Misdirection in “The Problem of Thor Bridge” The literary device misdirection is mainly used in mystery and detective stories. The author may use misdirection to fool the reader, and make the mystery harder to solve. Misdirection can also be used within the story, with the criminal planting false clues and red herrings to fool the main character. For example, the murderer could place notes around the set, pretending to be someone else in order to frame that person, not only in the eyes of the characters, but in those of the reader. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses misdirection in his stories to add depth, to throw the reader off the trail of the mystery, and make the story more interesting. This is evident in his story, “The Problem of Thor Bridge”.…show more content… Holmes. She hated me with all the fervour of her tropical nature” (248). From this we can presume that Mrs. Gibson invited Miss Dunbar to Thor Bridge to kill her. However, Mrs. Gibson is the one who ended up dead. This could suggest an outside source. Also, we learn from Sherlock that the crime was carefully orchestrated, and someone who pulled such a thing together would never make the mistake to hide the murder weapon in their own wardrobe. After the interview with the governess, she is mostly cleared from all suspicion. As we get further into the story, we learn from an experiment conducted by Sherlock, that Mrs. Gibson had created a rig to kill herself and blame Miss Dunbar, a far worse punishment than death in the eyes of Mrs. Gibson. Misdirection is used a fair many times throughout the story of “The Story of Thor Bridge”. It comes in the form of false clues, blame set upon people by others, and the character of certain people in the story. Misdirection is a very important literary device used by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and extends the mystery of the story. It is meant to lead the reader’s mind elsewhere, instead of latching onto what actually happened. It also is used to mislead characters within the story, deepening the
