Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring. “Well, Watson, what do you make of it?” Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation. “How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”

Question

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring. “Well, Watson, what do you make of it?” Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation. “How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”

Use the passage to answer the question. Which detail reveals Watson’s role as the everyman character archetype in the story?
A. How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”
B. I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval
C. “I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.”
D. “I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?”

Answer 1

A. “How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”

This detail reveals Watson's role as the everyman character archetype in the story because he is surprised and impressed by Holmes' observational skills and deductive reasoning, much like how the reader may feel. Watson represents the average person who is in awe of Holmes' intelligence and abilities.