Holmes Is Made Possible By Watson.

Holmes Is Made Possible By Watson.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular characters in literature. I

read the three stories; ‘The Speckled Band,’ ‘The Engineer’s Thumb’

and ‘The Beryl Coronet.’ I have looked at; how the stories were

structured, Dr Watson as the narrator, language used in the stories

and the difference between Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes as characters

in the stories.

Most crime fiction stories are structured in the same way. Sherlock

Holmes stories usually employ this structure; the crime is committed,

an investigation is launched, a solution is thought up and an

explanation is given. This structure is used to build up suspense and

keep you guessing what happened until the end, when it is revealed. An

example of this is in ‘The Engineer’s Thumb,’ where the crime was

reported to Holmes, Holmes then investigated the crime, by making

observations and deducing he reveals the solution and finally explains

his solution to the characters and readers.

Dr Watson is vital in the structure of the stories because he is an

eye-witness throughout all the cases. Holmes explains his theories and

methods to him, so Watson is in the reader’s position. This is because

he obtains information from Holmes and writes it as the narrator for

the readers.

As the narrator, Watson eye-witnesses the investigations and tells us

every development in the cases. Watson also enables Holmes to explain

his methods, the explanation to each case and how he solved it. For

example where it says in ‘The Speckled Band’, “There is no mystery, my

dear madam”, said he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is

splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are

perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dig-cart which throws up

mud in that way and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of

the driver.” Holmes makes a deduction from the fresh mud on her left

arm that she had come in a dog-cart. This is achieved by Watson

allowing Holmes to convey his method.

Every time that Holmes explains something to Watson, another clue is

revealed to the reader. He does this by explaining in detail to Watson

and the readers in detail. An example of this is in ‘The Engineer’s

Thumb,’ “…as fast as the horse could go.” “One horse?” Interjected

Holmes. “Yes, only one.” “Did you observe the colour?” “Yes … It was a

chestnut.” Watson makes all this possible, just by narrating ‘The

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’

Holmes and Watson are two very different characters, Holmes is the

detective and Watson is his sidekick. This makes Sherlock look