When he knew

that Dr. Watson thinks, he seems disapointed. He thought that it is not special

enough to impresses someone and gains a compliment. Here, Sherlock Holmes

showed his displeasure when he did not get a compliment. This displeasure

indicates that Sherlock Holmes‘ desire to be complimented.

When Sherlock Holmes refused to take the case just because the only party

that got the credit was Scotland Yard‘s detectives, he was indirectly saying that he

was the only one that should get the credit. It is because deep in his unconscious

mind, he wanted a credit, a compliment from other people.

Sherlock Holmes also indirectly stated the same thing when he refused to

answer Dr. Watson‘s questions just because he was afraid that Watson would say

his method was just an ordinary method. The truth from the sentence is that he did

not like it when his ability was not acknowledged by other people. He wanted

people to see him as extraordinary person.

There is one time when Sherlock Holmes tried to be a humble person

when someone threw him a compliment about his work. It is in the short story

titled ―The Five Orange Pips.‖ A client, John Openshaw, came to him to get some

help and he was recommended by someone that once Sherlock Holmes helped.

Mr. John Openshaw gave him a compliment to Sherlock Holmes, and Holmes

tried to be humble here but he failed, because in the end he was proud of his

works.


31

―I have heard of you Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast how

you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal.‖

―Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards.‖

―He said that you could solve anything.‖

―He said too much.‖

―That you are never beaten.‖

―I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a

woman.‖

―But what is that compared with the number of your successes?‖

―It is true that I have been generally successful.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 333)

At first, Sherlock Holmes tried to repress his proudness that was caused by

Mr. Openshaw‘s compliment. Receiving more compliment from Mr. Openshaw,

Sherlock Holmes could not hide his feeling that he liked the compliment. This

time, Sherlock Holmes did not show a flattered face like before, but from his

words, it was indicating that he was proud of the compliment given by Mr. John

Openshaw.

Sherlock Holmes shows a parapraxis in the last chapter of the novel A

Study in Scarlett. It is when Sherlock Holmes explains the ways he solved the

case. Contradictive to what he did before, where he refused to answer Watson‘s

questions about the case, this time Watson did not ask anything about the case,

Sherlock Holmes did it by himself. Watson was asking how Sherlock Holmes

could say that the case was simple when Watson thinks that it is not. When

Sherlock Holmes explained that it is about thinking backward, Watson did not

understand.

―I confess,‖ said I, ―that I do not quite follow you.‖

―I hardly expected that you would. Let me see if I can make it clearer.

Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what

the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and

argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people,

however, who, if you told a result, would be able to evolve from their own


32

inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This

power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward or analytically.‖

―I understand,‖ said I.

―Now this was a case which you were given a result and had to everything

else for yourself. Now let me endeavor to show you the steps in my

reasoning…..‖ (Doyle, 1986: 116)

Usually, people will automatically explain when someone do not

understand about something, but when someone already understand, he will stop

explaining or maybe asking whether there is another thing that he still not

understand or not. Here, when Dr. Watson said that he understood, Sherlock

Holmes did not stop. He kept explaining about the case. This is kind of an

unintended action indicating he wanted to show off so he could get a compliment

from Watson.

After finished explaining, he really got a compliment from Watson. Even

Watson offered him to write the story, and Holmes did not deny it.

―It is wonderful!‖ I cried. ―Your merits should be publicly recognized.

You should publish an account of the case. If you want, I will for you.‖

―You may do what you like, doctor,‖ he answered. (Doyle, 1986: 119)

For a detective, becoming famous or known by a lot of people was

actually not beneficial to him. Someone who hated him could easily plot a

revenge, his enemy would hide from him, or someone who knew his method

would cheat him and led him to a wrong direction. Of course Sherlock Holmes

would get a compliment or an acknowledgement from other people, but it also

made him and his job endangered. Sherlock Holmes even recomended Watson to

write about his first case. It was about Sherlock Holmes‘ first case that made him

decide to be a detective. It is in the short story titled ―The Musgrave Ritual.‖ ―I

should be glad that you should add this case to your annals, for there are points in


33

it which make it quiete unique in the criminals records of this or, I believe, of any

other country (Doyle, 1986: 606).‖

Sherlock Holmes denied that he liked an acknowledgement, credit, or

compliment in the second book, titled Sign of Four. Again, he showed a denial

that he did not need a credit from the cases that he solved, he took the case just for

entertaining himself, like a hobby. Sherlock Holmes said ―I claim no credit in

such cases. My name figures in no newspaper. The work itself, the pleasure of

finding a field for my peculiar power, is my highest reward (Doyle, 1986: 124).‖

Based on what has been analyzed before, it is contradictive to what he has

done before, when he was like showing his ability to Watson to get a compliment

or letting Watson publish the story about him. Based on that and his expression

when he is complimented, it indicates that he likes being complimented, that

sentence is just a denial.

