THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLE

BY: sherlock holmes

Character sketch

1. sherlock holmes :

famous dtective of 221 b baker street, london has a keen eye and hawked nose

2. Dr watson :

Narrator and protogonist acts , as apprentice and the stout sidekick to sherlock holmes

3.jack stapleton :

Antagonist in the novel. His interest in entamology is genuine. He is one of the baskerville . he has stake in the inheritance of the baskerville estate . his greed and evil nature (villianious)takes him to horrified ends.

3. Sir henry baskerville :

is natural heir of to the baskerville estate after the death of sir charles was a small, alert dark eyed man of 30 years age . thick black eyebrow, string pugnacious face.

Plot and story structure

Sir arthur conan doyle’s the hound of th baskerville holds up the interest of the readers due to its well knit plot and exciting story line.it features the legendary charcters of dr. watson and shrlock holmes the novel is by all accounts a classical detectives thriller (story).the novel features the legend of a spectral hound.the house of the baskerville sufferes from an age old family curse.doyle creates a perfect plot .the setting is ominous enough to be a suitable stage fofr mystery,danger and murder .

The central mystery revolves round the curse of the ‘hound’ of the baskervilles . the legend speaks of a perverted and evil character hugo baskerville . hugo kidnaps a peasant girl . the girl escapes but is killed .hugo’s throat is ripped apart by the hound of hell .the curse follow the baskerville family until they survive the anger of the hound chrles baskerville is found dead with the tracks of a large beast round his body.the legend is revived. The fate and safety of his heir sir henry baskerville becomes a challenge for sherloock holmes and his friend dr.watson the detectives are employed to solve the mystery of sir charles death . dr watson dispatched to watch over the sir henry and keep him safe from harm . in the absence of holmes , dr watsin makes for a reliable and entertaining central character . theree is no lack of characters in the story to serve us suspects or potential victims whether they are stapletons of merripit hall . mrs and mrs barrymoore , the escaped convicts selden or mr . frnklin of lafter house , all prove interesting material for our speculation .the villaim stapleton is exposed at the right time. It is revealed that stapleton was also a baskerville himself and had a stake in the inheritance.he lets his diabolical hound loose on sir charles track and causes his death . he wants to remove all the legitimate heirs so that he can be the sole owner of the baskerville estate. The mystery in the novel is not predicted. The plot twists are not overused . only the characters and moods convey an engaging tale the story satisfies us emotionally as well as intellectually .

THE BACKROUND AND THE THEME :

The novel present tention between logic and possibilities of supernatural occurances . the novel is a classical detective story.holmes and watson uses their extraordinary observing and intuitive skill to unfold the mystery of sir chrles death . but still holmes has a message to deliver to his readers .the theme of the novel is based on the never ending conflict between good and evil . doyle shows good and evil in permanent opposition to each other in the novel . evil is shown to be stranger in the hours of darkness . the place and the atmosphere create suitable background for a chilling but thrilling mystery story . a feeling of menace is created through the decriptions of the baskerville hall and the moors their descriptions are in sharp contrast to the warm cosiness of baker street londin .conan doyle is a master craftman . he builds up tention in the novel through mysterious happenings, like the moaning of a women in the nights , barrymare’s signal towards the moor or the death of the convict selden .the unexplained noises like that of hound’s compound the mystery and horror in the novel .the menacing weather , the fog and the dangerous bog add to the chilling atmosphere of the story .the eccentric characters like stapleton ,laura and barrymores clearly hide much more than they reveal to others all these things clearly show doyle’s interest in the supernatural . however the solutions to these events are reached through reason and un canny observing and intuitive skills .evil is ultimately punished and virtue is rewarded .staplton falls prey to his own eveil design . he is belived to be drowned into the bog the manacing hound meet it’s end at the hands of the holmes .mrs stapleton is freed . sir henry baskerville is saved at right moment he is now free from the family curse of the legendary spectral hound.\

