This is an essay on the compilation of stories, 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', and why they have remained popular for all these years.

The first 200 words of this essay...

English Coursework

This is an essay on the compilation of stories, 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', and why they have remained popular for all these years.

As my first point I would like to comment on the use of Watson as a narrator. I think that the writer does this to show how clever Sherlock Holmes is compared to an ordinary person. We see this as Watson often gets confused and doesn't know what's going on, where as Holmes always seems to be in control. An example of this is in the story 'The Blue Carbuncle', before the mystery has even come to light, Sherlock Holmes deduces certain things from a battered hat. "He does not have gas laid on in his house". This amazes Watson, because he could not deduce anything from the hat. This serves to illustrate Watson's stupidity in comparison with Sherlock Holmes. Other good examples of this are at the ends of the stories, when Holmes explains to Watson how he drew his conclusions to solve the case. Watson is always surprised and his own conclusions are always wrong. Another reason Holmes is shown to be so clever could have been to combat some