Even though he said that he did not need a compliment for his works, in

the same novel, Sign of Four, he was showing off again, this time it was about his

ability in disguise. Sherlock Holmes was disguised as an old man in the story for

investigating a case, but when he was home, he did not take off his ―mask.‖ It

made Watson did not recognize him, but saw him as stranger.

He was an aged man, clad in seafaring garb, with an old pea-jacket

unbuttoned up to his throat. His back was bowed, his knees were shaky,

and his breathing was painfully asthmatic. As he leaned upon a thick

oaken cudgel his shoulders heaved in the effort to draw the air into his

lungs. He had coloured scarf around his chin, and I could see little of his

face save a pair of keen dark eyes, overhung by bushy white brows and

long gray side-whiskers. Altogether he gave me the impression of a

respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty. (Doyle,

1986: 194)


34

That was what Watson and Athelney Jones, a police detective, see when Sherlock

Holmes comes in without taking off his disguise. They even had a debate with the

old man (Sherlock Holmes), when the old man(Sherlock Holmes) said that he had

an information about the case and wanted to give the information to Sherlock

Holmes only and insisted to leave because Holmes is not there, but Watson and

Athelney Jones hold him.

He finally unmasks himself when Dr. Watson and Athelney Jones light up

their cigars. They were so surprised.

He came across sullenly enough and seated himself with his face resting

on his hands. Jones and I resumed our cigars and our talk. Suddenly,

however, Holmes‘s voices broke in upon us.

―I think that you might offer me a cigar too,‖ he said

We both started in our chairs. There was Holmes sitting close to us with an

air of quiet amusement. (Doyle, 1986: 195)

Even Mr. Athelney Jones gave him a compliment, ――you would have made an

actor and a rare one. You had the proper workhouse cough, and those weak legs of

yours are worth ten pound a week.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 196).‖ That is Athelney Jones

compliment about how good Sherlock Holmes disguise is.

What Mr. Athelney Jones did was the thing Sherlock Holmes wanted, a

compliment. Sherlock Holmes was in the case which was not solved yet. Instead

of unmasking himself and talks to Watson and Jones how he was going to solve

the case, he is show off in front of Watson and Jones. Sherlock Holmes did that to

draw Watson and Athelney Jones‘ attention and receive a compliment from them,

or at least one of them.

Those actions are showing that Sherlock Holmes likes getting a

compliment from someone and he wants acknowledgement from other people.


35

The cause that the feeling unconsciously buried in Sherlock Holmes unconscious

mind can be caused by never getting a compliment before, even though he wants

it. So, he gives it up. Maybe he thinks that there‘s no way that he can get a

compliment, he has no friend to compliment him, and he works alone.

In the Sign of Four, Sherlock Holmes threw a protest on Watson‘s story

about their adventure. It wass a story after Dr. Watson publishing his first case

that discussed above. Sherlock Holmes was saying that he did not like Watson‘s

work because he put romanticism in the story. Holmes said, that his method was

like a science work, should not be mixed with romanticism.

―Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be,

an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional

manner. You have attempted to tinge with romanticism, which produce

much of the same effect if you worked a love-story or an elopement into

the fifth proposition of Euclid.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 125)

Even though Watson said that there is a romance in that case, Sherlock Holmes

kept arguing that it is should be pressed and focused on the way he solved the

case.

―Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, just a sense of proportion

should be observed in treating them. The only point in the case which

deserved mentioned was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to

cause, by which I succeeded in unraveling it.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 125)

This is showing a parapraxis of Sherlock Holmes from a feeling he has.

About his feeling that he likes compliments. Here, he wants Watson to focus on

him so he can get more compliments from people who read Watson‘s work. He

wants an attention and he unconsciously thinks the romance is blocking him from

the compliment.


36

Sherlock Holmes also threw almost a same protest on Watson in the short

story titled ―The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.‖ In the story Sherlock Holmes

protested on the writing that was written by Dr. Watson about them. Holmes said

that Watson was not really focusing on what Sherlock Holmes did but to

unimportant things.

It is pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped this

truth that in the these little records of our little cases which you have been

good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, occasionally to

embellish, you have given prominence not so much to the many causes

celebres and sensational trials in which I have figured but rather to those

incidents which may have been trivial in themselves, but which have given

room for those faculties of deduction an of logical synthesis which I have

made my special province. (Doyle, 1986: 492)

Of course that is debated by Watson, and Sherlock Holmes adds that Watson is

wrong because he adds some things to make the story looks alive. ―You have

erred perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your statements

instead of confining yourself to the task of placing upon record that severe

reasoning from cause to effect which is really the only notable feature about the

thing (Doyle, 1986: 492).‖

But Watson feels that he does that already. ―It seems to me that I have done full

justice in the matter (Doyle, 1986: 492).‖ And Sherlock Holmes‘ answer is

―If I claim full justice of my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing—a

thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon

the logic rather that upon the crime that you should dwell. You have

degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales.‖

(Doyle, 1986: 493)

That is absolutely contradictive to the purpose of why Watson writes story

about Sherlock Holmes. It is not to give a lesson to people, but to tell people about

Sherlock Holmes success in solving a crime, because he thinks that it is wonderful


37

and it has to be recognized by people. ――It is wonderful!‖ I cried. ―Your merits

should be publicly recognized. You should publish an account of the case. If you

won‘t, I will for you‖ (Doyle, 1986: 119).‖

Sherlock Holmes also shows a defense mechanism toward romance things.

