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Philip Nguyen
WR39B 33234
Professor Lynda Haas
Critical Reading Response Essay
Why the Watsonian Narration was Successful
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the first few writers who wrote stories and novels in the
detective genre, was the creator of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Around the late
Victorian Era, Doyle wrote a few novels and short stories pertaining to his fictional detective.
Around this time frame, the Industrial Revolution occurred and brought many social and
economical changes to England. The Industrial Revolution brought with it, many technological
advances that helped expand the role of the middle class people in society. People became more
interested in gaining new knowledge, thinking scientifically, and using reasoning to solve
problems. With the invention of the printing press, more people had access to reading and this
led many people to read about Doyles stories of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes stories
rapidly grew in success and before long, Holmes became a Hero and everyone knew who he
was. How and why did Sherlock Holmes and the overall detective stories grow popular during
the late Victorian Era? According to a few literary scholars, the success of Doyles Sherlock
Holmes stories was because of the relationship between Holmes and his assistant John Watson,
as well as Doyles decision to use Watson as the main narrator of the stories. Doyles A Red-
Headed League and novel The Sign of the Four demonstrates the complex relationship between
Holmes and Watson. Literary scholars such as Leroy Panek , T.J. Binyon, and a few more
analyze the importance of the relationship as well as Watsons key role as the narrator.
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Sherlock Holmes was successful and became a hero because in short, he was basically
a genius. Holmes used the power of observation, deduction, and exact knowledge to solve his
crimes. Even in The Sign of the Four, Holmes states that a great detective must possess those
three abilities. This appealed to the audience of the late Victorian Era because for the first time,
they read about Holmes using scientific knowledge to solve crimes, which contrasts the real-life
methods used by the police force during that time. According to Maria Konnikova, who
discusses Holmes intellectual abilities, she states That in a nutshell, is the scientific method:
understand and frame the problem; observe; hypothesize (or imagine); test and deduce; and
repeat (16). Holmes, who was able to perfect the scientific method, created a foundation for
solving crime and his techniques are even used in modern time. Konnikova verifies this
statement by stating Today, Holmes serves as an ideal model for how we can think better than
we do as a matter of course (12). With the scientific methods of Holmes, he is able to solve
crimes that the police cannot.
Solving crimes is one of the conventions of a detective story and literary scholar, George
N. Dove, discusses these repeating conventions. In his chapter The Different Story, he states
that detective stories have four formulaic conventions. The four conventions are: the main
character is a detective, the plot of the story revolves around the investigation and resolution of
crime, the mystery appears to be impossible to solve, and finally it is solved in the end. With
Holmes intellectual ability and use of scientific methods along with a formulaic plot, the
audience is fascinated when they read about a seemingly impossible problem that is always
solved and explained by Sherlock Holmes. Dove and Kinnikova would agree that the scientific
method would be another repeating convention throughout the stories as well. The audience
enjoys the stories because they know the problem is always solved. Dove adds One of the
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strongest evidence of the absence of strain in the tale of detection is the assurance of resolution;
the reader proceeds with confidence that the mystery will be solved, presumably by the detective,
and the reading is consequently relieved of the normal stresses of problem-solving (18). Again,
this recalls the fact that detective stories contain formulaic conventions and the audience can rest
assured that in the end, the problem in the story is solved.
By solving crimes, Holmes becomes the hero the audience loves. However, Holmes
intellect, heroism, and representation as a genius detective are possible because of his assistant,
John Watson, who is the narrator for most of Doyles stories. The relationship between Holmes
and Watson is complex because Watson serves as a foil to Holmes and his character
complements Holmes. Through Watsons point of view, the audience learns about the specific
characteristics of Holmes that make him a genius. Watson is the narrator of the story because he
represents the middle class man during the Victorian Era, and his character was created so that
the audience can easily relate to him. Using Watson allowed Doyle to steadily progress through
the story and tell how a solution was found. Literary scholars, Leroy Panek, T.J. Binyon, and
Kirby Farrell address these topics.
