Dr Watson is vital in the structure of the stories because he is an eye-witness throughout all the cases. Holmes explains his theories and methods to him, so Watson is in the reader’s position. This is because he obtains information from Holmes and writes it as the narrator for the readers.
As the narrator, Watson eye-witnesses the investigations and tells us every development in the cases. Watson also enables Holmes to explain his methods, the explanation to each case and how he solved it. For example where it says in ‘The Speckled Band’, “There is no mystery, my dear madam”, said he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dig-cart which throws up mud in that way and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.” Holmes makes a deduction from the fresh mud on her left arm that she had come in a dog-cart. This is achieved by Watson allowing Holmes to convey his method.
Every time that Holmes explains something to Watson, another clue is revealed to the reader. He does this by explaining in detail to Watson and the readers in detail. An example of this is in ‘The Engineer’s Thumb,’ “…as fast as the horse could go.” “One horse?” Interjected Holmes. “Yes, only one.” “Did you observe the colour?” “Yes … It was a chestnut.” Watson makes all this possible, just by narrating ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’
Holmes and Watson are two very different characters, Holmes is the detective and Watson is his sidekick. This makes Sherlock look superior. As the detective, Holmes has two very important characteristics, he is observant and deductive. On the other hand Watson is not observant and deductive; he is very slow and misses clues, which Sherlock quickly gathers. An example of this is in ‘The Beryl Coronet.’ “Was the remainder of the coronet at all injured?” “Yes, it was twisted.” “Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to straighten it?” Watson would not have thought that Mr Holder’s son was innocent. Only Holmes thought that even though he was holding the coronet, that he did not steal it.
Therefore, this proves that Holmes is more intelligent and quicker than Watson. Although, Watson does his best to make Holmes look smarter than an average person. By doing this he makes himself look dim. He does this by using bigger phrases Holmes actually uses in his explanations also by making the readers think that he solves every case and is the greatest detective. Watson as the narrator speaks as if Holmes is superior and more experienced than him. An example of this is in ‘The Speckled Band,’ “Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Watson.” This quote makes Watson feel inferior to Holmes.
Watson is an important as Holmes and is vital to the stories. Without Watson, Holmes would not seem as good a detective and would not be able to explain his methods to the readers. Watson does not seem as intelligent as Holmes in the stories, but I can see in reality he is as smart as Holmes, if not smarter. In the stories Sherlock Holmes is a much stronger character than Dr Watson; this is because Holmes is the center of attention, as he is the detective. I think if Watson was not present there would be no Sherlock Holmes stories.
