Comment on the way Conan Doyle uses the character Watson
Sasha JonesThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle LOOKING AT THE SPECKLED BAND AND TWO OTHER STORIES COMMENT ON THE WAY CONAN DOYLE USES THE CHARACTER WATSON IN THE STORIES.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are murder mystery stories based around a detective called Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson.Dr Watson appears in the stories as Sherlock Holmes' sidekick. He is a well-educated gentleman. Watson is very loyal to Holmes and is proud to be associated with him and his work. Watson is very intrigued by Holmes and his work and we, the reader, also become intrigued. They first meet each other in the first Sherlock Holmes story "A Study In Scarlet" which was written in 1887, where Watson's "…respect for his powers of analysis increased wondrously". He shows great admiration for Sherlock Holmes and this reflects that between the author, Conan Doyle, and Professor Bell. Joseph Bell was a surgical lecturer who Conan Doyle used as a source of inspiration for Holmes character. He shows his admiration for Holmes in the story 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band', he tells us that he "…had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him".Watson always followed Holmes' instructions. He found it "difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes's requests for they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with such a quiet air of mastery".We see that Watson is a practising Doctor in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Homes'. A patient called to see Watson in "The Man With A Twisted Lip" and "it was not the first time that she had spoken of her husband's trouble, to me as a doctor…". We find Watson to be a believable character and we know we and the other
characters can trust him because he is a 'doctor'.He is the narrator in all the Sherlock Holmes stories. He tells the stories and this enables us to see through his eyes. He can only tell us what he knows, therefore the reader only receives a limited viewpoint as we only see things from his point of view. By restricting the viewpoint to only one character, in this case Dr Watson, Conan Doyle has intensified the experiences between him and the audience which enables them to gain an idea of how he is feeling and what he is thinking. In the ...
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characters can trust him because he is a 'doctor'.He is the narrator in all the Sherlock Holmes stories. He tells the stories and this enables us to see through his eyes. He can only tell us what he knows, therefore the reader only receives a limited viewpoint as we only see things from his point of view. By restricting the viewpoint to only one character, in this case Dr Watson, Conan Doyle has intensified the experiences between him and the audience which enables them to gain an idea of how he is feeling and what he is thinking. In the story 'The Speckled Band' we gain an insight to Watson's emotions. Holmes and Watson are in the bedroom in question and Holmes previously informed Watson that there is an element of danger involved in this case to build up the tension. They are sat in darkness and Holmes tells Watson "Do not go to sleep; your very life may depend on it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it". Watson tells the reader his thoughts at this point "How shall I ever forget this dreadful vigil? I could not hear a sound…. my companion…within a few feet of me, in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself… we waited in absolute darkness". He sounds terrified and the reader is able to sense that and feel the tension and nervous excitement and anticipation of what is about to happen. Watson is used on numerous occasions to build up the tension for the reader.The stories are introduced extremely well, they set the scene and draw the reader in by enabling them to visualise the scene and sense the atmosphere. Dr Watson brings the outside World in to the stories; he is very descriptive and informative throughout the telling of the stories. In 'The Man With The Twisted Lip' Watson describes the 'Bar of Gold' and the people inside feeding their addiction extremely vividly "through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a dark, lacklustre eye turned upon the newcomer". The reader would be able to visualise what the opium den looked like and the people under the influence.The stories are extremely well structured. Detective novels usually follow a pattern of exposition, complication, climax and resolution. In the story 'The Speckled Band' its narrative structure follows this pattern. At the beginning we are informed of the characters involved and we know that Holmes and Watson are planning to visit a house in Stock Moran. We are aware of Ms Stoners problem. Watson and Holmes then visit the house where the tension starts to build as they wait in the dark bedroom. Once matters have come to a head Holmes reaches his resolution and explains the results/conclusion to Watson (and the reader) and then the story ends. They are structured in a way to create tension by keeping the reader in suspense for as long as possible before the plot begins to unravel itself.Conan Doyle uses Watson as a bridge between Holmes and the reader, to tell the story. The stories themselves are written retrospectively. Watson is also used as a structural narrative device; he often asks Holmes the questions that enlighten the reader as to what they are doing. It is for that reason the readers are able to relate to Watson. When Holmes tells Watson where they are going, what they are doing and for what purpose he is also informing the reader. In 'The Man With A Twisted Lip' when Sherlock Holmes and Watson are travelling to Lee, Watson and the reader are unaware of the purpose of the visit. It is only when Holmes is discussing his thoughts on what to say to the lady when they arrive at their destination that Watson tells Holmes that "you forget I know nothing about it" then Holmes informs Watson and the reader the purpose of their visit. He allows Holmes to use Watson to clarify his thoughts where he can explain his theories and develop the story line to the reader.Watson supplies us with an insight to Holmes' character "Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even for a week without rest, turning it over, rearranging the facts, looking at it from every point of view until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his data were insufficient". This shows us that Holmes is very committed and extremely meticulous about his work; he has to fit every detail in to place before drawing a conclusion.Watson is very patient with Holmes and occasionally feels hurt at the way Holmes sometimes treats him, however, Holmes does appreciate his help. In 'The Speckled Band' Holmes introduces Watson to Helen Stoner as his "…intimate friend and associate". He introduces him again with much appreciation as "…my friend, Dr Watson. He has been of most vital use to me in several of my cases and a lucky chance has made it possible for me to bring him out and associate him in this investigation".Holmes is always encouraging Watson to be more observant and tries to teach him his methods. In 'The Blue Carbuncle' Holmes is examining a hat and deduces a large amount of information from it but Watson is unable to understand how he comes to his conclusion about it's owner. "I can see nothing" said Watson, Holmes replies "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing you inferences". Holmes can be quite harsh sometimes in what he says to Watson and he may sometimes feel belittled "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that this man was intellectual?". Watson becomes the reader's voice. I too asked myself, how, just by examining a hat can you tell that the wearer is 'intellectual'. Watson makes things clear for the reader by asking the questions they would wish to know the answer to.The stories are set in our time and the language is easily understandable. The reader is able to relate to the stories because of this. The characters are believable and the stories are always possible in real life creating a sense of realism. Dr Watson's character is a contrast to that of Holmes. Holmes gives the instructions and Watson prefers to receive them. Watson is very sensible and cautious whereas Holmes is quite eccentric. Many other great fictional detectives have their 'Watson'. For example, Poirot is accompanied by Captain Arthur Hastings and Inspector Morse by Sergeant Lewis. All detectives need a 'Watson'.Only the wealthy could afford to go on holiday to different countries at the time. Less wealthy readers would have enjoyed reading Conan Doyle's stories where Holmes visited different countries during his investigations. This would have allowed them to gain an insight to what other countries were like. At the time of publication televisions had not yet been invented and so the stories served as good family reading.In conclusion, Conan Doyle uses Watson for a variety of reasons. He tells the story and conveys information back to the reader. He serves as a structural narrative device as well as a character. He allows the reader to visualise the scenes and other characters by describing them in detail. If Watson didn't exist in the Sherlock Holmes stories and we read the stories from Holmes' view the reader would know the whole story line; there wouldn't be any suspense involved. We would probably find the stories quite boring and I feel they wouldn't have been successful as they still are today. The Sherlock Holmes stories were amongst the first detective genre and they were certainly the most famous. I think most people must have heard of Sherlock Holmes throughout their life. To this day people still believe that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are historical figures who really existed and helped the police solve crimes. Page of