It is showed in Sherlock Holmes‘ act in the novel The Sign of For. When Sherlock

Holmes protests on the romance that Watson put in the story, showing Sherlock

Holmes‘s displeasure to romance, or love relationship.

―Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be,

an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional

manner. You have attempted to tinge with romanticism, which produce

much of the same effect if you worked a love-story or an elopement into

the fifth proposition of Euclid.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 125)

It is like Sherlock Holmes has a denial to the romantic things or even a love

relationship. But, that‘s not only time Sherlock Holmes shows a denial about

romance or love.

A denial about a same thing is shown after that. It is when Ms. Mary

Morstan, their client, finishes her explanation about her case and leaves. Dr.

Watson was amazed by Ms. Morstan appearance. ―‖What a very attractive

woman!‖ I exclaimed, turning to my companion (Doyle, 1986: 135).‖ That is

showing that Dr. Watson is interested to Ms. Morstan, and that is a normal man

does when he sees a beautiful girl. This is how Dr. Watson describes Ms. Mary

Morstan,

Miss Morstan entered the room with a firm step and an outward

composure of manner. She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well

gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste. There was, however,

plainness and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion

of limited means. The dress was a somber grayish beige, untrimmed and

unbraided, and she wore small turban of the same dull hue, relieve only by


38

a suspicion of white feather in the side. Her face had neither regularity of

feature nor beauty of complexion, but her expression was sweet and

amiable. And her large blue eyes were singularity spiritual and

sympathetic. (Doyle, 1986: 131)

Based on Watson‘s description about Ms. Morstan, she is indeed an attractive. At

least men at that time will found her attractive.

When Dr. Watson says that she is attractive, and also indirectly states his

interest in Ms. Mary Morstan, Sherlock Holmes did not agree with that. He says

that emotional thoughts or feelings to someone that is related to the case can bias

the judgment.

―It is of the first importance,‖ he cried, ―not allow your judgment to be

biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a

problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning….‖

(Doyle, 1986: 135).

In the book, after they solved the case, Watson said to Ms. Mary Morstan.

On the other hand, Ms. Morstan also falls in love to Dr. Watson, and they are

going to have a marriage. When Dr. Watson told Sherlock Holmes about the good

news that he has, Sherlock Holmes reacted differently. Unlike other people that

giving a congratulations when they heard such good news, Sherlock Holmes is not

congratulating Watson. ――I feared as much,‖ said he. ―I really cannot congratulate

you‖ (Doyle, 1986: 235).‖ His reason is still the same like before, he does not

want to his judgment biased by emotional thing. ―Love is an emotional thing, and

whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all

things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment (Doyle, 1986: 235).‖

From that reason, Sherlock Holmes is really blocking all emotional things

from his consciousness. Even though congratulating Watson about his relationship


39

with Mary Morstan will not bias his judgment, since the case is solved, he still not

does it. But that does not mean that Sherlock Holmes does not have any emotional

feeling at all.

In a short story entitled ―Scandal in Bohemia,‖ Watson said that Sherlock

Holmes had a special woman in his life. ―To Sherlock Holmes she is always the

woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name (Doyle,

19876: 239).‖ Who is ―she‖? ―She‖ that Watson means is Irene Adler. Watson

says that whenever Holmes mentions Irene Adler, he always uses ―the woman.‖

The use of ―the‖ is actually indicating a special person, ―In majority cases, the

definite article denotes that the following noun refers to a special person, animal

or thing as distinct from others of the same kind. (R. W. Zandvoort, 1969: 117).‖

Sherlock Holmes threw a compliment to woman for the first time in that

short story, and the woman was Irene Adler. In the story, a King of Bohemia

asked Sherlock Holmes to take back a private photograph of King of Bohemia and

Irene Adler. So, Sherlock Holmes stalked on Irene Adler. After finished, he told

Watson things that he had done, and he described Irene Adler is an attractive

woman. ―I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely

woman, with a face that a man might die for (Doyle, 1986: 252).‖ Actually,

Sherlock Holmes also gives a compliment to Mary Morstan.

