The Hound of the Baskervilles, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of Doyle’s crime novels that features the detective Sherlock Holmes who seeks to solve the mystery of Sir Charles Baskerville’s death and separate the cause of Baskerville’s death from a family tale of a menacing hound. The Hounds of Baskerville, directed by Paul McGuigan, is a modern-day film adaptation of Doyle’s story. Compared to The Hound of the Baskervilles, the realistic aspect and the theme of immorality accompanied by the portrayal of the results of unethical science through the characters in The Hounds of Baskerville all work to support the idea that the story serves as a cautionary tale against the loss of morals.
First and foremost, the difference in the origins of the mystery and the modernized and realistic factor of science in The Hounds of Baskerville work to caution the reader of the possible and potential dangers of immoral actions. In the novel, the mystery originates from an ancient
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In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock is described as an indifferent, “trained man of science” whose logic prevents him from believing in a “supernatural hound” (31). However, in the televised depiction, Holmes is frightened, as he trembles while drinking tea after exploring the bleak hollow (The Hounds). In fact, contrastingly, Sherlock begins to doubt his logic, claiming he saw an actual beast. The sharp contrast between Holmes’s character in the novel and in the film underscore the theme of unethicalness. Holmes’s character in the film is used to appeal to the audience’s fear by presenting a character to who the reader can relate his or her feelings. Therefore, by presenting an inherently stoic character who is terrified, the story frightens the reader of the dangers of unrestrained
In fact, there was such a multitude of faults that “at night the lights and the infilling darkness served to mask the exposition’s many flaws” (254-255). This statement is extremely ironic to the beliefs of good versus evil, also mentioned as light versus dark. The fact that the darkness, or the evil, hides the flaws of the exposition serves to explain how darkness and immorality is needed to succeed in something as ambitious as the World’s Fair. Larson proves to his audience how momentous figures and events could not be possible without a lack of morality. Likewise, with this ironic statement, he demonstrates how said immorality is dismissed by the public. Irony is also used to convey the true nature of men as opposed to how they let themselves be perceived. Through the entirety of the book, Holmes is a metaphor for such irony. He is described in every scene in which he is present as “charming” and “warm,” but in reality he was a sociopathic serial killer. Others saw him only the way he presented himself, which was approachable, for he kept all of the darkness that festered inside of him hidden. To elaborate on Holme’s manipulative ways, Larson tells a specific story of Holmes taking two children to Indianapolis. When he bought an apartment, he requested help to set up a large wood stove in the house. When asked why he
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four novels written about his world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. However, unlike the other books written about Sherlock Holmes, much of The Hound of the Baskervilles is absent of the detective. Instead, the audience is left to work through the mystery of who murdered Mr. Baskerville with Sherlock Holmes’ assistant and friend, as well as the narrator of the novel, Dr. John Watson. There are multiple reasons Doyle may have decided to make Watson the narrator, and to remove Holmes from a large portion of the novel. First, as Holmes is such a dry and clinical person, by making Watson the narrator, Doyle is able to employ more descriptive and entertaining writing. Second,
...r Conan Doyle loathed writing Sherlock Holmes. He would write the wrong name for major reoccurring characters and not care if the reasoning in his stories was completely illogical, yet he ironically created his own genre of mystery novels that are recognized even to those who have never read them. Doyle unwillingly created the most insane fanbase that is still alive and thriving today. Doyle’s stories are still popular even eighty-four years after his death because they keep readers enthralled with the story. He wrote war stories based on his own exciting experiences, stories that he believed brought him to the height of his writing capabilities, and stories that sent him crashing back down when a frenzy into Spiritualism crumbled his prestige as a writer. His stories manage to capture the reader’s attention, making them timeless classics in the world of literature.
These two scenarios from Anglo-Saxon and modern times are similar, as well. They are similar because of the continuity of “monsters” terrorizing a society being a great influence among audiences of the past and present. The two works of both eras demonstrate the continual interest in defeating villains and “feeding” it’s listeners with tales such as these.
While history often views the story of Frankenstein as little more than a horror story about a monster, it is obviously much more. It is a tale that explores the darker side of mankind, loneliness, guilt, sorrow and above all the dangers of manipulating nature. The bounties that humanity has reaped through the works of science have indeed been great, but the consequences of some such discoveries can be far greater.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” demonstrated the differences between the upper class and the lower class and even between those people who were in the same class as each others at the end of the 19th century in England. Beside those differences, there were also some similarities between the two classes. In this essay, I will analyse how they are alike and different in some main aspects such as the belief in the curse, the relationship to the law, their mysterious actions, and especially the subjugation between people in the same class.
