Throughout this novel, particularly towards the end, the exercise of personification is continually in use to describe the main settings i.e. the moor and Baskerville Hall. Doyle uses words and sentences in order to give the moor a personality of it’s own. This in itself creates atmosphere and no reader in their right mind would want to be trapped upon such a frightening, desolate place and all this by wording the portrayal of the moor in such a way that makes it feel as if it has a menacing mind of it’s own. A good example of this is found in chapter seven;
"It's gone! The mire has him. Two in two days, and many more, perhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the dry weather and never know the difference until the mire has them in its clutches. It's a bad place, the great Grimpen Mire."
Doyle uses the word “clutches” to imply to the reader that the moor has humanistic or at least animalistic qualities, such as the ability to consciously hurt or kill. As the moor itself is now a killer, the reader will learn to fear the moor as if it were another evil character as well as fearing the events that take place on it.
Adjectives make the moor appear in the reader’s head, so that they themselves can take their own personal look at this chilling place. Many believe that Doyle’s use of language makes the reader use their imagination to such an extent that it creates a powerful image that would be very similar to that of any other reader. Such descriptive words make the story seem just that little bit more realistic and believable, i.e.
“”What is that?" A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur once again. Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.”
Instead of Doyle saying, “ a sound came across the moor” he uses such words as “indescribably sad”, “swept over”, “dull murmur”, “swelled” and “melancholy” to add to the intensity of the story and to make the reader picture each part of the account clearly and precisely.
“…A maze of fantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather- bitten pillars on either side, blotched with lichens, and summounted by the boars' heads of the Baskervilles. The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of rafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed”
This is a short extract from chapter six, it is a just the beginning of a very long and detailed description of the appearance and the emotions that come across the visitors when seeing Baskerville Hall late at night, when it is dark and dreary. The Hall is so large and aged it could be said to look rather unwelcoming even on the nicest of days, but on a day like when Watson, Sherlock’s accomplice approached it for the first time Doyle describes the weather as less than hospitable;
“…The chilling wind, and the darkling sky.”
At every opportunity possible Doyle reminds the reader about the harsh and bitter conditions, which pollute the moor. Weather often and usually does effect emotion, people associate warm sunny days with fun and laughter and connect cold, dull times like such of the moor with gloom and even fear. This is the effect that certainly takes place in this story. Doyle puts the impressive, gruesome storyline and the weather into an unbeatable partnership; these two in themselves scary attributes duel up to send a shiver down even the bravest of reader’s spine not to mention my own.
There is a big change in the thoughts of Watson from when he is in London to the moment that he sees and enters the bleakness of Darkmoor for himself. Hearing the tale of the hounds in London, Watson immediately comes to the sane conclusion that this account is no more than fiction and that there will be a perfectly rational explanation for all the queer goings on which have taken place. They don’t think twice about it having anything to do with curses or that of the supernatural because that would not be seen to be the thinking of such educated men as Holmes and Watson. But as soon as Watson experiences the callous conditions of Darkmoor for himself he soon starts to believe that this is a place where nightmares and doings of evil could quite easily occur.
“The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation – sad gifts, as it seems to me, for nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.”
In this quote Doyle intentionally uses such words as “died” and “rotting” to almost unconsciously implant death into the reader’s mind, setting the scene for a horrific event ahead.
Some of the settings are used to link to and provide insight into characters, action and themes, i.e. how the convict and the moor share many characteristics; these include danger, mystery, evil and how they are both misunderstood. If a reader were to pick up this book and start reading in the middle of a page it would be difficult without reading into too much depth to know if he was talking about the moor or the convict. This helps the reader understand not just the convict but also the moor more clearly and also provides as likable relationship between the two especially seeing as the convict has to make the moor his home and learn to survive along side it.
The convict is not the only personality in this novel to have the characteristics of someone with a sinister mind. There is Stapleton, how in the end is revealed as the murderer, this man is freakily at home in the moor, which is somewhat unusual seeing how inhospitable it really is. This cold, callous man is somewhat devious and extremely mysterious, leaving most of his past well and truly in the past until it is cleverly uncovered by the excellence of Sherlock Holmes. This all relates to the moor, the moor is described as a very dangerous, daunting and deep place, this builds up suspense and atmosphere for the reader. It also seems that the moor has hidden secrets and depth of within the sinister, looming past.
To conclude this is a very successful novel, and has become a classic murder mystery book. Doyle has wrote a long line of top selling books using many of the same methods to keep the reader engaged in the storyline.
