Research Paper on:
Classical Detectives and Existentialism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Unlike the modern amateur detective that seems to fall into harms way and by their sheer wit manage to solve the mystery and save their own lives, the classical detective  was approached with the puzzle, the question that seemed to have no answer, the perfect crime. Two such classical detectives would be Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot and Sir Arthur Connan  Doyles Sherlock Holmes. While there are many similarities between the two famous literary detectives in the realm of investigation, what has been avoided, or at the least neglected is the  discussion of the spiritual or existential life of both men. Those not familiar with the famous detective of 212b Baker Street would find him to be a rather tall gangly  type of man, with sharp, piercing eyes, a hawk-like nose, and a square chin. Sherlock Holmes, as his faithful sidekick Watson would attest, did not fancy women as he considered  them superfluous, and he had the singular fatal flaw of being a recovering opium addict. His other personality quirk is his love of music and his bent toward playing the  violin whenever deep thought was necessary. He appeared to be quite learned and was always involved in experiments of both the physical and sociological. Christies Poirot was the opposite of  the tall gangly Holmes. He was short, bald and sported a rather large mustache. He was a bit of a clothes horse and more than a bit vain about his  appearance, which included trimmed waistcoat, walking stick, gold pocket watch and a pair of spectacles. He was given to drinking sirop de cassis and managed to deliver an aristocratic air.  His vanity and pride were not without foundation, though, as Poirots record, as was Holmes, spoke for itself. Both characters possessed keen intellects and all the necessary skills such as