BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Garden of Eden images in the Fall

Longsnowsmoon · May 23, 2012 4:14 am

I'll begin with an apology- have only seen the Fall once, haven't scoured the Internet for this, and I am woefully unschooled in what I generally refer to as "Bible stuff". Any corrections, enhancements or additions are more than welcome...

But certainly there are many references, yes?

Moriarity offers Sherlock an apple... An apple that has already had a bite taken from it. No Eve in sight, but the image is pretty clear.

In the ACD story, Moriarity is described so: "his face slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion". Snake-like, in fact. Aha.

"I owe you a fall" Jim says. My girlfriend and I were pondering the phrase, why say it quite that way... But in light of the Garden of Eden picture, well, of course. That's how the story goes, doesn't it? Sherlock/Adam is gonna fall right out of grace.

And what remains behind when Jim/snake leaves 221b? Knowledge, the key to EVERYthing. (well, ok, not really as we find out later, but that's later.). Thanks to Carol for that insight!

Musing a little more broadly....

221b Baker is the Garden of Eden? And Sherlock is in a state of innocence there, pure mind- no mucking about with human frailty. So when he falls... When his eyes are opened to the significance of his friendships and his feelings... Something is lost, certainly. But his humanity is gained.

And he is banished! Just got that, he cannot return to the Garden, he is dead to that world. When we finally see him again, he will be changed.

And, ok, this is a stretch. But when we watched the Fall, it seemed there were many hands reaching out to each other, handshakes in words and action. Just as God reaches to Adam in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. Am I working too hard to make connections now?

And really, the title of the episode... Yes, of course, Sherlock falls from a building. He falls from media-Internet stardom. But this is also his personal fall from perfection, his fall into messy emotional attachments of "real people" in their "real lives". And bless him, he faces it, he steps out into thin air and embraces it.

Jim thinks he has trapped Sherlock into a deadly corner. But really, he has given Sherlock the keys to release himself. "What did I miss?", indeed.

I love this show.......

Davina · May 23, 2012 7:10 am

Have you had a look at the thread IOU and its potential meanings in this topic? There are some other references to the Biblical Fall there as well that you might find of interest. The work you have put into your post is impressive.

m0r1arty · May 23, 2012 1:09 pm

Welcome to the forums Longsnowsmoon!

The great thing about interpretation is that you can be right about the writing from a variety of different angles.

Certainly many 'classical' themes have crept into the original stories and these reimaginings, whether they are there to tease scrutinising minds or as plot devices can never be assured when The Moff is involved.

It's riled the fandom to a zealous frenzy, the recent PBS interview harking back to that of bigger-than-Jesus John Lennon times.

-m0r

Sammy · May 23, 2012 6:59 pm

"And bless him, he faces it, he steps out into thin air and embraces it." Woah, I love that sentence :D

Quite interesting your thoughts! Although I don't quite agree with this interpretation of his fall. It sounds so positive while, really, it's a very sad thing.

Longsnowsmoon · May 25, 2012 1:53 am

Thanks for the pointer to the IOU discussion, Davina. Succinct observations on the Garden of Eden angle. Wow, a great thread starter, m0r, and it went in all directions as everyone added their observations and ideas. I think there must be something to IOU, particularly as it is repeated visually and verbally multiple times. But I must admit I don't have any clues about it.

Sammy, you caught me out. So much safer to live in one's head than in the heart, isn't it? I can talk and talk (and will do more in a minute!), but there is no denying the sadness and heartache of the choices Sherlock made. John, watching his best friend leap to his death, listening to Sherlock throw his life's work away as if it were cheap rubbish; there are no words. Always dangerous to imagine what Sherlock feels, but certainly it pained him to deny his accomplishments, not because they made him famous or mysterious, but because the Science of Deduction is his bedrock belief. And perhaps he realized in dismay up there, as he heard the anguish in John's voice (thank you John, as always, reminding Sherlock), the sorrow he would be visiting on his friends (yes, plural) when he completed his plan and took the fall Jim so dearly wanted to give him.

I must admit, m0r, I would love to be a fly on the wall when the writers are batting about ideas and layering on references, plot points, character development, red herrings and inside jokes! They say it is a difficult job, and I believe them- but what a delight it must be to get such fervent feedback from the fans!

Longsnowsmoon · May 25, 2012 2:01 am

So, I seem to have also revealed myself to be alarmingly unfamiliar with English literature. Milton. Paradise Lost. Where was I when my fellow students were reading it? In the chem lab, perhaps, or hiding my nose in a math notebook. Thanks to Andy for pointing out this gap in my hard drive, and thanks to Wikipedia and SparkNotes for giving me a glimpse of Milton's creation.

I found just one bit that I'd like to add to this Garden of Eden storyline. Turns out (stop me if you've heard this one) that the archangel Uriel got tricked by Satan into revealing critical top secret info: where to find Adam and Eve. Leading to the apple, the Fall and all the rest of the story.

Sound familiar? Oh Mycroft. You too-good-to-be-true, secret-blabbing, flawed guardian angel, you.

(Sidebar: I don't for one minute believe that Jim actually pulled the wool over Mycroft's eyes. But that's my own interpretation, we'll find out what really happened next season.)

Thanks for listening, I'm having a blast!

Last edited by Longsnowsmoon (May 25, 2012 2:03 am)

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May 23, 2012 4:14 am #1

Garden of Eden images in the Fall

May 23, 2012 7:10 am #2

Re: Garden of Eden images in the Fall

May 23, 2012 1:09 pm #3

Re: Garden of Eden images in the Fall

May 23, 2012 6:59 pm #4

Re: Garden of Eden images in the Fall

May 25, 2012 1:53 am #5

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May 25, 2012 2:01 am #6

Re: Garden of Eden images in the Fall

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