I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met and might

have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a

decided genius that way; witness the way in which she preserved that Agra

plan from all other papers of her father. (Doyle, 1986: 235)

But Sherlock Holmes did that because Ms. Mary Morstan kept the data of the

case carefully and gave most helpful data to Sherlock Holmes correctly, and also


40

he had met her in many times when he worked on the case. But, as for Irene

Adler, he never met her personally. He just saw a glimpse of her, and he gave a

good point about Irene Adler‘s physical appearance. It is indicating that he is

interested to Irene Adler.

In the end of the story, Sherlock Holmes showed an action that proved that

he was interested to Irene Adler. It was after they finished the job, even though

they did not get the photograph back, the king was satisfied with them. When the

king asked about the payment Sherlock Holmes asked the Irene Adler‘s

photograph.

―I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can reward to

you. This ring ---―he slipped an emerald snake ring from his finger and

held it upon a palm of his hand.

―Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,‖

said Holmes.

―You have but to name it.‖

―This photograph!‖

The King stared at him in amazement.

―Irene‘s photograph!‖ he cried. ―Certainly, if you wish it.‖ (Doyle, 1986:

262)

It is very contradictive to what the king asks for Holmes‘ payment before,

at the beginning of the case. Sherlock Holmes asks a lot of money to the king as

the payment for the case.

―Then, as to money?‖

―You have carte blanche.‖

―Absolutely?‖

―I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have

that photograph.‖

―And for present expenses?‖

The King took heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and laid it

on the table.

―There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in notes‖ he

said.


41

Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note book and handled it to

him. (Doyle, 1986: 248)

That is indicating that Sherlock Holmes does not interested with the king‘s money

again. He is more interested to Irene Adler than to the money.

Sherlock Holmes‘s action of asked a lot of money to the king is very

unusual. In the two cases before, A Study in Scarlett and The Sign of Four,

Sherlock Holmes did not mention about money at all. In the other short story,

titled ―The Speckled Band,‖ The client, Helen Stoner, asked for Sherlock Holmes

help about mysterious sound which was heard by her sister before her death that

she heard the night before. She said that she may not have enough money to pay

Sherlock Holmes, and Sherlock Holmes does not mind about it. ―I can only say,

madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as I did to that

of your friend. As to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at

liberty to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which suits you

best (Doyle, 1986: 399).‖ And, even though in The Sign of Four was about

finding a treasure, he did not ask for payment. What Sherlock Holmes did to the

King of Bohemia was showing that Sherlock Holmes had repression about a man

that should give respect to woman. In the story, the king once had a scandal with

Irene Adler when he was young.

―We were both in the photograph.‖

―Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an

indiscretion.‖

―I was mad—insane.‖

―You have compromised yourself seriously.‖

―I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am thirty now.‖ (Doyle,

1986: 247)


42

It was not because the client was a king so he asked for big payment, to Sherlock

Holmes the status of a client was not important to him. ―I assure you, Watson,

without affectation, that the status of my client is a matter of less moment to me

than the interest of his case (Doyle, 1986: 445).‖ So, it is seemed like Sherlock

Holmes wanted to give a lesson to the king not to break a woman‘s feeling. It was

showing that deep down, Sherlock Holmes did not like people disrespecting a

woman.

Even though Sherlock Holmes says that a client was just a client to him,

―A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem (Doyle, 1986: 135),‖ he did

not tell the truth to his client Ms. Mary Sutherland. The case was about Ms. Mary

Sutherland‘s fiancé who was gone on their wedding day, so she consulted to

Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes found out that her fiancé was actually her

step-father that disguised to take her money. So when Watson asked if he had

already told her about it, he said that it would hurt her. ―You may remember the

old Persian saying, ‗there is danger for him who taketh tiger cub, and danger also

for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman‘ (Doyle, 1986: 305).‖ Sherlock

Holmes did not want to hurt Ms. Sutherland‘s feeling, so he kept the truth away

from her. But, he threatened her step-father to not bother her again.

Those action of Sherlock Holmes are indicating that Sherlock Holmes

konws how to behave to women and he has an attracted feeiling to women. But,

due to his job, he built a defense mechanism to those things.

Another event that made Sherlock Holmes showed a defense mechanism is

when someone talked about his addiction to drugs. Kind of defense mechanisms is


43

shown by Sherlock Holmes towards drugs in the beginning of novel The Sign of

Four, Sherlock Holmes is a drug addict, especially to cocaine.

Yet upon that afternoon, whether it was Beaune which I had taken with my

lunch or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation

of his manner, I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer.

―Which is it to-day,‖ I asked, ―morphine or cocaine?‖

He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had

opened

―It is cocaine,‖ he said, ―a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try

it?‖ (Doyle, 1986: 123)

His addiction to drugs usually occured when he had no case to solve at all.

