A common thing among most of the human race is the fear of the effects of aging on the body. Creating a character famous for his sharp mind, not physical infirmity, Arthur Conan Doyle brought Sherlock Holmes to life and into the homes of many through his creative storytelling. Holmes is known for his excessive brilliance and arrogant personality which tended to set him apart from the crowd. “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin shows the reader that Sherlock Holmes also experiences the signs of aging. Mitch Cullin brings an aged Holmes back to life to show the reader the devastating effects of old age on the most important things in one's life. Holmes' very identity, defined by his intellect, his work, and his relationships, suffers irredeemable blows with his increasing memory loss. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Cullin's novel is set in Sussex, England, long after Holmes's retirement. The reader is more thoroughly introduced to Holmes' long-standing fascination, beekeeping. Along with the reintroduction of the bees, the reader also gets to know her caretaker and her son. Throughout the novel, the story of Holmes' retirement is told as he works to remember the events that occurred. Along with the overlying story, the reader experiences Holmes' learning to love and care for others; a characteristic he seems to grasp as he approaches the end of his life. Cullin portrays anyone dealing with the symptoms of the elderly through the well-known and publicly loved Sherlock Holmes. Holmes, in his prime, was seen as a man with "keen and penetrating" eyes along with a "thin, hawkish nose [that] gave all its expression with an air of alertness and decision" (Doyle, vol.1, 11). His features matched his intellect by being sharp and striking. It was also commonly explained to him that he had “an ignorance… as remarkable as his knowledge” due to his lack of trust in anyone else's judgment except his own ( Doyle, vol.1, 12).Throughout Doyle's creation, Holmes was always on his feet, one of the aspects of himself that was quite exciting to the reader. He was always one step ahead of the other characters, regardless of the situation, which he is which led to him having a scheming nature about him. Sherlock's intellect was superior to all others, causing his brain to appear almost non-human compared to that of others. During one of his mysteries, Holmes explains his intellect compared to a more naive human being saying with “most people, if [someone describes] a succession of events to them, they will tell you what the outcome would be” (Andr?, 117). This means that they would be able to put events together in their mind and from that information come to a conclusion. Holmes argues that unlike this, “there are some people (like him), [where] if [someone] told them a result, [they] would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what were the steps that led up to at this point. to that result” (Andr?, 117). By this, he is saying that these people are able to use analytical reasoning to discover the steps that led to the resulting factor. His deductive skills were better than anyone else in his profession and he was very proud of them. Cullin, fast-forwarding the reader many years into the future, begins his story by introducing a 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is described as “[using] two clubs, his body [remaining] untamed, and [that] the passing ofyears had not dimmed his sharp gray eyes, [and his new] snow-white hair, (was) thick and long, like his beard", creating for readers a different view than that depicted in Sherlock's early adventures ( Cullin, 3) As Holmes grows older, he talks about the loss of his loved ones and the impact and regret he has had from those failed relationships. He lost two dear friends a short time ago; had moved beyond his relatives…along with the recent loss of Mrs.Hudson” which led to what “felt like a door suddenly closing on everything that had previously shaped him” making him feel alone in the world (Cullin, 194). The reader gets to see a once arrogant man, now become more humble of heart in his hope of holding someone back in his later years. Cullin shows how age can affect the desire for companionship and the ability to ask for help. Sherlock becomes aware of his newfound inabilities that, somehow, others around him are capable of realizing; for example his slow pace and his weak limbs. He, as a character, needs to learn to make changes to his personality to help accommodate these changes. Although these changes are significant, he is still known to the world as the brilliant Sherlock Holmes, causing his work life to worsen as well. Sherlock Holmes, in Doyle's creations, was always better than the others. As previously discussed, he used his deductive analytical skills to help solve these seemingly impossible crimes. In the stories, he is commonly contacted by the police force for his ability to take the case the extra step needed to be solved. One unique thing about Holmes was his memory skills. In a psychological study of Sherlock's character, the author compares the novice to the expert. In terms of deduction they state that “experts are distinguished from beginners by their knowledge