Red Herrings in the Hound of the Baskervilles
Have you ever felt like a book has misled you? That may have been the author using red herrings. The term “red herring” comes from 1800s Britain, where runaway fugitives would rub a smoked and salted herring across their path to perplex and mislead police dogs trying to track them. A red herring in mystery and thriller stories is a clue or character utilized by the author to misguide readers. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adeptly uses red herrings in The Hound of the Baskervilles making the book more unpredictable and engaging to the reader.
Mr. and Mrs. Barrymore, as well as Mrs. Barrymore’s brother, the criminal Selden, are prominent red herrings in the book. On page 51, Doyle states that the man in
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Mortimer, the Baskerville family’s doctor, tells Sherlock Holmes and Watson the tale of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Although Holmes doubts that the hound is real, the story is being told through Watson’s less rational eyes, and his uncertainty will most likely nag the reader, leading them away from the true culprit. Later, on page 29, Dr. Mortimer states that "several people had seen a creature upon the moor which corresponds with this Baskerville demon, and which could not possibly be any animal known to science.” With the integration of witnesses, the idea that the supernatural hound is the main perpetrator is much more plausible. The reader does not yet know that the “hound” is actually a large dog coated in phosphorus, a waxy chemical element which glows in the dark. Twice in the book, the howl of the supposed Hound of the Baskervilles is heard and the prospect of a mystical hound is brought up, first in chapter 7, when Watson is with Stapleton, and again in chapter 9, when Watson and Sir Henry are pursuing the criminal Selden across the moor. Doyle uses sensory details in to make the noise on the moor sound ominous and even personifies it to some extent. For example, on pages 137 and 138; “It came with the wind through the silence of the night, a long, deep mutter, then in a rising howl, and then the sad moan in which it died away. Again and again it sounded, the whole air throbbing …show more content…
Watson spots the man on the tor on page 142 after they lose the convict Selden in the darkness of the moor. The passage describing the man makes him seem very mysterious and illusory; “There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining background; I saw the figure of a man on the tor...As far as I could judge, the figure was of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay behind him.” (Doyle, 143). The man on the tor is yet another distraction from the plot because readers will be temporarily focused on finding out who he is, rather than on who the murderer is. Mr. Frankland, Sir Henry's old, red-faced neighbor, could be considered a red herring as well. He is mentioned on page 22 and is introduced on pages 111 and 112. He is not initialized as a protagonist and is described as a quarrelsome person. An important characteristic of Mr. Frankland is that he is obsessed with lawsuits. Thus, he is a potential suspect. He could have lost a lawsuit to Sir Charles, angering him to the point where he would go as far as to kill his opponent. The mysterious L.L, or Laura Lyons, Mr. Frankland’s estranged daughter, could be considered a suspect too. She sent the letter to Sir Charles, asking him to come to the alley where he would meet his end.
In addition to the atmosphere of decay, is the aura of mystery, sin, crime, guilt, and secrets within the whole novel. Firstly, is the mystery of the infamous hound. This all originates around Hugo Baskerville. He is supposedly killed by a demon hound late at night on the moor chasing after a woman. Ever since then, there has been suspicion surround the moor. So, when Sir Charles is killed, there is reason to believe this mysterious hound is behind it. Next, is the sin of the escaped convict. Since there is a prison nearby, an escaped convict is not too surprising. This convict is named the Notting Hill murderer. Sherlock Holmes himself even once worked on this case some. Then, we have the crime of Sir Charles Baskerville. As the baronet of the Baskerville Hall, he, of course, knows of this legend this legend that surrounds his family line. Already with a weak heart, Sir Charles dies from fright from an unknown source, who we later find out is Mr. Stapleton and his
Next, In the majority of the stories he is portrayed as a person who shows a great passion for crime along with Holmes. Although, intellectually he can not compete and always seems to become second best; "Holmes," I cried, " I seem to see dimly what you are hinting At. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible Crime."
Finding clues left by the author is essential for figuring out where a story’s headed. Readers can find these clues and use them to create a hypothesis in their own mind of how the story will end. “There was Slade and here was Mr. Baumer with his bills and here I was, just as before,
Every story, every book, every legend, every belief and every poem have a reason and a background that creates them. Some might be based on historical events, some might be based on every culture´s beliefs, and some others might be based on personal experiences of the authors. When a person writes a literary piece, that person is looking for a way to express her opinion or her feelings about a certain situation. A good example is the poem “Southern Mansion” by Arna Bonptems. The main intention of “Southern Mansion” could have been to complain, or to stand against the discrimination and exploitation of black people throughout history. However, as one starts to read, to avoid thinking about unnatural beings wandering around the scene that is depicted is impossible. The poem “Southern Mansion” represents a vivid image of a typical ghost story which includes the traditional element of the haunted house. This image is recreated by the two prominent and contradictory elements constantly presented through the poem: sound and silence. The elements are used in two leading ways, each one separate to represent sound or silence, and together to represent sound and silence at the same time. The poem mixes the two elements in order to create the spooky environment.