Sherlock Holmes was a smart person actually. He had a very good knowledge

about chemistry, it was stated as Watson in his list about Sherlock Holmes‘

ability. ―7. Knowledge of Chemistry.—profound (Doyle, 1986: 14).‖ So, he knew

the effect of cocaine, yet he kept using it. His reason was that the cocaine helped

him stimulate his mind. ―I find it, however, so transcendently stimulating and

clarifying to the mind (Doyle, 1986: 124).‖ But, in the story of ―The Five Orange

Pips‖ Sherlock did not seems happy when Watson said that he had poisoned

himself with cocaine and tobacco.

―It was a singular document. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were

marked at zero, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards

the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town., chemistry

eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records

unique, violin player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by

cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the main points of my analysis.‖

Holmes grinned at the last item. (Doyle, 1986: 344)

Then Sherlock Holmes directed it to another conversation. His action showed that

he wanted to avoid conversation about his addiction. It was clear that Sherlock

Holmes had an addiction to drugs. He was also aware of the negative effects of his


44

addiction, but he denied it because he thought that the drugs helped him to

stimulate and clear his mind.

Sherlock Holmes did a defense mechanism when he found a very dificult

case. Dr. Watson often said that Sherlock Holmes always focuses on the case that

he gets. Sherlock Holmes even not rest, eat, or sleep if he is not solve the case yet.

It is in the short story entitled ―The Man with the Twisted Lip‖ where Watson told

about Holmes‘ behavior. In that story, Sherlock Holmes had to find someone

missing, it was a missing person case. Sherlock Holmes had worked all day long

but he did not know how and where the person was missing. So, when there was a

time to take a rest, he did not take a rest but thinking the entire clue that he got

about the case.

Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved

problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even for a week, without

rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of

view until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his data

were insufficient. (Doyle, 1986: 368)

And, in that case also Sherlock Holmes did not sleep all night long to think about

the case he had.

It was soon to evident to me that he was now preparing for an all-night

sitting. He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on large blue dressing-

gown, and then wandered about the room collecting pillows from his bed

and cushion from the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort

of Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with an

ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of him. In the

dim light I saw him sitting there, an old briar pipe between his lips, his

eyes fixed vacantly upon the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling

up from him, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set

aquiline features. (Doyle, 1986: 368)

That was what Dr. Watson saw before he slept and found Sherlock Holmes in the

same position in the morning.


45

So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he sat when a sudden ejaculation

caused me to wake up and I found the summer sun shining into the

apartment. The pipe was still between his lips, the smoke still curled

upward, and the room was full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing

remained of the heap of shag which I had seen upon the previous night.

That was not the first time Sherlock Holmes spent all his time thinking

about the case. In the Sherlock Holmes‘ very first case as a proffesional detective,

―The Musgrave Ritulal,‖ Sherlock Holmes does almost the same thing. It is one of

Holmes‘ friend in university that becomes his client. When investigating the case

he found some difficulties and he did something that was almost similar to what

he had done above. He sat without moving to get the answer he was looking for.

―For twenty minutes I sat motionless, thinking the matter out (Doyle, 1986: 621).‖

That was the first time Sherlock Holmes face a difficulty in a case that he has.

That kind of action that Sherlock Holmes did is a form of defense mechanisms

that done by Sherlock Holmes if he has a very difficult case that made him feel

stressed.

Sherlock Holmes did a defense mechanism toward his feeling that he

needs a friend. Before Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson‘s first case, A Study in

Scarlett, Sherlock Holmes worked alone, even after a few weeks Sherlock Holmes

lived with Dr. Watson. Their adventure began when Sherlock Holmes asked Dr.

Watson to come with him to the crime scene.

He hustled on his over coat, and bustled about in a way that showed that an

energetic fit had superseded the apathetic one.

―Get your hat,‖ he said.

―You wish me to come?‖

―Yes, if you have nothing to do.‖ A minute later we were both in a

hansom, driving furiously for the Brixton Road. (Doyle, 1986: 22)


46

Since then, Watson follows Sherlock Holmes everywhere a case exists. In almost

all the stories, Sherlock Holmes invites Watson to accompany him. It seems

normal since they are live together in one apartment.

But, in the short story entitled ―The Stock Broker‘s Clerk,‖ Sherlock

Holmes came to ask Dr. Watson to accompany him in the case that he got. It

seemed a bit different because Dr. Watson had already moved out from their

apartment in Baker Street to live with his wife Mary Watson (Mary Morstan) that

he met at the case The Sign of Four. ―Shortly after my marriage I had bought a

connection in the Paddington district (Doyle, 1986: 565).‖

Dr. Watson was busy with the practice that he had, so he could not visit

his friend, Sherlock Holmes. It was three months after he moved from Baker

Street. So, he was surprised because Sherlock Holmes suddenly visited him. It

turned out, the reason Sherlock Holmes pays a visit to Dr. Watson is to ask him to

one of his case.

