Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "watson"
Best Friends in Fiction
With my other writing hat on, I blog including for a weekly online magazine. My current topic for them is Best Friends in Fiction but I realised it would be a good topic for Goodreads too.
When a lead character and their best friend/sidekick character are well portrayed, it is a joy to read their adventures and the interactions between them.
Can you imagine Holmes without Watson or Wooster without Jeeves? So many classic stories depend on the best friend character - and across genres too.
Think Sam Gamgee and his support of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. (It was literal support at some points too).
Characterisation has always been what makes or breaks a story (of any length) for me. I have got to understand where the characters are coming from, even if I disagree with their attitudes and actions.
And for lead and best friend characters I have got to see why the lead has the best friend character they do.
Holmes is a genius but needs Watson to temper that but Holmes does recognise that. Watson knows he can never be as brilliant as Holmes but knows he has his own role to play that could not be fulfilled by Holmes. Can you imagine Holmes trying to narrate a story for the masses? Err… no I think!
Do you have any favourite best friend fictional characters and if so why have you chosen these?
Mine is Sam Gamgee - you can’t beat the guy for loyalty and guts when it matters.
When a lead character and their best friend/sidekick character are well portrayed, it is a joy to read their adventures and the interactions between them.
Can you imagine Holmes without Watson or Wooster without Jeeves? So many classic stories depend on the best friend character - and across genres too.
Think Sam Gamgee and his support of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. (It was literal support at some points too).
Characterisation has always been what makes or breaks a story (of any length) for me. I have got to understand where the characters are coming from, even if I disagree with their attitudes and actions.
And for lead and best friend characters I have got to see why the lead has the best friend character they do.
Holmes is a genius but needs Watson to temper that but Holmes does recognise that. Watson knows he can never be as brilliant as Holmes but knows he has his own role to play that could not be fulfilled by Holmes. Can you imagine Holmes trying to narrate a story for the masses? Err… no I think!
Do you have any favourite best friend fictional characters and if so why have you chosen these?
Mine is Sam Gamgee - you can’t beat the guy for loyalty and guts when it matters.
