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Kristy Kim
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 39B
30 Apr 2014
Why Watson is an Important Convention of the Detective Story
There are many aspects that shape and characterize all stories. In the case of a mystery
story, such as the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Conan Doyle, would not be characterized
as the detective genre without the detective himself; however, there are specific conventions that
are applied to this genre that shapes itself as the detective genre. Many scholars agree that the
incredibly brilliant Sherlock Holmes changed the world's perspectives on murder mystery, but
without Doyle's creation of the "ordinary" narrator such as Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes
would not have been able to truly stand under the spotlight and be loved by the public during the
Victorian era.
Conan Doyle shapes Watson to be an exact representation of the readers of the Sherlock
Holmes stories during the Victorian era. Scholars agree that Doyle created Watson so the readers
can actually take on the adventures as if they had jumped into the stories. In his text, An
Introduction to the Detective Story, literary scholar Leroy Panek discusses how the Sherlock
Holmes novels were originally aimed at middle class men, and Watson is the exact portrayal of
these middle class men during the time the novels were published. He mentions that the
Victorian age brought on a new audience of readers who had the ability to read and improve
further with education (9). In many of the stories such as The Sign of The Four, Watson is
clearly demonstrated as the middle class gentleman who was too afraid of expressing his love for
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a wealthy woman due to the fear that she might think of him as a "vulgar fortune-seeker" (Doyle
660). The men during the Victorian era were able to connect with Watson and engage into the
novel in a more deeper level, and understand Watson's point of view of a series of events.
George N. Dove similarly agrees with this idea in his text, The Reader and the Detective Story,
by recognizing that the detective story does not exist without the reader; in fact, the detective
novel is an "exhibition of mental gymnastics, in which the reader is invited to take part" (2) and
Watson acts as the guidance for the reader to be a part of this "game." Both Dove and Panek
come to the conclusion that the readers also played an important role for Doyle's stories and
Watson was the perfect character to help the readers become absorbed into the world of Sherlock
Holmes.
Not only did Watson become an example for the readers during the Victorian era, but he
is able to depict himself as an ordinary person to a reader of his novels today. He does not lack in
intelligence, but his skills for insight and critical thinking are far from exceeding Holmes'
capabilities. This topic is addressed when in one of the novels, Holmes presents the idea of
mindlessness to Watson, telling him that people often see, but do not observe carefully.
In The Sign of the Four, while Holmes and Watson examines a crime scene, the two men
discover small footprints. Upon finding these minuscule footprints, Watson immediately assumes
that these are footprints of a child (Doyle 567). Now, if a reader were to be placed in Watson's
position, he or she would be having the exact same thoughts as Watson. In her text, Mastermind:
How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, literary scholar Maria Konnikova adds onto this by
explaining that readers are identical to Watson in his way of thinking; a reader would often take
the path that does not require much effort and let his or her own mind stay on automatic. An
extra step would not have been taken to truly reflect upon the significance in what is in front of
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his or her eyes (4). Once again in his text, Panek connects Konnikova's idea of "mindless
thinking" to observe that Doyle uses this characteristic to obscure facts and manipulate clues to
create the element of surprise by the end of a story (10). In an excerpt from his book, scholar T.J.
Binyon points out that the weakest of Doyle's novels were the ones that were written in third
person and Holmes' point of view (10). The stories written from a narrator who is omniscient
takes away from the readers' experience in solving the mysteries. When examining crime scenes
with Watson, Holmes does not blatantly reveal his observations and thoughts; in The Sign of the
Four, Holmes merely tells Watson to try analyzing clues himself and that he should apply
Holmes' methods (Doyle 567). Literary scholar Konnikova adds onto the topic by stating that a
sharp detective such as Holmes has a "natural skepticism and inquisitiveness toward the world,"
which ordinary thinkers like the readers and Watson are unable to do easily (17). Fortunately,
omniscience is unnecessary, for readers are able to travel through the difficult journey of
observing, deducting, and coming to conclusions with Watson and finding themselves pleasantly
surprised by the end of the stories.
Watson is adequate as a narrator for the Sherlock Holmes stories because he is an
application for specifically highlighting and emphasizing Holmes' character as the genius. Doyle
creates Watson to further explore Holmes from another point of view. Literary Scholar Leroy
Panek notes that characters such as Watson are able to "praise the detective and keep him civilly
reticent at the same time" (80). Literary scholar, Kirby Farrell, explains how Watson and Holmes
go hand-in-hand; they are almost like one man, for one compliments each others' lacking abilities
(34). Readers, who become one with Watson, are able to study Holmes' facial expressions,
behaviors, and incredible methods for solving mystery. These are all aspects that would not have
been executed properly if Holmes were to narrate; readers would only have the opportunity
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explore into Holmes' mind, but this destroys the "element of surprise" in the stories. Another
literary scholar, George N. Dove, agrees with this idea by describing how "detective fiction is
rich in blanks" (7). Because Watson is unable to quickly deduce clues and come to conclusions,
the spotlight becomes focused on Holmes and his capabilities, as he is able to fill in these blanks.
Through Watson, readers are able to admire Holmes' quirkiness and strange actions that are quite
difficult to comprehend. In A Study in Scarlet, Watson reads an article written by Holmes that
describes incredible ideas such as how one should be able to observe a drop of water and identify
which ocean or river it originates from (Doyle 33). Watson expresses that such ideas are merely
"a remarkable mixture of shrewdness and absurdity" (Doyle 33). Narrators such as Watson
further focus how Holmes wanders in a world that differs from an "ordinary" person, clearly
proving Holmes' brilliance.
Watson is the perfect narrator for the Sherlock Holmes stories because he is demonstrated
as the typical Victorian era middle-class man who is also observant, intelligent, and dedicated,
but still lacking compared to Holmes. But because Watson is easily relatable to readers, the focus
becomes more centered on Sherlock and highlighting his amazing abilities compared to any
ordinary person.




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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.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. 1887. London: Penguin, 1981. Print.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
Farrell, Kirby. Heroism, Culture, and Dread in The Sign of Four. Studies in the Novel 16:1
(1984): 32-51. JSTOR. Web. 01/15/2014.
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.