and organization of long-term memory (LTM)” (Andr?, 111). In their example they explain that the superiority of an expert derives from the nature and organization of his knowledge... [and how it is] acquired and reorganized in memory as expertise develops” (Andr?, 111). This article helps support the fact that Holmes had a special mind in relation to others around him. Sherlock Holmes was created to be a detective. Similarly, in Doyle's words, Holmes's deductive abilities are "one of the peculiarities of his proud and reserved nature... [whereby] he recorded every new piece of information very quietly and carefully in his brain" remembering every little detail that he came across. the case (Doyle, 1035). Holmes' career not only defined his personality, but also gave him a place to be himself. As the years passed, he lost touch with that side of himself due to his uncontrollable memory loss. Cullin wrote his novel as a reflection of Sherlock's fragmented memory. He never writes a story in its entirety before moving on to the next plot. This gives the illusion that Sherlock is trying to trigger memories in any of the plots. In the film portion of this novel, Mr. Holmes, Sherlock is shown with progressive memory loss when his doctor assigns him to write a dot in a book for every name or event he forgets over the course of a single day. Looking at the notebook later in the film, viewers notice that the number of dots on a page increases significantly and rapidly. These two examples help show how his memory loss was better projected to the public. One of the main plot threads involved Holmes' last case asindependent detective. He spends the entire novel searching for clues and answers as to why he decided to retire and how, at one time, he was able to deduce clues so quickly. There is a part in the book, as stated by Mitch Cullin in an interview, where Sherlock gets off the plane in Japan and realizes that forty years ago he would have picked up so many details of his surroundings, where today finds he was simply admiring the beauty (“Sherlock's”). As Holmes' memory worsens, he is often found shouting "I don't know" and "I haven't a clue" as he tries to find answers that are no longer there (Cullin, 120). The progressiveness of his symptoms and his reaction to them help show how this loss impacts his love of deduction. He can do his best, but in the novel it is shown that he is not as sharp as he once was. But with his memory loss, he began forming relationships without needing help; it wouldn'thave been able to create. In Sherlock Holmes' early years, the detective often came across as a stubborn man. He was much smarter than the others, so he had difficulty relating to them. He often made fun of people and their simplistic comments. When it came to relationships in general, he struggled to make that connection. In "The Sign of the Four", Sherlock is quoted as saying that "love is an emotional thing, and everything emotional is opposed to that true and cold reason which [places] above all things" (Doyle , 157). Here Sherlock explains his little need for any kind of love as he has cold, hard reasoning to engage in. Even when Sherlock and his brother Mycroft are together in the stories, there is more of a competitive chemistry between the two than anything else. Sherlock always has to be the best at what he does. In all the Sherlock Holmes stories, he is seen to have only a few relationships that he approves of. These include John Watson, Mycroft and his one true love, Irene Adler. Watson and Holmes met while looking for a place to stay. After they met and every day thereafter, Holmes continued to amaze Watson. This astonishment gave Holmes a thrill for which he continued to strive and which also allowed him to accept Watson and his above-average, but inferior, intellect. His second known friend is also his brother, Mycroft. Mycroft and Homes care for each other throughout the stories, but are also highly competitive between the two. They like being together because, unlike others, they are able to mentally challenge each other. Holmes' third friend or more love interest is Irene Adler. In “A Scandal in Bohemia” it is said that “for Sherlock Holmes she was the woman” (Doyle, vol.1, 240). He was infatuated with her and the way her brain worked, but due to work-related cases the two were unable to continue growing that relationship. So, Sherlock had a few close friends but apart from that he was unable to develop any other strong bonds. But as she grew up, she discovered that those close relationships were all that really mattered. Holmes, in his final years, lost everyone he had in his life, including his close friend Watson and his brother Mycroft. The reader, however, is still able to see what a struggle it is for Sherlock to create any form of relationship. He has a housekeeper living with him named Mrs Munro along with her son Roger. They both don't tend to get along very well with each other. Sherlock is seen early in the novel, annoyed by his presence and even frowning as he leaves. Mrs Munro, on the other hand, sees Homes' aging as a greater burden and is not interested in dealing with it. She's not always considerate of him when he seems to have had a bad day, but rather.