The Hound Of The Baskervilles Coursework
Antony Holdsworth Thursday, 2 June 2005
The Hound Of The Baskervilles Coursework
Introduction
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a traumatic and adventurous story about a legend that comes with the birth right of the Baskerville family. The story both begins and ends with tragedy. The story firstly begins with the death of Sir Charles Baskerville and a cunning and eccentric detective. Sherlock Holmes is thought of as a highly mannered but stubborn man whom is willing to get to the bottom of any case. "Watson examines a mysterious cane left in the office by an unknown visitor, and Holmes sits with his facing his friend. Holmes asks Watson what he makes of it, and Watson declares that his friend must "have eyes in the back of [his] head," since he saw what he was doing. Holmes then admits that he saw Watson's reflection in the coffee service, providing to Watson and us that he is an astute observer." This shows that Mr Holmes is an honest man. As the story continues the reader finds that there is believed to be a curse within the Baskerville family. In this essay I am going to be looking into this story and pointing out ten key areas: Baskerville legend
Death of sir Charles
Arrivals at the Hall
Views of the Locals
Barrymore of the window
Discovery of Sherlock
Death of the convict
Waiting for Sir Henry
Attack on Sir Henry
Death of Stapleton
Sir Hugo, is described in the legend as "a wild propane and godless man." This suggests that his inhumanity and "evil" make him potentially a viable enemy who will stop at nothing. It is Sir Hugo that sets the scene for the setting. Sir Hugo uses his power and Baskerville hall as a prison for the young girl. She manages to escape by, "the aid of the growth of ivy which covered the south walk." The ivy indicated the age and wildness of the hall and its setting. The "moon" is "shining bright" and the act "which was like to be done" On the moor adds to the sense of danger and isolation that we, as readers, encounter at the start of this tale. As the grown men leave the impression of "screaming" and fear having associated with the moor we are given a furious warning, "caution you to forbear from crossing the moor in these dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted" Which tells us that this setting is both dangerous and a potential trap for those that dare to live there.
Sir Charles's death was inscrutable "Sir Charles lay on his face, his arms out, his fingers dug into the ground, and features convulsed." It appears that he has died in a mysterious manner, there is no evidence of a murder but his facial disfigurement shows he may have died due to extreme fear and terror, "there is a gate which leads out onto the moor." It is perplexing where the body is found. Just beyond the gate on the moor. "Nothing will induce him to go out upon the moor at night." Tension is increased because it is unknown why Sir Charles came upon the moor. He feared the moor and the legend that came with his family's name.
The weather sets the mood throughout the scene. "Day had been wet." It also seems to correlate with the feelings of Sir Charles. "The ground was damp and the night inclement" Sir Charles died an excruciating death and the weather adds tension to the scene.
The scene begins as the entire moor is covered in a mysterious mist that seemed to linger in just one place, this shows that the moor is not a nice place and develops a type of anxiety between the reader and the story. "Moor is sparsely inhabited. " This also develops a ...
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The weather sets the mood throughout the scene. "Day had been wet." It also seems to correlate with the feelings of Sir Charles. "The ground was damp and the night inclement" Sir Charles died an excruciating death and the weather adds tension to the scene.
The scene begins as the entire moor is covered in a mysterious mist that seemed to linger in just one place, this shows that the moor is not a nice place and develops a type of anxiety between the reader and the story. "Moor is sparsely inhabited. " This also develops a sense of fear. The moor is a large place with very little people living near-by to witness an event such as Sir Charles's death.
"Within a radius of five miles, there are only a few scattered dwellings." The moor is sparsely inhabited which gives the impression of fear and neglect. On arrival Sir Henry is conflicted by the weather and fear of death, "The cold wind swept down... set us shivering." "Somewhere on that desolate plain, was lurking that fiendish man." but Sir Henry shows no fear. Only a delightful expression is found upon his face. "At every turning Baskerville gave an exclamation of delight... to his eyes all seemed beautiful." He arrives to see this wondrous piece of scenery, to find that it is so dangerous there is no person who will cross the moor at night, "There is hardly a man who will cross The Moor at night." and I think this piece of information is passed on to Sir Henry to increase the tension for the story.
