Sherlock Holmes as Altamont

Sherlock Holmes as Altamont

The Ability of Disguise

In the 48th Sherlock Holmes story, titled "The Last Bow," Holmes finds himself working alongside a man named Von Bork to supply the German government with information stolen from the English military. Holmes creates an Irish American informant named Altamont in order to penetrate Von Bork's ring of informants, and supply false information to the Germans.

After rendering Von Bork unconscious and binding his limbs, Holmes reveals the lengths he took to build up this false identity. He traveled to Chicago before joining an Irish secret society in Buffalo. He says after he caught the attention of the police force in Skibbareen, he was noticed by an agent of Von Bork who recommended Altamont as a trustworthy spy.

Holmes' utilization of language, friendship and physical transformation allows him to create a disguise invisible to even to an enemy of England creating national disarray. Holmes grows a goatee and adopts American slang for his association with Von Bork, and has an informant of his own on Van Bork, in the form of an old housemaid, seemingly loyal to Von Bork judging by her refusal to leave his estate with the rest of his family and staff. She's actually on the side of Holmes and lets him know when the time is right for him to approach the estate and apprehend Von Bork. Through Altamont we observe the ability of a thoroughly made disguise to completely shroud one's real identity, and the ability of Holmes to create disguises this thoroughly has the reader question the actual cruciality of one's identity, especially after Holmes struggles to reinstate his traditional English rhetoric after subduing Von Bork.

Alfred Gilbert

"His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes," By Arthur Conan Doyle

Hathi Trust

September 1917

English

Illustration