Who Is Stapleton In The Hound Of Baskerville

The Hound of Baskervilles Character Analysis

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” (Doyle, 42) The Hound of Baskervilles is written by award winning author, Arthur Conan Doyle. In this novel, one of the main characters is Jack Stapleton who is a dynamic person. He is a lover of wealth and has a short temper. Stapleton also acts neurotic and irrational. At the beginning of the novel, Stapleton appears to be an innocent and calm man , but uses this attitude as a facade to hide the fact that he is truly an evil, selfish, and greedy person who has killed Charles Baskerville.

Jack Stapleton is an irrational person. In chapter 7, Stapleton is first introduced in the book when he has an encounter

In order to fulfill his desire for greed, Stapleton kills Charles Baskerville and attempts to kill Henry Baskerville in order to receive his family’s fortune. When explaining to Mrs. Lyon what happened Holmes says, “ ‘The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared the way for his own death. Stapleton, as I will continue to call him, knew that the old man’s heart was weak and that a shock would kill him. He had heard also that Sir Charles was superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.’ ” (266) Charles Baskerville had all of the family’s fortune that would have been inherited by another member of the family instead of Stapleton. In order to fulfill his selfish desires, Stapleton kills Charles thinking that he will inherit the fortune. Henry Baskerville ends up inheriting the money and Stapleton attempts to kill him for the money. In chapter 13 Holmes says, “ ‘ It is possible that Stapleton did not know if the existence of an heir in Canada. ...he was told by the latter of all details about the arrival of Henry Baskerville. Stapleton’s first idea was that this young stranger from Canada might possibly be done to death…’ ”(269-270) As soon as Stapleton learned that Henry would be inheriting Charles’ money, he attempted to kill him due to his selfish