Dr. Watson is a man with a simple personality who lives a normal life as a doctor. He has come back from the war and settled down with his wife. His character is simple compared to Holmes’ more complex character. Watson’s laidback manner and lifestyle draws the reader in, and makes him a more believable and trustworthy character that the reader is able to relate to and understand. Watson breaks down Holmes’ complex thoughts and creates a window of understanding for the reader by slowing down his amazing thought process to a more simple and easier pace. In, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Watson admits his frustrations of not thinking on the level of his companion. “When I hear you give your reasons, the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled, until you explain your process.”
Dr. Watson’s simple lifestyle makes him a more trustworthy character that allows Doyle to create a biased view of Holmes for the reader, and paint a picture of Holmes in a way in which he wants the reader to see him. Watson thinks very highly of his good friend and when he speaks of Holmes, he describes him as if he was the epitome of all detectives. In Doyle’s short story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Watson states, “He was I take it the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen…” He even makes Holmes’ bad habits and improper behavior seem normal and positive. Having Watson as a character the reader understands and trusts, creates a biased view of Holmes in a way that Doyle wants him portrayed.
The slower pace that Watson creates allows Doyle to keep his readers in suspense and Doyle is able to keep their interest in the stories. In most the stories Holmes has picked apart the clues and knows the answer to the problem in the very beginning, yet doesn’t reveal that he knows until the absolute end leaving us and Watson in the dark. In another one of Doyle’s short stories named, “A Case Of Identity,” Watson is present when the lady Miss Mary tells her story of woe and does not understand Holmes thoughts on the disappearance of her beloved until the fallowing night when all is revealed and the plot is unraveled to Watson, the deceiver, and the reader. Again, in the short story named, “The Noble Bachelor,” Holmes knows the solution to the mystery as the mystery is being told and tells no one of his conclusions until he proves his hypotheses to both himself, Watson, and the reader once again leaving Watson in the dark. This keeps the reader both in suspense and interested.
Watson’s character balances Holmes’ character out and helps the reader understand Holmes’ complex and amazing thought process while shedding a positive light on his ill-mannered character and keeps the reader interested with suspense. The Sherlock Holmes short stories would surly have failed without Sherlock’s trusty sidekick Dr. Watson.
