We identify with Watson because although he has exceptional deductive skills Holmes always out does him and insults him often. Watson is a doctor trying to learn about Sherlock Holmes and is trying to learn how to improve his powers of deduction. As you read this book the reader may also become intrigued by Holmes and Watson’s powers of deduction.
In episode 1 they have a small game of deductive skills. They find a cane and this is where you learn that Holmes has deductive skills. The setting here is unimportant here because it is not involved in the plot and the writer shows no particular importance to the setting. This is because at the time the setting was London and it was just although a famous city it was still just a city like any other.
Episode Two
On this page it describes the almost miraculous transformation between the city and the country. As they watch from the train they see how it affects them. They see that Sir Henry seems to have almost become ignited, with the prospect of going to his family home.
(All quotes are in italics)
“There he sat, with his tweed suit and his American accent, in the corner of a prosaic railway-carriage, and yet as I looked at his dark and expressive face I felt more than ever how true a descendant he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery, and masterful men. There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick brows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes. If on that forbidding moor a difficult and dangerous quest should lie before us, this was at least a comrade for whom one might venture to take a risk with the certainty that he would bravely share it.”
On this page it also shows that the last time Sir Henry had been to the family home was when he was young so he wouldn’t remember it well and it had been a bad time so he would not wanted to remember it.
“But you were very young when you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?”
“I was a boy in my teens at the time of my father’s death and had never seen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast. Thence I went straight to a friend in America. I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I’m as keen as possible to see the moor.”
Sir Henry had never seen for hall because the last time he was there it was when his father died then he left for America.
Setting
When they reach Baskerville Hall they reach a creepy setting. The moors are often foggy. The moors seem to be renowned for taking the lives of people. This sets the background as a cold harsh unforgiving wasteland. The setting around the hall is seen as being dismal and cold it is to set the mood for something that’s wrong with the world.
Why this episode is significant
This episode is significant because this is where we find out the dark secrets of the Barrymore family. We also meet the characters in this book like Stapleton. We meet all the suspects and Miss Stapleton. Miss Stapleton gives a warning to Watson when she thinks he is Sir Henry.
Episode 3
Neither Holmes nor Watson had the power to make an arrest. So they needed an official, Lestrade was a police detective. Holmes and Watson knew there was going to be trouble so they asked Lestrade to join them. They are hiding outside Merripit house. Merripit house is described as dismal.
“My word, it does not seem a very cheerful place,” said the detective with a shiver, glancing round him at the gloomy slopes of the hill and at the huge lake of fog which lay over the Grimpen Mire. “I see the lights of a house ahead of us.”
From the quote above we can see that Grimpen mire is a cold place with fog so dense that it is described as a lake. The mire is never described in the book as a cheerful place but this dismal place.
We can also see that Holmes expected that they would need arms (guns) to protect them selves so he asks Lestrade if he is carrying a gun in the following quote.
Are you armed, Lestrade?”
The little detective smiled.
“As long as I have my trousers I have a hip-pocket, and as long as I have my hip-pocket I have something in it.”
“Good! My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.”
It also shows that when Holmes says
“Good! My friend and I are also ready for emergencies.”
They must often have use for carrying guns. Holmes also hints that he must have been in danger a lot.
What has happened so far?
Holmes has solved the case but he needs more evidence so he gets detective Lestrade they are waiting outside Merripit house. They know who is trying to kill sir Henry and they know when he will strike so they are sitting waiting so that they can kill the hound and arrest Stapleton.
The Setting
They are out side Merripit house late at night they are on cold dank moorland. The heavy fog creates a dismal mysterious atmosphere. It says the fog was heavy so this might have impaired their vision.
Why is this episode significant?
This is the final episode, this episode dictates if sir Henry is going to live or die. This is the action part of the book. This book is where you have to read each line twice to make sure you don’t miss anything. This episode is when is attacked by this supposed almost Faustian dog I say Faustian because it’s almost dragging the souls of its victims to hell for eternal damnation (or hell whatever you want to call it).
But what we also have to keep in mind is that they have a new character in this book detective Lestrade. He is almost the naïve in this case with only what Holmes has told him. We still have to remember that Watson is still narrating I think this is so that at this point we get an inside view of how the group feels.
The Authors Use Of Language
The author set the novel in his own time rather then in the past he also set Holmes and Watson as high members of society Watson as doctor and Holmes as a respected detective of highly spoken skills. (1887, when Sherlock Holmes was first introduced to the world, in an adventure entitled A Study in Scarlet). The language is quite old to a modern reader because the authors use of language is not only set in I different time but is quite refined:
“I HAVE in my pocket a manuscript,”
The word order is old fashioned. Today most people would say:
“In my pocket I have a book”
Also there are other examples of words that today you don’t hear often.
Manuscript
Monograph
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a doctor so I think he based Watson on him self to try and add a sense of realistic reaction because in the books although Holmes is an incredible character. He has been lead by stereotype. Holmes is this character that always is right. You never read of Holmes being corrected by Watson. Arthur Conan Doyle did make this character almost all knowing so he has to have this vice this need to escape so he writes this almost perfect character with opium addiction as well as being eccentric. I think its so that Holmes does not seem like he is above us all.
My Personal Opinion
In my personal opinion the book is almost to predictable we already know who has done it by half way through the book. The movie was almost a completely different story. We never learn of what happens to Mr Stapleton only that he could be dead. In my opinion out of 1-10 it gets five skull and crossbones.
☠☠☠☠☠
