Studying The Hound Of The Baskervilles English Literature Essay

The setting in a novel is important because it helps to create a sense of atmosphere. It is critical to create a sense of atmosphere in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” because the conventions of a detective story are to have a mysterious and scary feel, in order to build up tension or suspense which intrigues and excites the reader. Creating an effective atmosphere within the three main settings in the novel, which include Baker Street, London, Baskerville Hall and the Moor, is necessary to make the story convincing, particularly as Conan Doyle introduces the supernatural element of the “curse” and the hound. In terms of timing, the novel is set in busy Victorian London, with its cars and crowds ; however, this is juxtaposed with the moor, which as Watson observes seems wild, melancholy and far from modern life with horses and carts however it is described as:

“The melancholy of the moor, the death of the unfortunate pony”

This demonstrates the difference between the life of the Victorians and also the modern life itself. The main genres mentioned within this particular novel are detective and also partly gothic genre.

Time and place are therefore both relevant in the story to the creation of setting and atmosphere. The setting of “The Hound…” takes place in the nineteenth century when public hangings were often carried out, especially as Victorian people feared crime; this is one reason why Sherlock Holmes stories became so popular. As a logical, intelligent and intuitive character, Sherlock Holmes would have had great appeal to the audience because he solved many challenging and very cunning crimes. The character Holmes operates within the conventions of a detective setting, with the presence of a victim, a crime, a problem, suspect, plot and alibi.

However, the story, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” also follows most of the conventions of the gothic genre which include mystery, depression, the supernatural, ancient prophesies, criminals, a damsel in distress and death. The gothic background, with which the Victorian audience would have familiar, is very important in creating a sense of a gloomy, daunting atmosphere. The hound as a supernatural element is used as a device to terrify the reader repeatedly throughout the novel, except of course at the end when the mystery is found to have a logical basis. For this reason I would suggest that the novel is more of a detective story because at the end the Baskerville myth can be easily explained in a scientific way. For example, the vicious hound can be explained by its diet of phosphorus. For example, the “vicious” hound can be explained as it says in the novel:

“Phosphorus, I said”, there is no smell which might have interfered with his power of sent”.

This therefore shows the reader that the reason the hound is has grown enormous is because it is being fed with unusual things.

The initial setting takes place in London where Sherlock Holmes and Watson’s home is upper class and their lifestyle is very sophisticated and glamorous; in the company of Sir Henry and Dr Mortimer, they enjoy a

“…pleasant luncheon” after which they retire to a “private sitting room” in a high quality hotel. This shows the reader that the two men are upper class and they have a privileged lifestyle. As they mention the “…millions of this great city, “this shows the reader that London is a very dense and highly populated area but also rather grand and a centre of civilisation.

However, despite this sense of power and control in London, there is also a sense of chaos and an unsettling, unwelcome contrast when there is suddenly a threat, for example the second time Sir Henry’s boot is stolen. This sense of threat increases when mysteriously they find one of the missing boots when the hotel room had been carefully inspected beforehand; Sir Henry exclaims;

“My missing boot! … There was certainly no boots in it then.”

The setting in London is effective because it is the place where Holmes and Watson are most comfortable and where they are accustomed to conducting their business affairs; for example:

“Holmes sat in silence as we drove back to Baker Street, and I knew from his dawn brows and keen face that his mind, like my own, was busy endeavouring to frame some scheme into which all these strange and apparently disconnected episodes could be fitted”.

This shows the reader that the setting in Baker Street is important to create a sense of atmosphere because it is a place where upper class people stay for business and pleasure.

Sherlock Holmes is a character that lives in Baker Street and has some unusual habits:

“Mr.Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, saves for those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table”.

Here we can see that while solving crimes, Sherlock Holmes stays up all night to solve a mystery. We also learn that the relationship between Holmes and Watson is close because they know each other’s habits. In addition, we also learn that Sherlock Holmes is more independent than Watson.