"Chilling wind, and darkening sky... even Baskerville fell silent." As sir Henry and Dr Watson approached the Baskerville mansion the wind became colder and the sky darkened, only to leave Sir Henry silent. The weather is portrayed as gloomy, dull, dark and damp to show the reader the moor is not a nice place to live. The mansion is isolated and "long shadows trailed down the walls". This gives the impression of someone or something lurking in the dark and the moon in the distance sets the mood for the legend because the moon is often associated with werewolf's like the hound that supposedly Massacred Sir Charles. "Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind. A half moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds."
Inside the Baskerville mansion is no different to the moor. Dark. Dull and lifeless, "a dull light shone through heavy windows." and "sob of a woman, the muffled strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow."
The next morn it is as if the moor is a completely different place. "As Henry and I sat at breakfast the sunlight flooded in... it was hard to realise that this was indeed the chamber which had struck such a gloom into our souls upon the evening before."
Stapleton is firstly seen as a bold, exciting and friendly man, "here on the moor we are homely and do not wait for formal introductions." he thinks highly of the moor. "It's a wonderful place the moor." "You cannot think the wonderful secrets which it contains." Mr Stapleton begins to show he believes in the Baskerville legend by the way he talks about others claiming to have seen the creature. "Any of them are ready to swear that they have seen a creature upon the moor."
Mrs Stapleton is personified as a conspicuous character seeming to know information on the Baskerville legend by the way she tries to persuade Dr Watson to leave the moor, "Go back, and never set foot upon the moor." but when she finds he is not Sir Henry she demands he forgets their conversation. "Get away from this place at all costs." "For ever since I have been here I have been conscious of shadows all around." These quotes show Mrs Stapleton believes in the legend of the Baskervilles by the way she is pleading for Dr Watson (thought to be Sir Henry) to leave the moor.
"Last night, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room" Dr Watson is waken by a slight shuffle of feet just beyond his bedroom door, he is quick to act and finds Sir Henry who also herd this stealthy shuffle. The noise is Barrymore and he is sneaking around the Baskerville manner because he is trying to contact his wife's brother the convict and does not want to attract any attention. Dr Watson and Sir Henry follow Barrymore. "They found him crouching at the window, candle in his hand." in the room with the best view of the moor, "he stared out into the blackness of the moor." and "The light shone steadily, as if he were standing motionless.". "He must have been looking out for something or somebody upon the moor." Watson and Sir Henry are lead to believe he is signalling a mistress across the moor, but in fact is signalling the convict, but then Mrs Barranger is honest and tells Watson and Sir Henry the truth. "My unhappy brother is standing on the moor." Sir Henry and Watson rushed out upon the moor where they were only to come across the strangest and eerie sound. Sir Henry believes "it was the cry of the hound." "It seemed to freeze my very blood."
"I saw a figure of a man upon the tar...he might have been the very spirit of that terrible place."
Watson claims he saw a figure of a man upon the tar with the moon rise behind him. This is a strange allegation and keeps and causes confusion within the reader.
Sherlock is first spotted "on the night of the convict hunt, when I was so imprudent as to allow the moon to rise behind me." Dr Watson pursues his ambition to catch the killer and investigates the tor.
First impressions of the tor are that it is a rundown shepherd's station. "Mr Frankland says that "a place where a shepherd would be likely to take his station.""
Watson seems to show fear and instinct by the way he approaches the tor with his weapon loaded and ready to fire. "There was a feeling of an unseen force." "There unknown might be lurking there, or might be prowling the moor." On the tor there are mixed feelings shown, Watson shows he feels the tor is deserted but also he shows he believes he is always being watched by the way he always looks over his shoulder. "The barren scene, sense of loneliness and the mystery and urgency."
As Watson approaches the Tor he discovers that it is Sherlock Holmes and he feels used, he feels as if all his hard work was for nothing, "suddenly upset that his reports went to waste." and his presence at the Baskerville mansion was only to be as a distraction, but Sherlock reinsures him that he has played a great deal in the case and that he did not inform him of his presence because he could not afford to be discovered. "The detective explains that he hid so enemies would not know of his direct involvement. Holmes lied to Watson, he says; so that no-one would discover him, should Watson decide to compare notes or bring his master some food."
