Conan Doyle’s writing style in “The Red-Headed League” is highly descriptive and formal. Told in the first-person from Watson’s point-of-view, the story features Watson’s lengthy transcriptions of dialogue between the two men (as well as between Holmes and other characters), along with important developments in the plot and personal musings on Holmes.
The opening lines of the story capture Watson’s formal and verbose style, as well as Holmes’s quirky speaking style (as seen in much of the dialogue in the story):
I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me.
“You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson,” he said cordially.
“I was afraid that you were engaged.”
“So I am. Very much so.”
Watson’s formal style comes across in the opening paragraph, via his descriptions of “calling upon” Holmes and apologizing for his “intrusion,” as well as in his decision to refer to the visibly lower-middle-class Wilson as a “gentleman.” The highly descriptive aspect of Watson’s style can be seen in his description of Wilson as “a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair.” By including several adjectives and details at once, Conan Doyle brings readers more closely into the scene. This descriptive writing style demonstrates that, while Watson is no Holmes, he is someone who notices details about people, making him well-suited for his role as Holmes’s assistant.
In the brief dialogue that follows the opening paragraph, readers can sense a difference between Watson’s formal and direct speaking (and writing) style and Holmes’s quirkier and more indirect speaking style. For example, Holmes simultaneously states that Watson “could not possibly have come at a better time” while also saying that he is “very much” engaged with the man who has come to see him. After some prodding from Watson, Holmes eventually explains himself, but his eccentric speaking style continues throughout the story, intriguing (and frustrating) Watson and readers alike.
