The public liked Holmes because he always solved the case and deflated evil. London was a very different place in the late 1880s; streets had flickering gas lamps casting eyrie shadows. Horse drawn carriages went down the cobble stone roads and crime was high and on the increase, making it a very dangerous place to go for a walk. The public had lost faith in the police because they weren’t doing anything about the crime, also Jack the Ripper was lose, raping and killing people on a nightly basis.
In 1893 Arthur Conan Doyle tried to kill off the fictional Investigator. This was met by public uproar, as the British public had grown fond of him, ever since he first appeared in 1887.
Watson’s character provides the link between Holmes ‘genius’ mind, the mystery of the crime in question, and reader’s curiosity. He acts as a navigator, leading Holmes thinking as well as to follow the red herrings set up by Arthur Conan Doyle. A ‘red herring’ is, in its simplistic terms, a decoy that throws the character, and the reader, off course from the true answer to the crime in question. For example in the Speckled Band the large animals and the jerseys were thought to be the evil murderers.
In the stories Watson is the narrator. Arthur Conan Doyle did this because Watson understands the same things we do (the reader) and comes to the same conclusions. He therefore asks the questions that we, the reader, want answering. Doyle starts every one of his stories with Watson making a journal entry. I think this is more effective then using Sherlock Holmes, because Watson is at the reader’s level of understanding. It would not have been so effective to use Holmes because he is likely to expect the reader to come to the same conclusions as he did.
Now I shall discuss Watson’s character in more detail with regard to The Speckled Band, The Five Orange Pipes and The Blue Carbuncle.
Watson is a Doctor by profession. This is very helpful to Holmes as Watson is able to provide the medical information needed to solve a case. The Speckled Band is a story about a girl who gets killed by her father so that she does not get a dowry left by her late mother. When Helen, the other sister, tells her father that she is getting married the whole thing starts over again.
We know that Conan Doyle wants us to see Watson as reliable and trustworthy, as in the Speckled Band it states
“This is Watson; you can speak to him as freely as before me”.
This quote shows us the two people have worked with each other for so long, they have a degree of trust so great, and they can be told things the victim has said, with complete confidence that the information will not leave the room.
Watson admires the work of Holmes as he says,
“I have no keener pleasure than following Holmes in his professional investigation”.
This quote tells us that Watson and Holmes may be more then just colleagues, and Watson uses Holmes as a role model.
In the Speckled Band Watson proves his loyalty when he shows his bravery by standing by Holmes.
”I really have some scruples as to taking you tonight. There is a distinct element of danger”.
This tells the reader that Watson has became more then just someone taking down notes of what Holmes has done. He is also a friend who doesn’t want anything to happen to him.
Watson can also be relied upon as he is regular in his habits,
”I blinked up at him in some surprise and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits”.
