“As a rule,” said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.”
“The Red-Headed League” depicts a world in which everyday life is filled with bizarre occurrences. Doyle’s story is realistic in that it portrays recognizably human characters in recognizable settings, but it is unusual in its emphasis on the idea that the real world is a somewhat grotesque place, with the mundane and outlandish existing side by side. Watson notes, for example, that pawnbroker Jabez Wilson would be an entirely average man were it not for his absurdly bright red hair. The story of Wilson’s misadventure further underscores this point by showing how an average man with a dull occupation can be suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into a strange and seemingly inexplicable situation. The story contains details and images that would almost be better suited to science fiction or a dream, such as Wilson’s description of the streets of London being completely filled with redheaded men. The fact that Doyle portrays such images so realistically emphasizes his view that even everyday experiences can be utterly bizarre.
