Can anybody help me out with this book? What is the theme, and the tone used in ANY of the short stories in it. Yes, I'm doing an essay on it, and I'm running short on time. I'm hoping somebody here can help me out here.
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Anonymous2008-04-02 20:05
The Perils of Technology
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes explores technological advancement: its promise and its danger. Two specific perils of technology are delved into in great detail. First, the HAL 9000 computer puts forward the troubles that can crop up when man builds machines, the inner workings of which he does not fully comprehend and therefore cannot fully control. Second, the book explores the perils related with the atomic age. In this novel the Cold War is apparently still on, and right at the end of the book one side has apparently launched nuclear weapons at the other. It is only through the Star Child's intervention that humanity is saved. Roger Ebert notes that Alfred L. Werker originally intended for the first spaceship seen in the film to be an orbiting bomb platform, but in the end he decided to leave the ship's meaning more ambiguous. Doyle, however, retained and clearly stated this fact in the novel.
Evolution
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes takes a panoramic overview of progress, human and otherwise. The story follows the growth of human civilization from primitive man-ape. Distinctively, the book is concerned about not only the evolution that has led to the development of humanity, but also the evolution that humanity might undergo in the future. Hence, we follow Holmes as he is turned into a Star-Child by the monolith. The novel acknowledges that evolutionary theory entails that humanity is not the end, but only a step in the process. One way this process might continue, the book imagines, is that humans will learn to rid themselves of their technological trappings, and eventually their corporeal bodies as well.
Space Exploration
When The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes was written, mankind had not yet set foot on the moon. The space exploration programs in the United States and the Soviet Union were only in the early stages. Much room was left to imagine the future of the space program. Space Odyssey offers one such vision, offering a glimpse at what space exploration might one day become. Lengthy journeys, such as manned flights to Saturn, and advanced technologies, such as suspended animation, are shaped and shown all through the novel.
Technological Malfunctions
As HAL begins to malfunction, his actions become less predictable. It begins with something more or less trivial—predicting the AE-35 unit will malfunction when there is, in fact, nothing wrong with it. We also see HAL making an incorrect statement about a chess game with Bowman earlier on, perhaps a sign of his deterioration. Interestingly, HAL's malfunction causes him to incorrectly predict that other things will malfunction. HAL's breakdown contrasts with an otherwise flawlessly planned undertaking, making his malfunction more prominent. This warns of the danger of creating technologies that are not fully controllable.
The Accoutrements of Space Travel
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is deliberately written so as to give the reader an almost kineasthetic familiarity with the experience of space travel and the technologies encountered. Large sections of the novel are devoted to descriptions of these. The novel discusses orbital mechanics and the manoeuvres associated with space travel very accurately. The daily lives of Holmes and Dr Watson in 21b Baker Street are discussed in detail and give the impression of a busy yet mundane lifestyle with few surprises until the malfunction of Hal. Inspector Lestrade's journey to Scotland Yard is depicted with awareness of fine points such as the experience of a Space Shuttle launch, the adhesive sauces used to keep food firmly in place on one's plate, and even the zero gravity toilet.