The Hound of the Baskervilles: Setting, Mystery, and Detective Fiction

This essay delves into the atmospheric setting of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles," focusing on its crucial role in building suspense and contrasting the civilized London setting with the mysterious Dartmoor. The essay highlights key locations like Baskerville Hall, the moor, and Bak...Read More

Running head: ENGLISH
Essay
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

2
ENGLISH
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime novel written by Arthur Conan Doyle.

3
ENGLISH
The hound of the Baskervilles is acquired novel which is written by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle. The novel is among the four written by the author which features Sherlock Holmes, the
detective. It is considered to be one of the most read and famous stories to have been written.
The story acquired success at the very first instance when it was published in The Strand
Magazine. The story is about an apparent supernatural hound which continue haunts the
Dartmoor. The story of the hound captivates the residents as a family curse, which continues to
make the Baskerville family live with fear and terror about what the future holds. Here, Sherlock
Holmes, stands as a contrast with the imagination to be the rational presence to solve the
mystery. The story is an extraordinary as it emerges into two popular genres of Gothic tale and
detective fiction. The thesis of the paper is to delve deep into the atmosphere of the moor in
the novel which creates suspense and contrasts against the civilized London setting.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is set in Devonshire and London. The life and atmospheric
setting of the two places are in stark contrast with each other. This adds to the suspense in the
novel as the city life is full of chaos and people while the country side is quiet, as if holding
mysteries and secrets. It creates an atmosphere which is convincing for the readers to believe in
the seemingly supernatural events which take place in the story. It is very important to create the
appropriate atmosphere in which the story will unveil, which Doyle had done in the most
profound manner (Wexler). Three places are very crucial and contributes to the development of
the extraordinary setting which include the Baskerville Hall, the Moor and Baker Street in
London. Time and place are very crucial which has developed the entire setting of the novel
(Kissane and Kissane). The Hound of the Baskervilles, has been presented as a story which is
taking place during 1980s. It is the time when criminals are punished by hanging them to death
and the detector, here is symbolic of trying to get to the crime, which he tries to perceive from a

4
ENGLISH
rational point of view. However, according to Allan, the supernatural setting and occurrences do
not allow the read to entirely believe that there is a suspect, problem or a victim but add to the
Gothic elements more evidently.
Holmes, is seen, constantly employing his detective skills to address what creates
mystery in the plot and reaching the core of it the truth. Conan Doyle presents his characters by
adding more suspense, as the readers are deceived to an extent of making them believe that
Stapleton catches butterflies and was a naturalist (Doyle). The readers are misled to believe the
opposite of what comes across as the truth at the end by using elements to mystify the seemingly
supernatural elements which give rise to tension and suspense throughout the novel. Dr. Watson
and Sherlock Holmes are confronted with the setting which makes limitations of the physical
world very evident why there is a demonic hound who owns the more in Devonshire and have
been the reason behind the death of Sir Charles Baskerville (Wexler). Dr. Mortimer is compelled
to hire a detective in order to probe into the matter after being tired and horrified by the strange
occurrences in the moor, especially during the nighttime.
Conan Doyle has used double narrative in the story to unfold the events and merge the
novel into two popular genres- Gothic and the detective (Allan). The employment of legend and
myth in The Hound of the Baskervilles adds to the mystery as a plot develops. The Baskerville
family was reputed to be cursed according to the manuscript, caused due to the actions of Sir
Hugo. It is since then the family was experiencing supernatural occurrence, which even resulted
in deaths in the family. People from the Baskervilles family and around believe that the deaths
were caused by the hound who haunted the moor. The sound of the hound is described to be “a
hideous howl”. The howl of the sound was often heard by the people who resided in Devonshire
which horrified people and believe in the curse to be true (Kissane and Kissane). This gives rise