Likewise, in the novel we can interpret that the character, Sherlock Holmes, is intelligent and witty person because he successfully makes predictions:

“I think”, said I, following so far as I could the methods of my companion, that Dr. Mortimer is a successful elderly medical man.”

This shows the reader that Sherlock Holmes, as an intelligent person and a successful detective in his careerism, is a person whom Watson endeavours to model himself on.

We see a comparison between Sherlock Holmes and Watson intelligence because Watson himself makes a good assumption about the “thick iron ferulle” they indentify:

“Really, Watson, you excel yourself”, said Holmes pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. “I am bound to say that in all accounts in which you have been so good as to give my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It must be that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it”.

This shows the reader that Holmes is praising Watson because he has made a good hypothesis but later it proves incorrect.

On the contrary, Watson then understands that Sherlock Holmes’s assumption is correct and that his assumption was erroneous:

“I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions was erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth”.

This implies that Watsons’s conclusions were wrong and if he had listened to his companion, then he would be guided to the truth.

The description in Devonshire contrasts with the description to the Baskerville hall, since the Baskerville Hall is described as:

“Grey melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic in a dream.”

This quotation demonstrates that the place is very pessimistic and the use of words “melancholy” emphasises the depression and sadness in the novel also the use of use of pathetic fallacy in the quotation is effective, “fantastic in a dream”, this is effective because it creates a sense of atmosphere.

Similarly, the description of the initial setting of Baskerville hall is portrayed in a rather negative and gloomy way:

“Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered.”

This description implied in the quotation shows the reader that the “fluttered” leaves symbolise the danger that is going to happen in Baskerville Hall and could also suggest the foreshadowing of the end of something, since the leaves are described as being “fluttered”, this could interpreted as the danger about to occur in the Baskerville Hall.

When the heir to the Baskervilles arrives in the Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry is described as being very eager to enter even though the melancholies moor is awaken by his presence:

“…Baskerville gave an exclamation of delight, looking eagerly about him and asking countless questions.”

This use of words “delight” and “eagerly” shows the reader that the Sir Henry Baskerville is very enthusiastic to enter the Baskerville Hall but it later proves to be a have a haunting dwelling of its own.

The atmosphere changes dramatically when Sir Henry Baskerville is about to enter the Baskerville hall because it is implied to have been awakened:

“… but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren waste, the chilling wind’ and the darkling sky.”

This shows the reader that the hall does not like the heir to enter because the area is dangerous and something is about to happen and the use of pathetic fallacy shows the reader that weather could be intercepted as the death of something or the strike of supernatural.

The area around the Baskerville Hall is described negatively and the reader will have a grim impression of the area itself:

“Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there rose in the distance a grey, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in a dream”

This shows the reader that the use of words, “grey” and “melancholy”, creates an effect of the bitter, depressing and sad atmosphere around the Baskerville hall, leading to a conflict between the human and natural locations.

In addition, the use of juxtaposition in the quotation in effective because the Baskerville Hall itself is described in dim and vague way , “melancholy”, “grey” and “vague”. However, there is a contrast between the settings because London which is one of the main initial settings is described as being very “civilised” and “pleasant”.

Conan Doyle uses juxtaposition to create a different sense of mood so that the murder itself would have a more dramatic importance. Even though, both settings have different interpretations, they are similar because they are both dangerous areas.

The author uses atmosphere within the hound of Baskervilles to create a sense of tension:

“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”.

This shows the reader that the atmosphere around the Baskerville hall is very grim and tense; the effect of this is to provide the reader with a sense of mood within the novel and make the reader feel scared and intrigued.

Sir Henry, the heir to the Baskerville Hall, tries to be positive about the moor and lights it up using the old fashioned light:

“I’ll have a row of electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won’t know it again, with a thousand candlepower Swan and Edison right here in front of the hall door”

This quotation implies the reader that the heir to the Baskerville lights up the hall, knowing it is a melancholy and depressing hall. This is effective because for once the hall could be interpreted as being portrayed positively rather than being sad and darkling.

