Let's Talk About John Watson...
Feb. 6th, 2013 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katikatThis is just me rambling, watch me vomit words...
So, let's talk about John Watson. Doyle's John Watson, I mean. I just started reading "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", the very last anthology in the series and the only one I haven't read yet. And the first story in my version is "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" which starts with Watson mentioning it's the year 1902 and he doesn't live with Holmes at the moment, having his own pad. Which made me think...
Why did Watson keep going back to Holmes? I mean, at the very beginning, it was about money. But later on, he got a practice of his own and his own money. I get that it was basically Doyle's Swiss cheese memory that lead to this on and off rooming* - but that aside, why would he keep going back? Did Holmes create artificial crises to lure him back? Did Watson simply miss his friend? Didn't his practice prosper enough? An interesting thing to ponder...
* It's like with Watson's injury - was it his shoulder or his leg? - or his wife/wives. Did Watson have only one wife or two or three? I subscribe to the theory of one wife and a forgetful Doyle.
And speaking of Watson's wives - I can't believe that nobody has ever written a book/short story or made a movie where Watson actually murdered his wives and Holmes helped him cover his tracks - or where it was Holmes who murdered them to lure Watson back. I mean, seriously, both scenarios simply beg to be explored.
So, let's talk about John Watson. Doyle's John Watson, I mean. I just started reading "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", the very last anthology in the series and the only one I haven't read yet. And the first story in my version is "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" which starts with Watson mentioning it's the year 1902 and he doesn't live with Holmes at the moment, having his own pad. Which made me think...
Why did Watson keep going back to Holmes? I mean, at the very beginning, it was about money. But later on, he got a practice of his own and his own money. I get that it was basically Doyle's Swiss cheese memory that lead to this on and off rooming* - but that aside, why would he keep going back? Did Holmes create artificial crises to lure him back? Did Watson simply miss his friend? Didn't his practice prosper enough? An interesting thing to ponder...
* It's like with Watson's injury - was it his shoulder or his leg? - or his wife/wives. Did Watson have only one wife or two or three? I subscribe to the theory of one wife and a forgetful Doyle.
And speaking of Watson's wives - I can't believe that nobody has ever written a book/short story or made a movie where Watson actually murdered his wives and Holmes helped him cover his tracks - or where it was Holmes who murdered them to lure Watson back. I mean, seriously, both scenarios simply beg to be explored.
