Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are two of literatures well known characters. Both have a keen sense of detecting, and are eccentric, egotistic in brilliant different ways. Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in “Study in Scarlet (1887). He introduced his character to an audience who grew to love the character so much, they demanded Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to bring him back from the dead. The demand was so great that Sir Conan Doyle, was forced to resurrect thecharacter of Sherlock Holmes in “The adventure of the empty house.” where he explains only Moriarty, had fallen to his death from the high falls.
Sherlock Holmes is a self proclaimed Bohemian and not a Victorian gentleman. He suffers from a drug addiction to opium and cocaine to which Watson describes as his “only vice,” which Watson helped Holmes to finally conquer by convincing Holmes to discontinue.
Sherlock Holmes considers himself to be a “Consulting detective.” His works with cases that were proven unsolvable by official investigators. He is known to solve the cases without leaving home. This aspect is minimized in some of the novels, where most have Holmes, doing some legwork. His specialty is solving unusual crimes by the power of logical deduction. He continuingly displays his extraordinary abilities on his new clients by making on-the-spot physical evidence about their personalities, and recent activities. Holmes uses this brilliant marketing technique to showcase and bring his clients into his confidence into hiring him. Holmes is also more than competent in certain subjects such as Botany, Chemistry, anatomy, every horror crime perpetrated in the Century, British law, and swordsman, however, the list turns out to be made by Watson, in later stories.
His arch nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, is said to be Sherlock’s old math tutor when he was in school. Moriarty (The Napoleon of Crime) Sherlock’s Holmes intellectual equal; apparently was tutored by Moriarty.
Extraordinarily, only one person has dared to outwit Sherlock Holmes. Irene Adler, referred to by Watson as “The woman” appeared in “A Scandal In Bohemia,” and was the only one to break through Holmes reserve to beat him. Holmes is definitely charmed by his female clients. Irene Adler charms Sherlock Holmes to the point where he refers to her to Watson in later stories. Holmes uses her in a story only to gain information while still mistrusting the gender and never forgetting her.
Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, was written by Agatha Christie has many similarities and differences to Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The difference in appearance is one. While Holmes considers himself to be a “Bohemian” Hercule Poirot cares about his appearance by dressing neatly and has an obsession with order and neatness. Another difference is Hercule Poirot’s history. He is a Belgian who moved to England during World War 1, to become a detective. It is said Hercule worked for the Belgian police in 1904 only to retire to begin his career as a private detective in
England . He is small in stature compared to Holmes tall, thin frame and long sharp nose. His meticulously manicured moustache, egg-shaped head, oversized ego, and broken Belgian accent stands out as a distinguishing factor between the two characters which is usually mistaken for French.
Hercule has a disdain for crawling on his hands and knees in search for clues. He would rather examine by deductive reasoning. He is so confident in this technique, Poirot bets a friend Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector, Japp, he can solve a case simply by using his “Little gray cells.”
The love of Hercule Poirot’s life, Countess Vera Rossakoff, appears in the short stories; “The double clue.” and the “The capture of Cerebus,” as well as the novel “The big four.” Also, where Sherlock Holmes had Watson, as a partner to help him solve his crimes; Poirot too had someone. Poirot had Arthur Hastings, who he meets immediately after arriving in England, and who becomes his life-long partner appearing in many of his novels and stories.
The majority of the characters in both novels are different as well. Hercule Poirot’s majority of characters in his stories are many with several suspects, where anyone of them is suspected to be the killer. Each Poirot novel is always different, with characters showing up often. One character is detective novelist Ariadne Oliver who is a Self-parody of author Agatha Christie. Sherlock Holmes only receives one client and has only one killer, who usually is his diabolical nemesis, Moriarty. The characters of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes are infallible which make them classically human. Poirot obsesses about neatness; Holmes has a drug addiction, both men have a weakness for women’s charms, Poirot is always mistaken for a Frenchman, because of his broken English. These human traits have made these characters eternally fascinating for people of every generation.
-Reference Site-
1. Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot- Funtrivia.Com/en/D.html
