The Use Setting to Help Create Mystery in The Hound of the Baskervilles

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How does Doyle use setting to help create mystery in The Hound of the Baskervilles? Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on 22 May 1859. He died in 1893. His first book he published was when he was still a student. In 1885 he married Louise Hawkins. Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in a short novel called "A Study in Scarlet" which was printed in 1887. He continues to write thrilling stories until he realised he wanted to be known not just for Sherlock Holmes but wanted to get involved in other projects. Readers were astonished when Doyle finally killed off the famous detective when he was shoved off a cliff in 1893 by his arch-nemis Professor Moriaty. 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. This is a detective story with elements of a gothic story. The two main characters are Sherlock Holmes and James Watson. In this story Sherlock is in some ways the main character but most of the attention is given to Watson as he tells the story. The story starts in the pleasant setting of Holmes' Baker Street flat were it is safe and cosy. The other setting in London is the Northumberland Hotel. This is where Sir Henry and Doctor Mortimer are staying. The first mystery is introduced here when one of Sir Henry's boot goes missing. "I put then both outside my door last night, and there was only one this morning" Conan Doyle creates a mysterious atmosphere here. London is a perfect place because it is a heavil... ... middle of paper ... ... convict brings suspicion as he fell on his neck. Watson and Holmes mistake this man to be Sir Charles. As they look closer they see that it is the convict in his clothes. Mystery is introduced when Stapleton appears at the crime scene. This adds a sense of mystery. This novel in scene in some ways can be described as a Gothic Novel because it has characteristics of one. For example it has a gloomy setting, strange events, violence, mystery, super-natural and horror. The gloomy setting is Baskerville Hall and the Moor. A strange event would be the missing boot. This is also a detective story. For example interesting setting, a crime to be solved. The interesting setting is Baskerville Hall and the crime is the death of Sir Charles. I conclude that Doyle creates mystery by using setting. He does this by using methods like weather and descriptive words.

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