Dr Watson's and Mr Sherlock Holmes's conversation is interrupted by "a terrible scream- a prolonged yell of horror and aguish burst out of the silence of the moor...turned the blood to ice in my veins." They follow it only to find the body of the convict thought to be "the body of Sir Henry" "blindly we ran through the gloom...whence those dreadful sounds had come" This dreadful and horrific sound came out of the darkness of the moor without warning. It was Sherlock Holmes incredible listening skills that lead them to the body.
"We had turned the body...the face of seldom." Holmes begins to snigger horrendously. Watson looks at Holmes with a sign of disappointment and disgust, but is then explained to that the body Watson is grieving over is not his companion he has spent the last few days with but the convict whom he had a close encounter with the night before. Holmes decides to head back to the Baskerville Mansion with Dr Watson as "The sun had set and dusk was settling over the moor." also to bring no superstitions and to keep Sir Henry at peace he decided to not inform Sir Henry of their observations, but to say that the convict "rushed about the moor in a crazy state and eventually fallen over here and broken his neck.
"It is surely inconceivable that he could have held out upon the moor during all that time." Watson and Sherlock are immensely perplexed, they find the convict's corpse that seems to have suffered an excruciating painfully visible death, but how has he survived this long without food and water. Dr Watson suddenly realises that it was not a mistress whom Barrymore was signalling to from the window but the convict whom is now known to be the brother of the wife of Barrymore.
"Our success and even his life may depend upon his coming out before the fog is over the path." Anxiety builds the longer they wait. Imagine the thoughts must be going through the detectives heads. It is amazing what the imagination can do with fear and anxiety. "fog-wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house." It is as if the house is producing the fog and I believe this image is created to show the imagination of the detectives. The moor is feared by most and Sir Henry shows he fears it to. "As he walked (Sir Henry) he glanced continually over either shoulder, like a man who is ill at ease." This sets tension for the scene.
"It does not seem like a cheerful place" As the three detectives approach Merripit House, the scenery changes from the open, misty moor to a dark, damp overgrown forest. The air is stale and the impression of fear and death is given. The "Environment adds suspense and the tragedy and mystery" Paths obscure and almost invisible, and it is perfect counterpoint to the supernatural terror.
"Over the great Grimpen Mire there hung a dense white fog. It was drifting in our direction." It is as if the weather is against them. "Cold wind upon our faces and the dark, void spaces." It is the scene and the weather that set the tension for the scene.
"My mind paralysed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of the fog." Holmes expected something viscous and ghastly but never in his wildest imagination could he have prepared himself for such an immensely huge and vile creature. "Could anything more savage, more hellish, be conceived,"
"we heard scream after scream." The beast found Sir Henry upon the moor. Holmes feels he has put Sir Henry's life in danger and he shows this by the way he runs after the beast, "never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night." The hound left Sir Henry unable to walk and his pain unbearable. "We helped him to a rock, where he sat shivering with face buried in his hands."
"the fog lifted and we were guided by Mrs Stapleton through the bog." Mrs Stapleton gets to know Sir Henry in the time they spent together and he seemed to have won her over and this is proved by the way she lead's Watson and Sherlock to find her husband. "The Hound of The Baskerville" follows the traditional structure of a Victorian tale, with all the stereotypical characters, and all is resolved at the end of the novel. However, we do not know what happens to Stapleton in the end. We presume that he gets lost in the Grimpen mire and dies, but the author does not tell us what actually happens to him, to end the novel in suspense. This would be a change from the usual, so would entertain the Victorian audience. "Stapleton never reached that island refuge...sucked him in, this cold and cruel-hearted man is forever buried." It is as if the countryside is a character in its own right, the moor gave birth to Stapleton's scheme but it also took it away. The land is unsafe, walking alone is ainsane idea. "Holmes sank to his waist as he stepped from the path...had we not been there to drag him out he could never have set foot upon firm land again."