5
ENGLISH
to more suspense and drama in the plot. The readers are fascinated by such occurrences which
are unlike the settling stories. Doyle carefully makes use of personification such as ‘Trees
moaned and swung in a rising wind’ to depict the somberness of the setting, in which the
mysteries and strange events unfolded.
When Watson and Holmes weight of the treacherous move for Sir Henry to arrive, it
heightens the mystery because of dangers which are involved in the situation. The path covered
in most are little nuances which made the readers grow suspicion about the events to follow and
safety concerning the lives of the characters as they could not figure out what waits for them
ahead, as there was darkness (Goethals et al.). Readers fear about everything which could go
wrong and creates tension in the story. As Watson discovers a hut in the moor, they become
complacent about what might be inside fearing the dangers involved in the immediate situation,
to the extent that he ends up pulling out his piston on hearing a sound.
The comparison and difference presented by Doyle in the story, between the two settings
provides the readers to distinguish between lives from the cities to the country setting (Doyle).
The author is improvised both the settings cleverly while making a beautiful coexistence of both
the settings, of one being the busy city live and the forbidding moor being the other, which
comprises of the greater setting of the plot and mysteries. The secret of the moor is intensified
when Holmes is followed in the city, disappearing pair of shoe and the newspaper cuttings
(Goethals et al.). The adjustments made by Doyle makes the story more mystifying for the
readers and Holmes’ job interesting till the story reaches the climax.
This setting of the play has made the story a successful one, as Arthur Conan Doyle
exemplified suspense and mystery in the plot, with the usage of several techniques such as the
use of supernatural and superstition. Elements such as the cliffhangers, red herrings and

6
ENGLISH
personification, similes and metaphors are extraordinarily placed in the story to heighten the
setting and binds to plot together to make it intimidating and intriguing at the same time. The
way in which the hero figures have been presented in the story have added to the unknown
atmosphere in the story which this is the readers into believing that Stapleton is an innocent man
and has nothing to do with the unnatural events (Goethals et al.). One of the most profound
examples of red fairings which has been used in the novel is an escaped convict name Selden.
The readers are suddenly baffled into thinking that he is involved in in the sudden deaths rather
than allowing them to think wisely to believe that he must have been at the wrong place at a very
wrong time (Gale). The second example of red herring which Doyle has used in the plot and
served its great purpose to mystify the plot further is by drawing links between Barrymore and
the London stalker (Goethals et al.). The readers are left confused as they get eager to know the
truth behind the occurrences.
Sherlock Holmes comes across as a figure who uses deductive procedure to arrive at
solution and solve mysteries. He stands in stark contrast with the theme of supernatural and
superstition which haunt the Baskerville family, to which he gets hired to arrive at the core of the
problem (Doyle). Holmes pay crucial attention to even simplest of details in order to fit them
perfectly into the parcel so that they make sense rather than making arbitrary assumptions. The
nature of Watson plays a very important role in the story, as Sherlock homes is absent through a
great part of the events. Watson’s perceptions and accounts added to the process of investigation
as Holmes made use of those details and necessitated deeper understanding and probe into the
affairs which was important to arrive at the final solution (Gale). Holmes dismantles the
misconceptions associated with the manuscripts and prophecies which haunt the Baskerville
family.

7
ENGLISH
The readers are finally allowed to make their sigh of relief as Holmes solve the case and
put an end to the imagination and reveal that everything which took place were not entirely
supernatural following the curse in the manuscript but planned by Stapleton, who came across to
the readers as an innocent naturalist. Tension prevails, as the story does not conclude to reveal to
the audience about the death of Stapleton but the hound. The story, still is settling at the end
despite the mysteries created, as the villain is revealed and gotten out of the picture even though
it is unknown whether he died, but the Baskervilles were relieved from the suspense which made
them dread their lives.

8
ENGLISH
References
Allan, JANICE M. "Gothic returns: the Hound of the Baskervilles." (2017).
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles & the Valley of Fear. Pan Macmillan, 2016.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's" The Hound of the
Baskervilles". Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.
Goethals, George R., et al. "Mystery and Meaning: Ambiguity and the Perception of Leaders,
Heroes, and Villains', The Romance of Heroism and Heroic Leadership." (2019): 7-39.
Kissane, James, and John M. Kissane. "Sherlock Holmes and the ritual of reason." Nineteenth-
Century Fiction 17.4 (1963): 353-362.
Wexler, Bruce. The mysterious world of Sherlock Holmes. Simon and Schuster, 2020.