Watson, who serves as a pupil to Sherlock Holmes, is a key character because through his
narration of Doyles stories, the audience is able to observe the intellectual abilities of Holmes
through the eyes of Watson. In Paneks chapter entitled Doyle, Panek writes One way Doyle
followed toward making Holmes interesting was to keep him in reserve. The stories suggest
Holmes is a complex and fascinating man, but they do not say much about him. Doyle effected
this by using Watson as the narrator, but he also designed the action of the stories to keep the
focus away from Holmes (92). Panek further elaborates his point by calling Holmes a creature
of immense attraction (92). Since the audience knows very little about Holmes, the audience is
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intrigued when Holmes displays his intellectual ability by making deductions. Contrary to
Holmes, Watsons character is less intelligent and he is unable to produce the same complex
deductions as Holmes. As a result, Watsons narration often creates a blank within the story.
These blanks, are discussed by George Dove in his book The Reader and the Detective Story.
He asserts that blanks are indicators of pattern and direction (9). Blanks are gaps within the
story that contain missing information. Watsons narration creates a blank when he cannot
interpret evidence and make conclusions about a case. As a result, the audience is just as
confused as Watson because they only know as much as he does. The audience is able to
recognize Holmes intellectual abilities and expertise in deducing when he fills in the blanks.
An example of a blank is exemplified in Conan Doyles short story The Red-Headed League.
The Red-Headed League is a story about a fraudulent organization that builds an underground
tunnel to rob a bank. In the story, Sherlock Holmes knocks on the pavement, leaving Watson
puzzled (Doyle 12). Watson narrates Here I had heard what he had heard, I had seen what he
had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that he saw clearly not only what had happened
but what was about to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and grotesque
(Doyle 13). Watson demonstrates his lower level of intelligence by not being able to understand
the reason behind Holmes actions. The audience, who is just as puzzled as Watson, receives an
explanation for Holmess actions at the end of the story. In the end, Holmes states that he
knocked on the pavement to see if there was a tunnel (Doyle 19). Just like Watson, the audience
is able to observe how smart Holmes is when he explains the case. Since Watson is not able to
piece together clues as quickly as Holmes does, Holmes comes off as a highly intelligent genius
who has the extraordinary ability to produce accurate and precise deductions before anyone else
can make the connection. The audience is only able to figure out solutions when Holmes decides
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to reveal it. Both Paneks chapter and Doves book relate to the importance of having Watson as
the narrator. Paneks chapter mainly explains how Holmes intellect is portrayed through
Watsons narration while Doves book discusses the genre conventions seen in the Sherlock
Holmes stories. Although Doves book mainly focuses on genre conventions, it can be implied
that Dove would highly agree with Panek on the topic that Watsons narration allows Holmes to
be portrayed as a genius. The points discussed by the two authors complement each other even
though they do not necessarily talk about the same point. Panek would talk about his point and
Dove would exemplify Paneks point by discussing about Watsons narration and blanks. By
having Watson as a narrator, blanks are created through Watsons narration and this gives
Holmes the ability to demonstrate his intellect by filling in the blanks. Without having Watson as
the narrator, Dove would not be able to discuss about blanks and Panek would not be able to
discuss about Watsons narration.
With the blanks inserted into the stories, Sherlock Holmes brilliance is highlighted when
he fills in the blanks. Since Watson is not able to piece together clues as quickly as Holmes
does, Holmes comes off as a highly intelligent genius who has the extraordinary ability to
produce accurate and precise deductions before anyone else can make the connection. The
audience, who follows along with Watsons narration, is only able to figure out solutions when
Holmes decides to reveal it.
The relationship between Watson and Holmes, and the role of Watson as the narrator,
come together to make Doyles stories successful. Due to the fact that Doyles stories and
characters reflect Britains time period, many people loved the idea of heroes who they can read
during hard times. Today, the stories of Sherlock Holmes remain popular and give readers
insight of what life was like during the Victorian Era.
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Works Cited
Binyon, T.J. "Murder Will Out": The Detective in Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989. Print.
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Kindle
eBook. Online.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
Konnikova, Maria. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. New York: Viking, 2013.
Print.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1987. Print.