Mystery behind the murder of sir charles baskerville

Sir charles baskerville died three months ago he left a 18 th century manuscript with his friend and personal doctor , james mortimer .mortimer reads is to holmes and watson .it tells the fate of the wicked hugo baskerville . he fell for a peasants daughter . he kidnapped and carried her off to a room upstair in baskerville hall .while hugo and his friends drunk , the girls escaped . when it was discovered . hugo set the hounds after her. His guests rode off to follow them . at last they found the girl lying dead ground. A giant black hound was tearing out the throat of hugo baskerville. Sir charles death was discovered when he failed to return from his nighgt ly walk down the yew alley his body had no signs of violence on it perhaps he encountered the spectred hound and his weak heart could’nt stand the sight of the devilish animal .henry baskerville is the next inheritor of the baskerville fortune and estate sir henry is being trailed in london by a mysterious stranger holmes is ready to lend all help to solve the case . he sends DR. watson with sir henry and martimer . a series og mysterious arrive in quick succession.barrymore is caught showing a light to someone in the moors . watson hears what barrymore’s nightly jaunts are his attempt to help the escaped dreaded convict seldon who is his wife’s brother .sir henry develops a fancy for miss stapleton . holmes discovers that stapleton is actually in line to inherit the baskerville fortune . stapleton is the main culprit . he wants to kill all heires so that he can be the solve heir of the baskerville fortune and estate he forces laura to take late night appointment with sr charles . having lured charles on to the moors , stapleton releases his ferocious hound after the weak – hearted noble man . it causes a heart attack and sir charles dies .in a dramatic move , holmes and watsin use sir henry as a bait to catch stapleton red-handed . after a late super at the stapleton , sir henry heads home across.The moors . he is suddenly attacked by stapleton’s fercious hound . holmes and watson who are ludden in the fog are able to

subdue and kill the beast . stapleton runs away only to be drowned in the bog.

Charchter sketch of jack – stapleton:\

Jack stapletons is the antagoimst of the novel “ the hound of the baskervilles “ .while his interest in entamolgoy is genunine all other things, including his name and situation are fabricated . he is one of the baskervilles and as such he has a stake in the inheritance of the baskervilles estates his greed and evil nature takes him to horrifying ends .

Stapleton was indeed a baskerville.holmes enquiries showed beyond

Doubt that the family portrait didn’t lie . he was the son of rodger baskerville . the younger brother of sir charles . he was said to have died unmarried .stapletonactually married beryl garica , one of the beauties of costa rica . after misusing a large amount of public money , he fled to england he changed his name and eastablished a school in the east of yorkshire . he made enquiries and found that only two persons intervened him and the valuable estate of baskerville.he came to know of the family curse of the spectred hound from sir charles himself. So sir charles himself prepared the way for his own death . he was a devious man from the start stapleton had an engenious mind . his sharp and mischievous mind instantly suggested way by which sir charles could be done to death . having conceived the idea , he proceeded to carry it out with perfect finess,the use of phosphorus to make the hound diabolical was a flash of his genius. Stapletonhad no scruples . he wanted his wife to lure sir charles to hi8s ruin. But she didn’t cooperate in this evil. Design he reppresented himsellf as a single manto mrs laura lyons he promised to marry her if she got a divorce . he forced laura to write to meet the baronate at that odd hour. The ferocious dog ineited by his master pursued sir charles . he fled screaming down the yew alley . sir charles weak heart couldn’t stand the dreaded huge black creature. He collapsed and fell dead . he wanted to repeat the same story on sir henry. He got an old shoes of sir henry ,stolen from his hotel in londo. He wanted to use it to give a scent of it to the dog and setting him upon his track.Stapleton is rightly punished in the end . he is forced to run away to save his life only to be drowned into the bog.

Charactersketch of sherlock holmes:

The protogonist of the hound of the baskerville sherlock holmes is the famous 221 b baker street detective . he has a keen eye and a hawked nosde. And he makes the best use of both of them.his trademark hat and pipe do add to his aura a perfect detective.holmes has an uncanny sense of observation actually, he is observations and intution personified . in the novel, he takes a back seat to DR watson.but we always feel his presence.no doubt , DR watson is an efficient detective and does his hometask in baskerville extremely well.however , it takes sherlock holmes extraordinay and legendary powers to unfold the mystifying threads finally.

Sherlock holmes has a fragile ego . he is challenged at the beginning of the novel.mortimer calls him the second best crime detective in europe . holmes does not relish the comment . his ego is hurt . he promptly asks who could possibly be the first. DR watson understand holmes more than anyone in the world . he keeps holmes ego in check by a constant dose of adulation . he has so far mastered his system as to supply it in the best possible way .Holmes is always specific and for thright he never minces words. He clearly tells watson “ im afraid … most of your conclusions were erronious , in nothing your fallacies . I was occasionally guided by the turth .”holmes has a precise scientific mind . even mortimer acknowledged that you stand alone.holmes toys with his associate , particularly with watson. He is highly secretive and would net reveal his mind till he get the final answer to a problem. He can equivocate mislead and make fools out of his enemies only to reach the ultimate truth.

