I do not watch the t.v. series featuring Benedict Cumberbatch (who I must say has an incredible last name), but as a fan of Robert Downey Jr. and his Sherlock Holmes films, I already knew that Conan Doyle did not, or should I say could not, kill off Sherlock Holmes through his chapter "The Final Problem." Though most of the Sherlock Holmes' series are written in the perspective of his close friend and partner Dr. John H. Watson, I think the narration in this chapter specifically allowed the reader to empathize with Watson from his starting words, "it is with a heavy heart." After doing a little online research, it turns out that Doyle's original purpose in writing this was to end his Sherlock series, but he eventually resurrects him in subsequent stories.
After I finished reading, it seemed to me that Doyle's feelings could be matched with Watson's in this short story. Both having been with Sherlock and worked with him for a long period of time, I can presume that both would have felt very sorrowful about his death. There was an obvious melancholic tone to the narration that I feel like was not subject to just Watson. There are small parts of the story that stuck out to me as analogous to a plausible reaction of readers and fans . For example, when Watson writes "it will be within the public how completely... how heavily the hand of the dead man weighed," I see it as an implication of the strong effect this story may have on the readers. I think Doyle, intentional or not, incorporated his feelings and the reader's potential reaction in this chapter as a result of its original intention being "The Final Problem."
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