“It is called destruction before reconstruction. People will have to see the danger of war, the hopelessness of war, before things can improve.”-Elizabeth Joyce The United States, a dark place for the locals. Recovery from the Civil War (e.g. Sherman's march in the south) and Lincoln's death, the country is torn apart. Both the Radical republicans' and President Johnson's goal was to reunite the country in a stable and fair way. My A+ plan for reconstruction has southerners who rebelled to be punished differently, southern states who wish to be readmitted into the Union should give freedmen equal rights, and freedmen should establish new lives as free people.
Written in 1818, the latter stages of the Gothic literature movement, at face value this novel embodies all the key characteristics of the Gothic genre. It features the supernatural, ghosts and an atmosphere of horror and mystery. However a closer reading of the novel presents a multifaceted tale that explores
To achieve this the stories keep building up suspense and thrill till they get to the climax of the story. At the start of t, a mystery or detective book the author usually tells the reader the problem or mystery. Like something was stolen or someone was killed, to peak the reader’s attention. Then they start to build up the story by introducing the clues to try to solve the mystery. An example of this is “Chee’s Witch” by Tony Hillerman. In this story Chee, the detective has to investigate the recent deaths that have been going on in the town. At the start of the story Hillerman only starts off with “Corporal Jimmy Chee of the Navjo Tribal Police” (412). Hillerman only starts off with small facts in this case introducing Chee. Laster on in the story is when he starts to build up the suspense. “He is the only one they think is the witch” (Hillerman 416). Hillerman then puts clues to help the reader get an idea of what is going
The author selects techniques of diction such as connotation, repetition, and onomatopoeia, to establish the fear is the overall excerpt. He manipulates connotation to enhance the mood. As the character is driven about the midnight landscape by the mysterious coachman, he notices the “frowning rocks” hanging over the road, a “ghostly flicker” of blue light which he cannot explain and off in the distance the “long agonized wailing” of dogs. The word “frowning” allows us to see that this is no happy setting, even the rock that cannot feel is frowning and not smiling. The author uses the word ghostly to describe the flicker of light. Light usually portrays a saving or some sign of hope. By using ghostly as a descriptive word, he makes it seem supernatural or like it’s faintly there. If he wanted this to be a sign of hope he could have worded it a flickering light, but he did not causing the character to feel fright and no hope. The utilization of repetition by Stoker applies reinforcement to the atmosphere. Throughout the excerpt the narrator continues intensifying the effects by also repeating phrases such as “another and another.” By repeating these words the reader is being reminded of the alien emotions and surroundings of such a strange place. The use of intensifying repetition strengthens the negative connotation words following directly before or afte...
Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillian, 1995. 137-49 Neill, Edward. “The Secret of Northanger Abbey.” Essays in Criticism 47 (1997): 13-32 Williams, Anne. “The Horror, the Horror: Recent Studies in Gothic Fiction.”
The words used to describe these characters are withered, old decayed and pale. We are also not given a name of the narrator or what business he has at the castle. All we know is that he is sceptical about the ghosts that these people are telling him about. ‘That it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me’, shows a conflict between the superstitious and the sceptical. This builds up tension as we know that in most gothic stories, the sceptical are usually the ones to get punished.
Thousands of readers made complaints and the once well known cult figure had been feared to be gone forever. For a couple of years Conan Doyle avoided the reader's. complaints but Doyle eventually buckled under stress and wrote a book. called "The Hound of the Baskervilles". A story set before the tragic ending of Sherlock Holmes.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a British physician and writer, mostly well known for his stories “Sherlock Holmes”, which are generally in the field of crime fiction. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.
sisters and one brother, with quite a large family occasionally times got hard as money
In The Hound of the Baskervilles, various factors of Arthur Conan Doyle’s early life, popularity, perspective, and status were all expressed in multiple ways. Spiritualism played an crucial role in his life, greatly impacting his work, specifically “The Hound.” Additionally, his birthplace and upbringing, along with the time period, inveigled his writing. Furthermore, Doyle characterized the people in the story in along with real life scenarios.
The very essence of any detective story is the mystery. Unlike murder mysteries, which have a lot in common with detective stories, Holmes's problems are not invariably as severe as homicide. These mysteries are not usually insignificant though, and "Often they have to do with theft or murder" (Adventures). The first mystery may be an important and confusing conundrum, but there is often a more worthy case that presents itself after the first has commenced. This adds a level of intrigue to the tale because "The first story leads towards dissolution, the second towards restoring order" (Horsley). In each adventure, someone has been or is in danger of being wronged by another person, and comes to Sherlock for help. This creates "A clear and unambiguous triangle of characters - the investigator, the victim, and the transgressor" (Horsley). All of this is incorporated into the author's puzzle.