―And I hope, also,‖ he continued, sitting down in the rocking-chair, ―that

the cares of medical practice have not entirely obliterated the interest

which you used to take in our little deductive problems.‖

―On the contrary,‖ I answered, ―it was only last night that I looking over

my old notes, and classifying some of our past results.‖

―I trust that you don‘t consider your collection closed.‖

―Not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such

experiences.‖

―To-day, for example?‖

―Yes, to-day, if you like.‖

―And as far off as Birmingham?‖

―Certainly, if you wish it.‖ (Doyle, 1986: 566)

Dr. Watson said that Sherlock Holmes seldom went out from his

apartment unless it was a business matter. Here, after Dr. Watson did not live in


47

Baker Street anymore, Sherlock Holmes visited him to accompany him in a case.

It was like showing that Sherlock Holmes needed a friend.

He almost had no friend before he met Watson. It was because most

people thought that he was a bit odd. ―He is a little queer in his ideas (Doyle,

1986: 5),‖ and another one that said by Stamford is,

Holmes is a little scientific for my tastes—it approaches to cold-

bloodedness. I could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of the latest

vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, but simply out

of a spirit of inquiry in order to have an accurate idea of the effects. To do

him justice, I think that he would take it himself with the same readiness.

He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge (Doyle,

1986: 6)

That is why Sherlock Holmes did not have a lot of friends. People were keeping

their distance with Sherlock Holmes. This is forcing Sherlock Holmes to live

alone and repressing his feeling that he wants a friend. That is why when Sherlock

Holmes met Watson who appreciate his ability and see him as a great man,

Sherlock Holmes keep his friend close to him.

B. Type of Sherlock Holmes’ Defense Mechanisms

From the characteristic of what Sherlock Holmes does when Watson

mentioned about Dupin and Lecoq in the novel The Study in Scarlett and the

reason why he used drugs are indicating that Sherlock Holmes was doing a

defense mechanism called displacement. It is where the person is directing

something that threaten him into another object or person.

When Sherlock Holmes was angry to the detectives that mentioned by

Watson, it was the act of Sherlock Holmes redirects his anger. To Sherlock


48

Holmes, having nothing to be solved is a stressful event, so he redirects that

feeling to something else to reduce the anxiety. Not only to the detectives that

mentioned by Watson, he also redirects that stressful feeling to drugs, like in the

novel The Sign of Four. In the conversation in the novel The Sign of Four,

Sherlock Holmes says that he needs work to his brain. He feels that his brain is

useless when he has nothing to do. So, to reduce that anxiety he uses drugs. This

is also indicating that Sherlock Holmes is doing displacement. He pushes away

his anxiety or clear his mind from that kind of anxiety by making his brain busy to

something else, like he said that it can help him clarifies his mind.

Another defense mechanism that Sherlock Holmes does is repression.

Sherlock Holmes has a repression about his feeling that he likes a compliment. He

shows a repression whenever someone throws him a compliment or everytime he

recieves a compliment. Deep down, he wants an acknowledgement, a credit from

other people, but he tries to bury that feeling. So, to reduce that feelings, instead

of saying ―I like or I want a compliment,‖ he says ―I have no reason to do it, they

will not give me a credit‖ or ―you will say I am an ordinary man if I explain.‖

That is a defense mechanism called projection. It is where a person tries to reduce

his anxiety by attributing his anxiety to another thing. Sherlock Holmes does that

maybe because he really wants an acknowledment or credit, but if he says that he

wants that, people judge him that he is a snobbish.

Sherlock Holmes even shows a denial about that. He says that he does his

job not for a credit, ―I claim no credit in such cases. My name figures in no

newspaper. The work itself, the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar power,


49

is my highest reward (Doyle, 1986: 124).‖ He denies that he likes it or he wants it.

He represses that feeling from his consciousness, and unconsciously buried in the

unconscious mind. This is a repression of Sherlock Holmes that causes a

parapraxis like when he shows such expression when Watson complimented him

and explaining without being asked.

A protest that Sherlock Holmes does to Watson, in The Sign of Four and

―The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,‖ about not really focusing to his ability,

happens because Sherlock Holmes has a repression that he wants to be recognized

or appreciated, and that is the parapraxis. Sherlock Holmes feels that his ability is

not appreciated enough, so he wants Watson to focuses more to him and his

ability than to the other things. Sherlock Holmes wants people to appreciate his

ability because he thinks people should know it.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism called repression to romance

things. He has repressed her feeling to women or romance so he will not bias his

judgment. That is Sherlock Holmes repression. He represses anything about

romance, love, and emotional feelings.

People must have emotional feelings toward someone or something. It can

be negative feelings or positive feelings. As a human, Sherlock Holmes must have

hate feelings to someone or emotional feelings to someone, but he tries to deny

those feelings in order to keep himself neutral. To Sherlock Holmes emotional

feelings can endanger his deduction to a case, so he represses those feelings.

