Valley of Fear Chapters 1 - 4

From the very start, The Valley of Fear establishes itself as a mystery novel. The way Sherlock Holmes, the central character, is introduced invokes a sense of mystery, as the narrator, later revealed to be Watson, presents him solving an actual mystery: "…he stared at the slip of paper which he had just drawn from its envelope. Then he took the envelope itself, held it up to the light, and very carefully studied both the exterior and the flap" (173). Doyle adds to the mystery by starting out with dialogue and not giving the readers any description of who the characters are. Of course, most people already know that Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are an iconic detective duo, just like Shaggy and Scooby Doo or Batman and Robin, but to a completely new reader this might add to the sense of mystery. Doyle’s introduction of Moriarty is even more mysterious. Moriarty is introduced first as Porlock. Then, Doyle throws out the next clue to Moriarty’s identity, which is that Porlock is just a fake name. Then, through Holmes, he finally reveals Moriarty’s name. Still, the reader has no clue who he is. After that, Doyle reveals more about the perception of who Moriarty is through Holmes’ paragraph-long rant. Still, Holmes uses several rhetorical questions and sounds sarcastic at times, so the reader is left unsure as to what’s true and what’s not, effectively leaving Moriarty a mystery. The way Doyle goes about describing Holmes’ deductions enhances the mystery, because he just gives obscure details one by one and never points out anything obvious. He takes the readers along for the journey with the characters themselves, as he describes the painstaking step-by-step process of how Holmes makes his deductions. In Chapter 3, Doyle employs a different method and instead unloads a large amount of expository information about who the victims were and what their lives were like. He has Watson set the stage by first establishing the setting, then the characters, then the dead man and subsequently the mystery.

By the end of Chapter 4, Doyle manages to paint a pretty clear picture of what the characters are like. Despite clearly being a great detective, Sherlock Holmes is kind of arrogant, and downright rude. His tone is kind of derisive and condescending towards Watson, although it is unclear if he means it that way. Watson uses words like “impatiently,” “sardonic,” and “deprecating” when describing Holmes’ manner of speech. Whenever Holmes explains things to Watson, he acts as if Watson should already know that. The first time that Holmes ever speaks in The Valley of Fear, it is an impatient interruption of Watson’s speech. It is kind of implied that Holmes just may not know that he’s being rude, since Doyle portrays him as one who is more wrapped up in his own head, as seen as when Watson says, “…he was too much absorbed with his own thoughts to give any immediate answer to my remonstrance,” and “he was speaking to himself rather than to me” (173). Despite his personality flaws, Sherlock Holmes is undeniably smart and willing to help for the sake of knowledge, as seen when Watson confirms that Holmes had helped MacDonald climb up the career ladder, with his “own sole reward being the intellectual joy of the problem” (180).

Watson, on the other hand, is the long-suffering partner. He is somewhat fed up with Holmes’ rudeness, but his eagerness to get to the bottom of the mysteries and slight admiration of Holmes drive him to put up with Holmes’ derision and arrogance (“…but my vexation disappeared in the interest which the words awakened” (173)). Watson also defers to Holmes at all times; he never deduces anything out loud without first asking Holmes what he makes of it. Doyle uses Watson as kind of the voice of the readers; Watson is the one who has to ask Holmes to explain, which is how the information is revealed to the readers. Watson is very much the Robin to Holmes’ Batman.