Jabez Wilson is described at first glance by Dr. Watson as “a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair.” Upon further inspection, as Watson is attempting to use Holmes’s methods of observation, he still can get no further than that the man is “obese, pompous, and slow.” All in all he seems to be an overwhelmingly average sort of man, wearing old, ill-fitting clothes. The only thing that stands out about him is...
Jabez Wilson is described at first glance by Dr. Watson as “a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman, with fiery red hair.” Upon further inspection, as Watson is attempting to use Holmes’s methods of observation, he still can get no further than that the man is “obese, pompous, and slow.” All in all he seems to be an overwhelmingly average sort of man, wearing old, ill-fitting clothes. The only thing that stands out about him is his mop of bright red hair.
Holmes, of course, gets a bit more detailed that Dr. Watson – he notices immediately that Mr. Wilson is wearing a pin that places him as a member of the Freemasons, and that he has a tattoo of a fish on his wrist of such a particular style that it could only have been inked in China. Watson had observed a “square pierced bit of metal dangling down as an ornament,” which Holmes identifies as a Chinese coin – thus we know that Mr. Wilson has done extensive traveling in China. Holmes also observes that Mr. Wilson’s right hand is far more muscular than his left, thus indicating that he has done quite a bit of manual labor in his life. In addition to this detail, Holmes notes that Mr. Wilson takes snuff, and has devoted quite a lot of time recently to the act of writing. All of these details, of course, will prove useful to Holmes as he solves the mystery presented to him by his guest.
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