I Was Sufficiently Conversant with Holmes's Methods [RESI]

The general public will often write off Dr. John H. Watson as a doofus.  Portrayals like Nigel Bruce, Dudley Moore, and John C. Reilly haven't helped matters much.  And in "The Creeping Man," Watson goes so far as to say such negative things about himself as that Holmes may as well talk to his bedstead instead of him for all he did to help.  But I argue that those aren't true accounts of the man who wrote the Canon and that a better account of of Dr. Watson's intelligence can be viewed in "The Resident Patient."

First of all, this man can WRITE.  Just the opening line of this story will get you to take notice:

In glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of memoirs with which I have endeavoured to illustrate a few of the mental peculiarities of my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have been struck by the difficulty which I have experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way answer my purpose.

No dullard is putting out prose like this.  

But as we get into the story, you see Watson display his intelligence throughout.  When Holmes and Watson return from their walk, a brougham was parked in front of their building.  Holmes deduces that a general practitioner, who has not been in practice for long, has come to consult them.  Watson is able to follow Holmes's deductions by

see[ing] that the nature and state of the various medical instruments in the wicker basket which hung in the lamp-light inside the brougham had given him the data for his swift deduction.  The light in our window above showed that this late visit was indeed intended for us.

This is a far cry from the man in "The Red-Headed League" who said "I was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock Holmes."  No, the Watson we read about in RESI is keeping pace with his friend here.

And how has Watson been spending his free time before this case starts?  Reading yellow-backed novels or staring off into space?  No, this man has been reading monographs on obscure nervous legions.  I don't know how many of us are reading arcane pieces of writings related to our professional fields, but this is a sure sign of Watson's intelligence as far as I'm concerned.

Another argument against "Stupid Watson" is that Sherlock Holmes wouldn't tolerate a dummy following him everywhere.  In fact, Sherlock Holmes values Watson and his time.  He recognizes that Watson has better things to do than follow him around on pointless errands.  If Holmes viewed Watson as a hapless sidekick, I doubt he would have felt the need to apologize to his friend for bringing him out on a fool's errand for their first visit to Brook Street.

Watson does have a suggestion to make to Holmes along the way.  He offers that the story of the Russian and his son were made up by Trevelyan and that the doctor is behind all of the trouble.  Although Holmes disproves Watson's theory, he admits that "it was one of the first solutions which occurred to me."  Although Watson is a step or two behind Holmes in deducing things, he's clearly not lost during all of this.

And once there's a dead body involved, Watson's medical knowledge is of use.  He states that Blessington had been dead for about three hours by the time that they arrived, judging by the rigidity of the dead man's muscles, aligning with Inspector Lanner's report that the death occurred around five a.m.

Now, am I saying that Dr. Watson is ready to strike out and begin solving crimes on his own?  Probably not.  But I think we should all appreciate that this man is not only a great writer and brave companion, but also a worthy partner in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.