Narrative Voice

English Lit: AQA GCSE The Sign of the Four, topic 5.1.1

Narrative Voice: Watson

The novella is written from Watson’s point of view – he is the narrator, and so the story is told in his voice.

Because Watson is our narrator, we develop a type of bond with him and trust him – he is honest about his own shortcomings and reports criticism from Holmes as well (Holmes criticises that Watson spoils his writing, as he ‘attempted to tinge it with romanticism’).
As we develop a bond with Watson, we start to care about what happens to him in the story.
For example, we worry about him being lost and being put in danger – we also become invested in his relationship with Mary Morstan.

Watson comes across as a more human character than Holmes, and so the reader can relate to him. This adds to the trusting relationship between reader and narrator.
Watson is not as self-assured or self-confident as Holmes (‘What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account…?’)

At the start of the novella, Holmes criticises Watson for being too romantic and sentimental in his writing – Holmes believes that when Watson is writing about his escapades, his writing should be purely scientific and logical.
But it is because of Watson’s sociable, personal, descriptive tones that the reader is interested in the story – if it was written as a scientific report, Watson would lose that personal relationship with the reader which hooks us in.

It is important to remember that the story is written from Watson’s viewpoint, and so many things remain a mystery to the reader.

The novella itself is structured to only reveal key information to the reader as it becomes necessary – as it is revealed to Watson. This keeps us hooked into the story.

Similarly, we are only able to access Watson’s viewpoint – the inner-working of Sherlock Holmes’ mind remains a mystery to the reader, especially as Holmes only reveals information when he wants to.

Although Holmes explains his conclusions to Watson, the reader still cannot be entirely sure how his brain works and how he deduces these things from the evidence – he keeps some details to himself until he is ready to disclose them (‘I hope before very long to be able to introduce you to the pair of them’).
The reader becomes more and more impressed with Holmes, as Watson appears to throughout the story.

Whose point of view is The Sign of the Four written from?
What emotional reactions do we get from Watson?
Whose point of view is The Sign of the Four written from?
Which character does Watson become more and more impressed with throughout the novella?