Thursday, December 29, 2011
Idealizing Holmes
In Silver Blaze, Holmes says to Watson, "Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson-which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than any one would think who only knew me through your memoirs." I thought this line was funny because we can only read these stories "through Watson's writing" and I wonder how idealized Holmes' personality might be. Do you think that Watson's admiration for Holmes' abilities has turned a blind eye to his faults? Do you see any hints of Holmes' reality in Watson's writing?
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Watson definetaly admires Holmes. I agree that he might edit out some of the more embarassing parts of Holmes stories to make him out the hero he cailms him to be. I have seen some of Holmes' reality, however. In the Five Orange Pips Watson writes of a story that isn't always told or remembered because Holmes fails. His client is murdered before he has time to put a stop to it. By telling this story, Watson strays away from the hero Holmes is pictured to be and allows us to see him fail.
ReplyDeleteI though that by reading about Holmes' failures and the fact that he is not always right made his some-what more "real." What did you all think.
I agree. Watson sees Holmes higher than he himself does sometimes. Holmes has admitted that he makes mistakes while Watson keeps telling us what a great but Holmes is. Holmes does have some flaws like his drug usage. I also saw fear in the adventure of the speckled band. This made Holmes more "human" to me.
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