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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 he narrates
the majority of Doyles stories. In Leroy Paneks chapter Doyle from his book An Introduction
to the Detective Story, Panek states that Doyle borrowed the technique of using a narrator from
Edgar Allan Poe. Doyle made a critical decision to use Watson as the narrator and this
contributed to the success of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Watson proves to be a sufficient
narrator because his character allows the genius characteristics of Holmes to be emphasized and
observed by the audience. Through Watsons narration, the audience is able to learn of Sherlock
Holmes personality, scientific methods of solving mysteries, and way of thinking. Panek also
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states in Doyle that Doyle, of course, realized the uses for plot and characterization of the
detectives assistant as the narrartor: the writer can use the narrators ignorance to hide important
facts and through him can praise the detective and keep him civilly reticent at the same time
(80). Watson, who is not as intelligent as Holmes, is not able to produce sound deductions from
evidence. As a result, Watson creates a blank within the story. These blanks, are discussed in
Doves chapter The Different Story, where he states that blanks are indicators of pattern and
direction (9). Blanks are inserted in the stories so that not all the information is given to the
audience all at once. These blanks correlate to Watson when he cannot interpret evidence and
make conclusions about them. Both Panek and Dove would agree that by having Watson as a
narrator, important clues would not be given away and the audience would remain interested in
solving the mystery.
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.