Crimes around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s time have been an inspiration to his work, like the case of Jack the Ripper, a serial killer that killed over 5 women in the 1800’s and hasn’t been found and The Whitehall Mystery which was an unsolved case where the police found dismembered remains of women around London. The titles of said cases sound like they would be a title to one of his tales. As a reader of his tales, Doyle is and always will be, remembered as one of the most legendary writers of all time. He brought fear, excitement, love, loyalty, wonderful characters and a horrible crime-filled world to the readers.
Stories have an opportunity to leave the reader with many different impressions. When you look a different characters within the stories the ones that leave the greatest impressions are the ones that tend to scare us. The figures in Bob Dylar’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have you been?”, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, and Stephen King’s “The Man in the Black Suite” all instill a bit of fear in the reader. They are symbols that represent the devil or devil like attributes in people and the uncertainties of human nature.
Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous fictional characters in literary history is a detective capable of solving the most complex mysteries. The author behind the character, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a very successful British writer. The majority of his literary success is due to his crime-fiction tales such as the Sherlock Holmes series. However, Mr. Doyle and Mr. Holmes himself must not take all the credit because there is another character that plays a major role in the stories success. He goes by the name of Dr. Watson, Holmes’ sidekick. The importance of Dr. Watson is evident in many of Doyle’s stories such as A Scandal in Bohemia and A Study in Scarlett.
The Hound of the Baskervilles written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the movie The Hound of the Baskervilles directed by Jeremy Bret are two works of art that are mainly telling the same story. There are, however, many differences about the book and the movie. Those differences don’t affect the outcome of the story, but they give less impact to the story. Along with the differences there are many similarities, and those similarities give you confidence that it is the same story.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912) is yet another essential novel, that marked and defined the genre science fiction. Set in an expedition to a plateau in South America, the reporter Edward Malone tells his journey along with the hot-headed and eccentric Professor George Edward Challenger. What differentiates the protagonists from Doyle’s, what was soon to be known as Challenger Tales, his Sherlock Holmes series, is not only the ambiguity in attitude, as Sherlock Holmes is considered self-controlled and analytical, whereas Challenger portrays the stellar opposite, but also the way both novels are being narrated. Whereas former novel series has Sherlock’s assistant Dr. Watson as the narrator of the protagonists adventures, The Lost
In the novel, Sherlock Holmes The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are given a case that is paranormal. They decide to split up and Dr. Watson is given the task to stay by Sir Henry’s side while looking for clues. They cross paths against and Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet to discuss this case as a murder. They find major clues against Mr. Stapleton leading to his death. The novel explores the theme of not being ruled by fear through characters dealing with the apparent supernatural myth coming to life.
In the beginning, Sir Charles fears the mythical hound, and is killed because of it. When Dr. Mortimer, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson are discussing the details of the time leading to Sir Charles death and his death. This is depicted when Dr. Mortimer states, ‘“…Sir Charles’s nervous system was strained…so much so…nothing would induce him to go out upon the moor at night…[a] ghastly presence constantly haunted him…”’ (23-24). Furthermore, Sir Charles heart attack was caused by the fear of seeing the hound and when he died, his face was distorted with fear. His fear directly ruled his life through keeping him away from the moor at night and worrying about
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes,” states Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles loc 1238). According to TV Tropes, mystery is a genre of fiction where the plot revolves a mysterious happening that acts as the driving question. With any given problem there is a solution; however, and the question is “how does one come about to that solution”? Extremely high intelligence level, keen observation, creative imagination and sensitivity to details are just some of the qualities that Holmes possesses. In the process of solving mysteries, there is always a borderline between mere guessing, a coincidence, and a scientific approach that Holmes calls deductive reasoning. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Mortimer seeks advice from Holmes as he explains the curse that has been plaguing the Baskerville family. With the power of deduction, Holmes realizes that Mr. Stapleton is actually a Baskerville descendant and has been planning to get rid of the other members of the family to claim the family fortune. Conan Doyle tells the reader what their mind is capable of doing by incorporating Holmes through his novels as he uses observation, deduction and knowledge in solving his cases. One important key that makes him different from most people is that he sees everything that people often neglect to pay attention to. A remarkable proof which shows that Holmes holds an extraordinary analytical mind and is uniquely capable of solving a mystery through his great sensitivity to minute details and the ability to draw connections from it was shown as he observes and deduces information from the letter received by Sir Henry Baskerville the moment he arrived...