Conan Doyle uses setting to portray Dartmoor inscrutability and bleak:

“The beautiful green fields with thick hedges were behind us, and were now on the cold, open moor.”

This quotation shows the reader that the Dartmoor is a dangerous and mysterious area and the atmosphere in the area is very tense and quite dramatic.

In addition the moor is described again in a sinister way, this creates a negative effect:

“Everything was grey, hard and wild. Huge rough stones stood on the hard ground. The tops of the hill stood sharply like cruel teeth against the sky.”

This demonstrates that the Baskerville hall has a very tense atmosphere and the use of similes, ” sharply like cruel teeth”, empathises the vicious and evil side of the moor, this creates a powerful effect to the atmosphere, it also suggests that perhaps it is the end of something.

On the contrary the Baskerville Hall is described in dark way:

“A dull light shone through the heavy windows. Black smoke was coming from one of the high chimneys of the main buildings.”

Arthur Conan Doyle uses the words “heavy” and “lback” to give an impression to the reader that the hall is a gloomy and depressing place and it implies that it doesn’t like to be awakened.

When the supernatural element of the novel occurs, which is one of the convention of a detective novel, the hound strikes at the Baskerville hall for the first time, the description of the hound is very powerful:

“The huge, black, burning hound ran quickly and silently after Sir Henry.”

The representation of the hound is very effective in the quotation, to create a sense of atmosphere because the description of the hound is very efficacious in order to create a sense of atmosphere.

The moor itself is surrounded by wilderness, however there is conflict between nature and humans, when the trees that are planted by humans and they stunted. This determines the reader that nature and humans never work together. The moor is described pessimistic and portrayed negatively by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as it says:

“A bleak Morse land house”

This shows the reader that the use of word, “bleak”, empathises the loneliness of the moor. The atmosphere around the moor is very powerful as it is described as:

“The cry had been loud on account of its vehemence”

This shows the reader that the atmosphere around the moor is full of power and energy and it builds up the tension in the novel.

We also learn that the atmosphere around the moor is strange and unnatural:

“So grotesque was the attitude that I could not for the instant realize that the moan had been the passing of his soul”

This quotation shows the reader the use of grotesque shows the negative impacts of the moor and this is effective because it shows the other side of the moor as it is portrayed in a strange and unnatural way.

The moor itself is a sad place:

“A half moon broke through the rifts of racing cloud. In its cold light I saw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, curve of the melancholy moor”.

This quotation shows the reader that there area around Baskerville Hall is bleak and shadowy. Watson is telling us how he responds to the environment and what it makes him feel. This is effective because there’s a feeling of darkness that we can understand through the language and it also empathasises the sinister nature of the moor. The Pathetic Fallacy in the quotation is effective, “the rifts of the racing clouds”; because it gives the moor is a sense of atmosphere.

The atmosphere around the moor is described as thick and poisonous by the author, to give an impression to the reader that the moor is very melancholy and sinister.

“No, it’s this poisonous atmosphere; I suppose it’s pretty thick.”

This quotation suggests to the reader that the purpose for the moor was to give it an atmosphere that would add a sense of mystery. The use of personification in the quotation, “poisonous” could mean that the atmosphere around the moor is thick and cruel to the people that enter the place itself.

Overall in conclusion, I believe that the main intention Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the story was to show the readers of the modern world, what life was like during the Victorians era and the purpose in which Victorians liked Detective stories. I think the idea of serialization in the Victorian times would have been a good idea because it would have helped to add tension to the Victorians themselves. I think the author was successful in creating his story because his character, Sherlock Holmes, was a famous and popular character and it is still popular in modern times. Even though, Sherlock was a fictional character, may Victorians and people today would find a famous, intuitive character like Sherlock Holmes and royal model or an idol.