Research
Why are the stories written in Dr Watson’s point of view?
 The good doctor plays the sidekick to Holmes' self-obsessed
hero figure.
 Watson is a lowly apprentice and live-in friend, who spends
most of the book trying to solve a difficult case in his
master's stead.
 Dr John H. Watson is a fictional character, the friend and
confidante of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional 19th-century
detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
 Always on hand to stroke Holmes' ego, Watson is
nonetheless intent on proving his own mettle by applying
Holmes' techniques.
 Watson has never-ending adulation, which is presumably
meant to mirror our own understanding of the legendary
detective.
 Codependent throughout, Holmes and Watson fill each
other's needs. Watson provides Holmes with an ego boost,
and Holmes needs Watson's eyes and ears to
inconspicuously gather clues.
 Watson is awestruck by Holmes' power of observation, and
Watson feels more powerful by association.
 The introduction of Dr. Watson in the Holmes novels proved
a precursor to other, similar characters. Many of the great
fictional detectives have their Watson: Agatha Christie's
Hercule Poirot, for example, is accompanied by Captain
Arthur Hastings.
 Watson serves the important function of catalyst for
Holmes's mental processes.
 From the writer's point of view, Conan Doyle knew the
importance of having someone to whom the detective
can make enigmatic remarks, a consciousness that's privy
to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions
drawn from them until the proper time. Any character that
performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be
known as a "Watson".
Sophia Tollington
10 D
 He serves as a foil to Holmes: the ordinary man against the
brilliant, emotionally-detached analytical machine that
Holmes can sometimes be.
 With the two, Conan Doyle created a clever literary
pairing: two vivid characters, different in their function and
yet each useful for his purposes.
 Holmes regularly announces some absurd and
unsubstantiated conclusion only to mock Watson by
revealing the most obvious of clues.
 Holmes toys with his associates (and particularly Watson) at
least as much as he flouts his enemies, equivocating,
misleading, and making fools out of them only to up his
own crime-solving cachet.

What effects does the writer create?
 Well-to-do intellectual that he was, Doyle translated many
of the assumptions of turn-of- the-century English society
into his fiction. The natural and supernatural is one
example.
 There can be few men in history and even fewer writers
whose genius had so many facets, and few can have
received so many tributes from men of all nations.1
 His influence on police method and criminology all over
the world is well known. 1
 In his Sherlock Holmes stories he originated the use of
plaster of Paris for preserving delicate clues; the
examination of dust from clothes for identification; the
analysis of the different qualities of various tobacco ashes;
and, of course, the now universally accepted science of
deduction.1
Could Holmes be compared to today’s idols?
 Sherlock Holmes is the ever-observant, world-renowned
detective of 221b Baker Street.
Introduction by Len Deighton in ‘Valley of Fear’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Pan
publishing 1975
1
Sophia Tollington
10 D
 For all his assumed genius and intuition he is virtually
omniscient in these stories, and Holmes becomes more
accessible in the context of his constant posturing and
pretension.
 If Holmes lets down his guard, he may admit to a fragile
ego.
 Writers have produced many pop culture references to
Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle, or characters from the
stories in homage, to a greater or lesser degree.
 Anybody who does some kind of detective work will
sometimes be dressed in a deerstalker and cloak.
 Another rich field of pop culture references is Holmes'
ancestry and descendants but really the only limit is the
writer's imagination.
 The fame of Sherlock Holmes ensures that he will exist in
many forms during the coming century, probably because
Holmes embodies so many of the qualities that modern
society feels are good, combined with the flashes of a
darker personality that give him depth as a character.
 Holmes' ego is kept in check by a constant dose of
adulation from Watson.
 In 1934 the ‘Sherlock Holmes Society’ in London and the
‘Baker Street Irregulars’ in New York were founded. Both are
still active to-day. Similarities can be drawn to ‘fan clubs’
which are founded for the sake of celebrities’ admirers,
though the majority of these are intended for musical
artists.
 The Guinness World Records has consistently listed him as
the "most portrayed movie character" with over 70 actors
playing the part in over 200 films.
 A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who
commands a high degree of public and media attention.
 While fame is generally considered a necessary
precondition for celebrity status, it is not always sufficient.
There has to be a level of public interest in the person,
which may or may not be connected to the reason they
are famous.
Sophia Tollington
10 D
Key
Key Words
Main Answer
Sources
 www.google.co.uk
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Arthur_Conan_Doyle
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Watson
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrities
 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hound/canalysis.html
 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hound/themes.html
 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hound/context.html
 Introduction by Len Deighton in ‘Valley of Fear’ by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, Pan publishing 1975.
Sophia Tollington
10 D