On the other side, when Sherlock Holmes defends himself from emotional

feeling, he actually has some emotional feelings. Defending himself from


50

emotional feeling does not mean he does not have any emotional feeling at all. Of

course Sherlock Holmes has some emotional feelings, but then he represses those

feelings and unconsciously those feelings enter to his unconscious realm.

Sherlock Holmes does a repression toward drug effect. He seems avoiding

Watson‘s words about the bad effects of his addiction to drugs. That means he

knows the negative effects of drug addiction and represses it. What he has done

above is the parapraxis of that repression, where he unconsciously avoids talking

about the addiction.

The action that Sherlock Holmes does not go to sleep everytime he has an

unsolved case is showing the characteristic that he is doing a defense mechanism

called regression. It is where a person faces a stressful event he will do the same

thing when he faces a stressful event for the first time. Of course this is not the

first time Sherlock Holmes faces a stressful event. Watson says that it is a habit of

Sherlock Holmes when he will not sleep when faces an unsolved case, so that act

is not the first time. The case makes Sherlock Holmes feel stressed due to lack of

clue, so he cannot goes to sleep and he has to think about the case until he gets the

answer. Before the regression, people experience a fixation. It is the action of

someone that faces a stressfull event for the first time. The fixation of Sherlock

Holmes is shown in the short story titled ―The Musgrave Ritual.‖ His action, sit

motionless, in the short story ―The Musgrave Ritual,‖ is a fixation where Sherlock

Holmes, for the first time, faces a stressfull event. Then, when he finds another

dificult case he does a regression that similar to the fixation.


51

Sherlock Holmes has a repression about a feeling that he needs a friend.

The defense mechanism here actually happens before Sherlock Holmes and Dr.

Watson‘s first case. It is when Sherlock Holmes still works alone. Sherlock

Holmes has a repression about the feeling that he needs a friend. Sherlock Holmes

has only a few friends, it is because most of people who know him think that

Sherlock Holmes is a bit odd. One person that says about oddity is Stamford in the

novel The Study in Scarlett. ―He is a little queer in his ideas (Doyle, 1986: 5),‖

and another one that said by Stamford is,

Holmes is a little scientific for my tastes—it approaches to cold-

bloodedness. I could imagine his giving a friend a little pinch of the latest

vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, but simply out

of a spirit of inquiry in order to have an accurate idea of the effects. To do

him justice, I think that he would take it himself with the same readiness.

He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge (Doyle,

1986: 6)

So, because not much people who like or understand what Sherlock Holmes is

doing and want to be a friend with himself, he represses the feeling that he needs a

friend.

The actions of Sherlock Holmes taking Dr. Watson everytime he has a

case when they live together, or even when they are no longer living together are

seen as the parapraxis of a repression that Sherlock Holmes has. Sherlock Holmes

actually needs a friend, so when he meets someone that understands what he is

doing and like what he is doing, he tries to keep him close.


52

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Sherlock Holmes does defense mechanisms toward several

things. It can be seen in A Study in Scarlett, The Sign of Four, The Adventure of

Sherlock Holmes, and The Memoir of Sherlock Holmes. He shows that he has

defense mechanisms.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism to a condition where he has

no case to solve. Like in the first book, A Study in Scarlett, where Sherlock

Holmes looks angry to Dr. Watson because he is mentioning Dupin and Lecoq.

Turns out, Sherlock Holmes is having no case to solve at all, and he redirects that

hatred to something else. Besides that he also redirects his hatred to drugs, it is

showed in the novel The Sign of Four.

Sherlock Holmes shows a defense mechanism toward his feeling that he

likes a compliment. As seen in the novel A Study in Scarlett, Sherlock Holmes is

easily flattered by the compliment that was given by Dr. Watson. That shows that

Sherlock Holmes likes a compliment about his ability. In that novel, it shows that

Sherlock Holmes is afraid that people will think that he is an ordinary man if he

explains his method. He also shows a kind of disappointment when he does not

receive any compliment in the short story entitled ―The Stock-broker‘s Clerk.‖

Sherlock Holmes also likes to show off to make people around him amused and

gain a compliment from them, like in the novel The Sign of Four. And in the same

novel, Sherlock Holmes also throws a protest to Watson because in the novel


53

before that Watson had wrote, is not really focusing on Holmes‘ analytical

reasoning that solve the case. Those evidences show that Sherlock Holmes likes a

compliment but he buries that feeling because maybe that kind of feeling is

shameful to himself or to society.

Sherlock Holmes shows a defense mechanism toward romance things.

