How does Canon Doyle create atmosphere about suspense in the approach to Baskerville Hall?

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Farihah Choudhury

How does Canon Doyle create atmosphere about suspense in the approach to Baskerville Hall?

This essay is based on the novel the Hound of Baskervilles. It was written by Canon Doyle. I am going to have a discussion about how he built atmosphere and anticipation into the story.

Sir Canon Doyle was a very popular author. He was born in 1859 and died in 1930. During his life he did many things although he is mostly remembered for creating the character ‘Sherlock Holmes’. He was a physician and a keen sports player. One of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ most famous quote was ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’. He was so popular with his readers that when Doyle killed his character off in one of his novels the public protested and he had to bring him back. He also made some other novels like ‘A study in Scarlet’, ‘The sign of the Four’ and ‘The valley of fear?’.

This novel is so popular because it has the two most famous characters Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes was very intelligent, smart and scientific. He was instinctive and eccentric. The story was popular because ‘The legend’ would have appealed to the audience of the time and they believed in the ‘Spiritual’.

In the story the reader is in the same position as the detective because they both don’t know what will happen next. They will always have to work out ‘who dunnit’.

One way of creating suspense in the novel is through the use of imagery. Canon Doyle uses imagery to build up tension on the approach to Baskerville Hall.

When the team (Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes) arrive at the station near Dartmouth and Baskerville Hall the first thing they see are soldiers. I know this because it says in the text “…by the gate there stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms who leaned upon short rifles and glanced keenly at us as we passed”. This shows that as soon as the team arrive at the station they see two strong and tough looking men glancing at everyone going past. This is the first sign of something negative on the approach to Baskerville hall because why should there be soldiers at the train station. Especially as the writer uses the words “two soldierly men” and short rifles” this gives a negative aspect to the story. The way this has been described builds atmosphere into the story and leaves the reader feeling tense. It keeps the reader alert and helps them to suspect that something bad is going to happen. It makes the reader confused and gets the reader thinking what’s going on? Why are there soldiers? Is something going to happen? As well as leaving the reader feeling tense, it makes the story more interesting and appealing, it makes the reader imagine the scene and it also makes them want to read on to see what is awaiting on Baskerville Hall.

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When the team come out of the station, they are on their way to the hall when they see the countryside on either side of them and behind the countryside they see the dark moor. I know this because it says in the text, “but behind the peaceful and sunlit countryside there rose ever, dark against the evening sky, the long, gloomy curve of the moor broken by the jagged and sinister hills”.  This shows that there is a big difference between the countryside and the moor. It shows that the moor is a dark, gloomy, forbidding and dangerous place ...

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