The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is about a famous detective known as Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson. They are recruited to solve a case involving a curse on a family known as Baskerville. The curse involves a hound that is believed to come from Hell. Sherlock and Watson must solve the case of the Baskerville legend before the last remaining Baskerville heir is killed. What follows is a series of plot twists that is bound to keep the reader guessing till the very end.
The setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles is the moor because it is where the Baskerville murders take place and these murders pose the major conflict. The moor is described as extremely dreary and melancholy. “…There rose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged summit, dim and vague in the distance….” (page 81). This hill is the moor and being described as gray shows its mystery because gray is the color of fog, which covers the moor. The setting of the story describes the theme of the story and the theme of the story is mystery. That is why it is important that the setting of the story be described as dark and mysterious.
Dr. Watson is the main character of the story as well as the narrator. He is described by Holmes as “a conductor of light” (page 11) but not himself luminous. This means that Watson does not come up with the answers to the problem but he leads a person on the right track to the solution. This is a characteristic of a great sidekick/assistant. He tells Sherlock valuable sources of information that if he had not given, the case would not have been much more difficult to solve.
For example, he tells Sherlock of the Barrymore's relation to Selden and of Mrs. Lyons relationship with Sir Charles. Holmes and Watson make a great team because without the other, nothing would be accomplished. He gives Sherlock the motivation he needs to accomplish the case. Watson is the piece to that missing puzzle and that is why he has great traits for being a sidekick. Therefore, Watson is the main character because without him there would be no Holmes and without Holmes there would be no story.
The story begins on 221B Baker Street, the address of the infamous detective Sherlock Holmes. He shares this house with his assistant and close friend, Dr. Watson. The crime-solving duo is visited by Dr. James Mortimer of the Charing Cross Hospital who tells them of the recent death of the wealthy aristocrat, Sir Charles Baskerville. He then tells them of the legend that is associated with the deaths of several members of the Baskerville family as well as the death of Sir Charles. Dr. Mortimer (Sir Charles's physician) informs them of one Hugo Baskerville who fell in love with a young maiden but she took no interest in him.
One night, Hugo and many of his evil friends carried the maiden off to Baskerville Hall where they locked her in a room. However, she escaped with the help of some ivy and set off homeward. When Hugo realized of her escape, “he cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if he might but overtake the wench” (page 22). So Hugo, with the rest of his companions, followed the maiden's trail.
Then, as accounted for by a night shepherd, the maiden and Hugo were seen lying dead with a “a great black beast shaped like a hound yet larger” (page 24) picking at Hugo's throat. The hound is described in the account as a beast that had come straight from Hell. After, Mortimer finishes the story, he tells Holmes of his belief that the hound is of the supernatural. He also asks Holmes what to do with Sir Henry Baskerville, the last surviving Baskerville heir who desires to go to Baskerville Hall, a place of absolute danger due to the number of deaths there.
Holmes agrees to be of any possible help that he can. The doctor departs from Baker Street and returns with Sir Henry Baskerville who receives an envelope with a pasted together message inside saying: “as you value your life and your reason keep away from the moor” (page 48). This encourages Holmes's thought that the cause of all the murders is not supernatural. The threatening message does not dissuade Henry from going to Baskerville Hall, so he departs accompanied by Dr. Watson.
In Watson's stay at Baskerville Hall, there are a number of characters that Watson regards as suspects. These people include Mr. and Mrs. Barrymore, the housekeepers, Selden, a escaped convict wandering the countryside, Mr. Stapleton, a naturalist, Beryl Stapleton, Mr. Stapleton's sister, and Mr. Frankland, a neighboring amateur astronomer. Watson tells Holmes of these people through letters that he writes to him. He tells Holmes of Sir Henry's affection towards Miss Stapleton and of Mr. Stapleton's strange behavior towards this affection. “[Stapleton] was running wildly towards them, his absurd net dangling behind him.