Sherlock Holmes throws a protest on Watson because he put romanticism in the

novel The Study in Scarlett. When Dr. Watson says that Ms. Morstan is an

attractive woman, Sherlock Holmes disagrees because he thinks that emotional

feelings can bias a judgment. He even does not give congratulation to Watson

when he tells him that he engages to Ms. Morstan. He also says he does not even

want to marry. But in the short story ―Scandal in Bohemia,‖ Sherlock Holmes

seems to fall in love with Irene Adler, someone that is supposed to be his target.

This indicates that Sherlock Holmes have that kind of romance feeling. But,

because of his job he buries that feeling.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism toward conversation about

his addiction. In the short story ―Five Orange Pips,‖ Sherlock Holmes seems to

avoid the conversation Dr. Watson and him are talking about Holmes‘

characteristics. When Watson mention about his addiction to drugs he seems

avoid it. That act is indicating Sherlock Holmes‘ denial to the bad effect of his

addiction.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism whenever he finds a very

difficult case. Whenever he finds a difficult case he tends not to sleep or even eat.

He sits silently thinking about the case that he has, sometimes with smoking. He


54

sits and thinks at least until he knows what to do next. In short story titled ―The

Man with the Twisted Lip,‖ Sherlock Holmes sits all night long thinking about the

case. The case makes Sherlock Holmes feels stressful and forces him to do a

defense mechanism.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism toward his feeling that he

needs a friend. Before Sherlock Holmes met Dr. Watson, he worked on his cases

alone, he did not have any assistance. Maybe that is because the number of people

that thinks that he is a genius is very rare. People think that he is a freak. But Dr.

Watson is not one of them. He appreciates Sherlock Holmes‘ ability and admires

him. After they are live together, Sherlock Holmes asks Dr. Watson to come with

him to solve the case. Even when they are no longer live together, sometimes

Sherlock Holmes are still asking him to come. These indicate that Sherlock

Holmes is actually needs a friend. But since most of people thinks that he is freak,

he buries that feelings.

From the characteristic of Sherlock Holmes‘ act whenever he does a

defense mechanisms, there are four types of defense mechanism that used by

Sherlock Holmes. The types that used are displacement, repression, regression,

and fixation.

Sherlock Holmes does a displacement when he is angry to Watson about

Dupin and Lecoq. He is angry because he does not have a case to solve, and he

redirects his anger to Watson. Besides redirecting his anger to Watson, sometimes

he redirects his anger that caused by the same thing to drugs.


55

Sherlock Holmes does a repression. He does a repression toward several

things;

Compliment. He repressed this feeling because maybe somehow he thinks

that it is shameful. But from his action, it shows that he likes a compliment, even

seems disappointed when does not get a compliment.

Romance things. He buries this feeling because he thinks that romance or

love can bias his judgment. But, he seems angry when a man does not respect a

woman. even he seems to fall in love with Irene Adler, his target.

Negative effects of drugs addiction. Actually Sherlock Holmes is aware of

the bad effect of drugs, but he buries that because he feels that the drugs can help

him clears his mind. That is why when someone talks about it, he tries to deny it

or avoid the conversation about that.

Sherlock Holmes has defense mechanism toward his feeling that he needs

a friend. Sherlock Holmes almost did not have any friend before he met Dr.

Watson. When he befriended Watson who appreciated his ability, he tried to keep

him close. That act is like the parapraxis of the repression. The repression itself

actually happened before he met Dr. Watson. He buried that feeling because no

one wanted to be a friend of him because people thought that he was a freak

person.

Sherlock Holmes does a defense mechanism called fixation and

regression. It was when he faced a difficult case for the first time. He sat

motionless to think about the case until he got an answer. That is fixation. After

that he is still doing the same thing whenever he has a difficult case, He sits


56

motionless thinking about the case until he gets the answer. And that act called a

regression.


57

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blog/brainsnacks/ 201110/did-sherlock-holmes-have-asperger-syndrome). March 11, 2016.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory.

Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002.

Billig, Michael. Freudian Repression: Conversation Creating the Unconscious.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

―Detective story‖. Encyclopædia Britannica. n.p. n.d

(https://www.britannica.com/art/detective-story-narrative-genre). August 4,

2016

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories

Volume I. New York: Bantam Dell, 1986.

Feist, Jess & Gregory J. Fest. Theories of Personality. New York: Mc Graw Hill,

2006

McLeod, S. A. (2009). Defense Mechanisms. Simply Psychology. n.p.. n.d..

(www.simplypsychology.org/defense-mechanisms.html). September 9, 2015.

Redmond, Christopher. In Bed with Sherlock Holmes. Toronto: Simon & Pierre,

1984.

Ryan, Michael. An Introduction to Criticism Literature/Film/Culture. Sussex:

Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

Sanders, Lisa. Diagnosis: Hidden Clues. New York Times. n.p.. December 4,

2009. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/magazine/06diagnosis-

t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1). March 11, 2016

Wagner, E. J.. The Science of Sherlock Holmes, from Baskerville Hall to the

Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective’s greatest

Cases. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006


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