Jan 1, 2010

The Red-Headed League | Literary Qualities

"The Red-Headed League" is narrated from the first-person perspective of Dr. Watson, who participates in all aspects of Sherlock Holmes' case. What makes this narrative style especially clever is that Doyle creates a narrator who sees and hears the same information that Holmes does and who can relay the information systematically to readers, but who cannot interpret it. This technique is characteristic of the early detective story, pioneered by Edgar Allan Poe in his tales of the sleuth Dupin. It creates suspense, since readers—along with the sidekick narrator—do not have access to...