Doctor Watson

Dr. Watson redirects here, for the Microsoft Windows debugger, see Dr. Watson (debugger).

Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character, the sidekick of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional 19th century detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle, in the Sherlock Holmes novels. Various (extra-canonical) sources give Watson's birth date as August 7, 1852 and his full name as Dr. John Hamish Watson.

Background and description

In the debut Holmes story A Study in Scarlet (published in 1887), Watson, as the narrator, describes meeting Holmes, their subsequent sharing of rooms at 221B Baker Street, his attempts to discover the profession of his taciturn companion, Holmes's eventual taking of Watson into his confidence, and the events surrounding their first case together. Watson describes Holmes and his methods in detail, but in too romantic and sentimental a manner for Holmes' taste. In time, they become close friends.

In The Sign of Four, John Watson met Mary Morstan, who became his wife. Mary seemed somewhat less sure of her husband, however, absent-mindedly calling him "James" in the short story "The Man with the Twisted Lip". This may be a simple typographical error, though some have speculated that it is a wifely reference to Watson's unknown middle name, which could have been "Hamish" (Scottish for "James").

Watson is a physician of some experience (as was Conan Doyle). Watson had served in the British Army medical corps in Afghanistan, but was discharged following an injuryWatson gives two separate locations for the Jezail bullet wound he received while serving in the British Army. In A Study in Scarlet he states "I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery." However in The Sign of Four, Watson informs us "... ^* sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather". The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor contains the only other reference to the injury. Here Watson is a little ambiguous; he tells us "the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence." received in the line of duty during the Battle of Maiwand. Watson was almost killed in the long and arduous retreat from the battle, but was saved by his orderly, Murray.

Personality

Watson is not a stupid man (he is, after all, a medical doctor, and one whose talents Holmes holds in the highest esteem), but he does not have Holmes' insight. 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 created a clever literary pairing: two vivid characters, different in their function and yet each useful for his purposes.

Watson is well aware of both the limits of his abilities and Holmes' reliance on him:

"^* was a man of habits... and I had become one of them... a comrade... upon whose nerve he could place some reliance... a whetstone for his mind. I stimulated him... If I irritated him by a certain methodical slowness in my mentality, that irritation served only to make his own flame-like intuitions and impressions flash up the more vividly and swiftly. Such was my humble role in our alliance."

Conan Doyle portrays Watson as a capable and brave individual, whom Holmes does not hesitate to call upon for both moral and physical assistance: "Quickly Watson, get your service revolver!" Watson occasionally attempts to solve crimes on his own, using Holmes's methods. For example, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, Watson efficiently clears up several of the many mysteries confronting the pair, and Holmes praises him warmly for his zeal and intelligence. However, because he is not endowed with Holmes's almost-superhuman ability to focus on the essential details of the case, he meets with limited success in other cases, as Holmes remarks "Quite so... you see, but you do not observe." Watson is too guileless to be a proper detective; he is naturally open and straightforward, while Holmes can be secretive and devious.

Watson was something of a ladies' man and fans of the Conan Doyle stories have long speculated as to just how many times he was married.

Watson as archetype of the sidekick

In Conan Doyle's early rough plot outlines, he intended that the role of Watson would be filled by two junior detectives known as Sandifer and Phillip; these characters were merged into "Watson." In turn, 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.

In the words of William L. De Andrea,

Watson also 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 who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a "Watson."

In 1929, English crime writer and critic Ronald Knox stated as one of his rules for fledgling writers of detective fiction as that -

the stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader."

See also: Audience surrogate

Not necessarily a fool

In a number of film adaptations, in particular those featuring the comic skills of the actor Nigel Bruce, the character of Watson became more of a caricature. Far from being the able assistant as presented by Doyle, Watson was portrayed as an incompetent fool. Modern treatments have returned to the roots of Conan Doyle stories and have portrayed a more sympathetic and competent Watson. The most famous example of this restored image of Watson is the depiction played by David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke in the 1980s television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett in the title role. Another well-liked depiction was by actor André Morell in the 1959 film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

It can also be argued that Holmes would not have admitted Dr. Watson as his right hand man if Watson had not been competent enough to be useful.

Cultural references

Microsoft Corporation named the debugger in Microsoft Windows "Dr. Watson"

In the television series House, the character of Dr. James Wilson is meant to be a direct reference to Watson. In addition to the similarity of their names, Wilson serves in the show as House's only real friend and confidante, and occasionally assists him in solving particularly difficult cases.

Notes

External links

Sherlock Holmes characters | Fictional writers | Fictional medical personnel | Fictional widows and widowers | Literature sidekicks