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Hieu Nguyen Professor Haas Writing 37 10 March 2014

Genre Convention: Sidekick The purpose of genre conventions is to primarily help readers distinguish the genre of the text they are currently reading and to further understand it. According to Alastair Fowler, a literary critic, traditional genres and modes, far from being mere classificatory devices, serve primarily to enable the reader to share types of meaning"(79).Fowler believes that through understanding a certain genre, the audience develops certain expectations for that genre. By expecting certain conventions in a genre, the audience creates meaning. For example, the genre, mystery, is shaped through many conventions such as clues, the main detective, suspects, hidden evidence, and foreshadowing. Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series, is the person who created these conventions for mystery. Consequently, he set the foundation of the mystery genre and made it what it is today. One of the most significant characters of Doyle's stories, Watson as the sidekick to Sherlock Holmes, became an important convention in the mystery genre today. An important quote relating to Watson as the role of the sidekick is located in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Sherlock states, "I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of

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stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt"(2). This compliment explains not only the peculiar relationship of Holmes and Watson, but also the significance of the role of Watson in most of the novels. The definition of a conductor is one who guides. By identifying Watson as a conductor, Holmes depicts that Watson possesses his own set of skills, and such skills are able to guide Holmes to solve his cases. Dr. Watson symbolizes as a flashlight for Holmes, who uses him to shine through the tunnel of deduction in each mystery he encounters. Watson and Holmes fill each other's needs. Watson provides Holmes with an ego boost, while Holmes needs Watsons eyes and ears to inconspicuously gather clues. For example, Holmes used Watson as his eyes and ears in The Hound of the Baskervilles. As Holmes stated first stated in the quote, " I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities."Watson is amazed by Holmes' power of observation, and he feels powerful by associating with Holmes. Thus, forgetting that he produces his own abilities. Watson and Holmes' relationship is necessary for each and every story; their companionship is necessary to solving cases. The role of Watson is not only to help Holmes, but to also help the readers. In The Sign of the Four, as Holmes and Watson are having a casual conversation, Holmes gives an example of his observation and deduction skill being used simultaneously. Holmes stated that, Observation shows me you have been to the Wigmore Post-Office this morning, but deduction lets me know that when there you dispatched a telegram" (4).Similar to how that would baffle the audience, the prediction bewildered Watson because it was a hundred percent correct. Before Sherlock explains how he came to the conclusion, he bluntly stated, "it is simplicity itself"(4). Since Sherlock's extraordinary skills are almost unrealistic and difficult to comprehend, Doyle added

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Watson in as an element to his story in order for his audience to relate. Since Watson is the narrator, the stories are told by an average man. Consequently, this makes each story easier to understand and the audience does not get left behind. As much as Holmes amazes Watson with his work, he also confuses him and he becomes lost. As he has different feelings towards different characters, the audience follows. Watson is the bridge that connects the audience to the story. Every genre has its own set of conventions that makes it unique. In mystery, most of its conventions come from Sir Author Conan Doyle. He basically created a guideline for all future mystery texts. One of the most important conventions Doyle created was the sidekick convention. The main purposes of the sidekick are to assist the protagonist with their cases and most importantly, help connect readers to the story. The genre convention of the sidekick is now very common in the mystery genre. It is frequently used in our modern day mystery texts, such as House MD, where Wilson plays the role of the sidekick. From books and films such as the Hardy Boys or Batman, the sidekick has a noteworthy place. The Sherlock series would not be as legendary as it is today without the sidekick, Dr. Watson.

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Works Cited Alastair Fowler, The Life and Death of Literary Forms, New Directions in Literary History, ed. Ralph Cohen. London: Routledge, 1974. Page 79. Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. New York: Looking Glass Library; Distributed by Random House, 1961. Print. Doyle,Arthur Conan. The Sign of the Four. New York: Book-of-the-Month Club, 1994. Print.