Conan Doyle failed to do good detective work because his research was biased. He misunderstands the initial evidence, sends a biased person to investigate, stereotypes Elsie Wright, and created false evidence to support his claims. Since Edward Gardner had a preconceived belief that fairies were real, his research was based on proving that they were real rather than proving if they were real. Another preconceived belief that hindered their research was that they stereotyped Elsie Wright as an artesian working girl that was too young and stupid to have faked the evidence. Regarding the Case of the Cottingham Fairies, Doyle saw what he wanted to see rather than what was there.
Many of these women share endurance through severe hardships, loss, and abuse. One woman visited the Hull House frequently to share her story with her son. Her son was in the army, stationed in Alaska. She began telling the story with the exact words, “when spring comes and the snow melts so that I know he could get out, I can hardly stand it.” She had spent three years in an Insane Asylum, and she was reveled with anxiety. She could not stop worrying about her son and was adamant that she would never see her son again. After she pauses for a moment, she says how the recruiting officer should have rejected her son because she was a widow, and he was her only son. She mentions that if he was there earning money and by her side, she “would be happy all day long.” In response, the author tells the woman that at least her son is fed, has shelter, and is under discipline. Looking at the author as if she spoke “a foreign tongue,” the woman expresses that that stuff does not matter to her; just his presence would be good enough. Conan Doyle and the women who came to the Hull House are grieving. Grief is arguably one of the most harrowing experiences because it stays with people for the rest of their lives. Grief can also cause brain fog, leading to confusion and delusional thoughts. I believe that Conan Doyle and these women were experiencing complicated grief, and that is why they were drawn to believing in things that didn’t exist.
Regarding people being able to see things that are invisible to others, I agree with Doyle. In a literal sense, mental health disorders like schizophrenia cause people to see things that aren’t there. Scientifically, you can prove that people can see invisible things to others, but you cannot prove that those invisible things are real. A couple of mysteries I think are unsolvable by science are what is the purpose of our existence and what happens to us after death?
My parents always take me, my three siblings, and our dog to our private island for the summers. Summers were always the best part of the year. As soon as we arrived from our yacht, it was a fast race to get to the house’s front door. The winner gets dibs on which bed they want. My favorite was the one with the red, white, and blue flannel-looking comforter, and it happened to be my sibling’s least favorite one. This summer, we had our swimsuits on and played on the hot beach just like every typical day, except our dog kept barking at the large boulder sticking out of the water about thirty to fifty feet away from the shoreline. Our dog is around thirteen years old and cannot see very far anymore. It was peculiar because usually, he never barked or even made a whimper when we would pull his tail as a toddler. Looking off into the distance at boulder, I see a tail quickly splash up and back down on the right side. I gasped and immediately looked at my older brother. “Did you see that?” I ask frantically. “See what?” his eyes still glued to his pathetic-looking sandcastle. I scoff and look back at the boulder. The small waves gently pass around the boulder and continue to make their way toward the shoreline. It looks normal. Then, I see a blurry figure of a redheaded woman pop her head out of the water. In disbelief, I keep staring at the tiny head out of the water, trying to make sense of it. I see the blob of a head go back under the surface of the water. For a second, I think I’m going insane until I see her jump over the boulder. She was far away, but I could see the light glistening off her tail. Her tail was an ombre of the rainbow, but only starting from green to ending with violet. If The Rainbow Fish had a sister, it would have been this mermaid. As I turn to my siblings, I see that my siblings are still focused on their sandcastles. I cannot believe that they did not see her! Maybe she chose to trust me, which is why she jumped over the boulder, or maybe I’m just going crazy.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.” Therefore, I believe that mermaids do not exist. If mermaids had ever existed, we would have found bones or any evidence by now.
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