The Hound of the Baskervilles is a crime story narrated by Sherlock Holmes’ friend Dr. Watson. This story revolves around a family called the Baskervilles who apparently have a curse revolving around them. Sherlock sends Watson to the estate to take notes about what is happening, and after a course of complicated events, Sherlock finds something interesting. He finds out that Jack Stapleton, the living Baskerville’s friend is also a Baskerville. He owned that hound that was killing people, and Sherlock was able to put an end to the nonsense, Jack was never found after he escaped, but Watson believes that his body was lost in the mire near the forest. The Hound of the Baskervilles is an exciting story, full of gothic description, mystery-solving, and plot-twists that keep the reader on the edge of their seats.
There are many themes in The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of which is skill. Holmes uses his skills in reasoning to figure out everything about the mystery client from just a walking stick. He deduces this by looking at the inscription, scratches and dents, and his incredible eyesight. He also uses disguises to hide who he is, such as when he went to live in the ancient tombs in the hills. No one knew he was there, until Watson heard his voice. Another major these mis rationalism versus superstition. The people in the Baskerville family believe that the hound came from hell because no one has discovered any evidence that shows that the hound is really “real”. In fact, it seems too big to be a real hound, and apparently, it glows in the dark. Holmes, however, refuses to believe in this, and instead looks for evidence where others have not thought to look at.
One closely related theme is natural versus supernatural. Dr. Mortimer, a man of science, is easily swayed to believe that the hound is from hell, and was brought to wreak havoc upon the Baskerville family. Jack Stapleton uses that family’s belief in the supernatural world to help his plan in killing them. The victims were not actually killed by the hound physically, but were led to their demise because of their fear. One of them had a heart attack and the other landed on sharp rocks when he tried to run. This story is different because of it’s more supernatural theme and style of writing.
Another theme in this story is trust and betrayal. One example is when Jack Stapleton pretended to be the Baskervilles’ friend, but in reality, he was actually trying to kill them. Using his cunning strategies and hound, he was nearly able to fool Sherlock himself, but in the end, he drowned in the mire. Another example is when Laura Lyons asked Charles to come and meet him outside. Unknowingly, she had killed her helper and good friend. Even though she didn’t know he was going to die, she shouldn’t have left him there when they should have met. An example of trust is when Sherlock trusted the young boy to collect information and not give away his place. However, Sherlock did not trust Watson with this information because it was a part of the plan. Some people in this story are trying to help, while others are trying to destroy lives out of their own greed. Stapleton’s avarice for the inheritance is so great, that he would go to any means to get it, including murder. The other people, however, try to stop Stapleton, including his own wife, whom he tied up and gagged to stop her from revealing the secrets.
My opinion of this story is that the mystery is very well written. Arthur Conan Doyle is good at creating and solving mysteries, and Sherlock has incredible skills in using his surroundings to aid him in his quests to solve problems. By displaying these characters in a more supernatural setting, this story is different from the others.
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