Holmes as a character is very complex, he displays several emotions throughout the stories in ‘The Speckled band’ for example, during Holmes encounter with Dr, Grimsby Roylott, who is obviously a suspect in the murder, due to his annoyance of Holmes’s investigation into the murder. Dr. Roylott is described as a dangerous person “So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross-bar of the doorway and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side.” This tells us that the man clearly is a man of huge figure, probably much larger than Holmes himself. Even as Dr. Roylott insults Holmes calling him “Holmes the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office” and “Holmes the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office” Holmes merely chuckles; Instead of Holmes being frighten of this man he meets this mans aggression with humour. “When you do go out close the door, for there is a decided draught” Holmes jokes, talking about the mans cold introduction. Holmes in this scene also shows physical strength as well for after the man leaves Holmes walks over to the poker Dr Roylott twisted in half and “with a sudden effort, straightened it out again”. Although it might be worth noting the fact that Holmes require ‘effort’ to straighten the poker out again, which may mean he’s not as strong as Roylott, but physically strong nonetheless. Holmes, even though shown as a physically able person, is shown as a normally non-violent person, as he never carries the gun when going to solve a case. Whilst he sees the need for the gun for defense, he himself will never carry it “I should be very obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket” Holmes tells Watson to carry the gun, rather than him carrying the firearm himself.
Holmes however, completely changes all of his characteristics however, in ‘The Final Problem’ when his life is endangered due to Professor Moriarty. Holmes acts completely out of character “Holmes edged his way around the wall, and flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely” This sentence shows what has happened to Holmes. Instead of the normally calm, somewhat measured Holmes, instead we see a man who is jumpy, edgy and frightened. Even Holmes admits it when Watson asks if Holmes is afraid of something and Holmes replies ‘Well, I am”.
During his conversation with Watson, Holmes clearly knows that it is professor Moriarrty who is threatening his life and Holmes shows respect for him, regarding the man as a genius. Despite only first appearing in this adventure, Moriarty is a very important character, it is a person who appears to be Holmes intellectual equal, as if he what Holmes’s could have been if he walked down a different path. During their conversation with each other, for example, we see them each respecting each others skill, Moriarty calmly threatening Holmes “You must drop it Holmes” said he, swaying his face about “You really must, you know” Another important fact is that neither is better than the other, they are both equal, which I think Conan Doyle was trying to stress to explain why they both went over the cliff together, locked in each others arms.
Dr Watson is Holmes partner, his associate, who helps Holmes during his cases. He is an extremely important character because he is the narrator of the book; we are seeing everything from his point of view. Watson is a character who looks up to Holmes in a way of a apprentice looking up to his master, “I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, admiring his rapid deductions” Watson, like anyone else with Holmes during his observations, is clearly impressed by Holmes ability. Watson is the more stable of the two, much more reliable yet also less imaginative, during the cases, Watson can discover things for himself, yet only things that are not so obvious. You can tell Watson admires Holmes, especially in the final problem in which Watson write “It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to right these last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts which my friend Sherlock Holmes is distinguished by” Watson clearly is sad about the death of Holmes, and he recognizes the gifts which Holmes had, despite Holmes’s drug problems. Watson often shows that he is more than an associate of Holmes, for he always wishes to accompany Holmes wherever he goes, for they are very close. When Holmes tells Watson at the start of the ‘Silver Blaze’ that he must travel to Kings’ Pyland Watson immediately wishes to accompany his friend on his trip.
Now we must analyze the relationship between Holmes and Watson Holmes and Watson’s relationship is that which they require each other to be most effective, a relationship in which they both play of each other. Holmes requires Watson for companionship, for company, but more importantly as a sort of bodyguard, someone who will protect him. We have already seen, for example, how Holmes always lets Watson take the gun, for he himself does not want to be directly involved in any sort of violence. Holmes also bounces all of his theories and assumption of Watson, to see what his opinion is in the matter “What do you make it Watson” He would ask, just to see what Watson thought of the whole situation. Watson is someone who is not as clever or imaginative as Holmes, so he needs to follow Holmes lead, watching what Holmes does. Watson can be seen as the foil of the sword, Holmes being the tip of the sword. You can see that they both need each other to function efficiently, or neither work as well. Watson, although he doesn’t always have an important role in the stories, still has a important role because he is the narrator of the story, which means he is the link which connects us to Holmes world and he is the one who shows us the character of Holmes.
At the start of the ‘Speckled Band’, we see the intimacy of these two friends “I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed.” This scene shows how close the two friends are, and shows that their relationship as one which is very intimate, very close. When Holmes introduces Watson here, he shows us that he regards Watson here as an equal telling Mrs Hudson that “This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr Watson before whom you can speak as freely as before myself”. Whilst Holmes doesn’t always regard Watson as an equal, perhaps this a time were he does. Watson is sort of a sound board that Holmes can relay his ideas off of, often asking for Watson’s opinion. He does this perhaps so that he can see if Watson does or does not agree with him, or perhaps so that we can here what Holmes makes of it. Another reason why Watson is our link towards Sherlock Holmes, why Watson is so very Important. During the Speckled band Watson is beside Holmes to protect Holmes form danger, in particular Dr Grimsby Roylott. There relationship in all of the stories is pretty similar, with Watson simply observing Holmes’s actions, whilst adding in personal thoughts of his own. Holmes and Watson are a team however, they solve the cases together. Although Holmes will sometimes not always require Watson’s protection, but also even some ideas “What do you make of that Watson?” Watson for example, during the adventure of ‘The Silver Blaze’ figures out something which Holmes could not see “The Horse was alone before” discovers Watson as he notices a mans tracks alongside the horses. Whilst Watson can figure out certain things for himself, he like Sergeant Gregory lacks the imagination that Holmes has. This is often why Watson can not see beyond the picture, and therefore cannot discover things as quickly as Holmes. Holmes and Watson used to live as bachelors until Holmes got married in Which shows that their relationship may not of only have grown so intimate during their adventures, but also because the were living together. Also at the start of the ‘Sliver Blaze’ and the
‘Speckled band’, we clearly see just from picturing the seen how close they are. In the ‘speckled band’ Holmes is standing next to Watson’s bed apologising from waking him. In the ‘silver blaze’, they are sitting down together having breakfast with each other. These scenes show that they have a very deep relationship. Watson’s marriage also affects their relationship because it means that they no longer live with each other and therefore may have grown apart. The conclusion of my studies shows that Holmes and Watson are more than simply associate. They have an intimate and deep friendship, which is strengthened through their adventures together. Holmes and Watson work best during the investigations together, combining their different qualities and strengths to help them solve the case. Holmes in the relationship is the more dominant figure, intellectually smarter than Holmes and mainly contributing to the case itself using his powerful powers of observation and imagination. Watson however, is more down to Earth and his role is to assist Holmes by protection (carrying the gun, accompanying Holmes) and being the link between Holmes and us. He is also there perhaps to keep Holmes and check, for when he worries about Holmes smoking.