What was the curse of the baskerville what did DR mortimer read from the family manuscript in 1742 ? what was the mortimer purpose to visit the famous detective S.H

DR . mortimer had already heard much about the famed detedtive sherlock holmes and his associate dr .Watson . he considered holmes, the second highest expert in his field. So far as his scientific mind and his being a practical man of a fears , none could match holmes DR.mortimer had come from baskerville in connection with the mysterious murder of the charles baskerville. Mortimer was a personal friend as well as the medical attendant of sir charles. He tooks out a manuscript which was the family paper of the baskerville. The manuscript was paced in mortimers care by the sir charles before his death. It was a statement of a certain legend that rain in the baskerville family. The manuscript describe particularly the most wild , profane and godless member of the family , hugo baskerville. He developed passion for the daughter of a peasant she avoided him hugo and his evil campanion carried off the maideu.while hugo and his campanions were drinking and singing, the girlescaped. Hugo chased her with his hands. Soon after all the 13 campanion started in pursuit. There lay on the moor the dead body of the girl. Near her lay the body of the hugo. Baskerville. Standing over hugo and plucking at his throat was a foul thing. It was a great, black beast it shaped like a hound with blazing eyes and dripping jaws. The tale of the spectred hound plagued the family ever since. The circumstances connected with the death of sir charles gave strength to the local legend and supersition . he died while he was on his usually nightly walk down the yew alley .there were the footprints of a giant hound near sir charles dead body . the next heir to baskerville was sir henry who was returning from canada . being a trustee and executor of sir

charles will , mortimer wanted homes advice and help in this matter in his opinion ther e was a diabolocal agency which made dartmoor an unsafe abode for a baskerville , so sir henry’s life could also be in danger . holmes showed a positive response and asked mortimer to bring sir henry to his office.

Q . DESCRIBE SOME STRANGE AND UNEXPECTED EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE WHILE SIR HENRY BASKERVILLE WAS IN LONDON. DESCRIBE HIS LOSS OF AN OLD SHOE AT THE HOTEL AND THE APPEARANCE OF A BEARDED MAN SUSPECTED OF MONITORING THEIR ACTIVITIE. WHO WAS BEHIND ALL THOSE ACTIVITIES AND WHY DID HE DO THEM?Sir Henry Baskerville,the next their to the Baskerville estate,arrives in london from canada.Dr.mortimer has taken holmes in confidence.He unfolds the circumstance leading to sir charle’s death.He wants holmes’ advice and help in this matter.Sir.henry meets holmes at his office.He places before holemes and anonymous later.It reads :”as you value your life or your rtegion keep away from the moor.”It is a clear warning from someone who knows Sir Henry as well as the dartmoor. In the letter the word ‘moor’only was printed in ink. Sherlock holmes is at his task again. He reveals that someone cut out the message from’times’,a popular news paper. Perhaps it can be the work of a woman. The scented paper hints at it. Then sir.henry reveals another unusual happening at his hotel. He had bought a pair of new shoes only yesterday. One of his old boots is stolen and missing another incident follows soon. Holmes notices a busy black beardead man and a pair of piercing eyes turned upon them through the side window of the cab. Holmes dashes in wild pursuit but already the cab has gone out of sight. Subsequent events reveal that sir. Henry and sir sherlock holmes were being closely followed and shedowed in london. The first suspicion on the butler berrymore proves totally baseless. At the end of the novel, the real veillain is exposed. He is stepleton on he had staked in the basker ville estate. He exploited sir. Chales’ superstitious nature and his weak heart. He also exlpoited the family legend of the spectred hound. He let loose the diabolical hound on sir. Charles and it caused his death. He wanted to reapeat the same story with sir. Henry. He stole an old shoe of the baronate to give him scent to the dog. He wanted to involve his wife also his sinister plan but she refused to be a part of it. She wrote an anonymous later to sir. Henry warning him of the impending danger.

Q. DESCRIBE THE SECOND REPORT THAT DR. WATSON SENT TO SHERLOCK HOLMES IN LONDON FROM BASKERVILLE HALL AND GIVE YOUR OWN CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE SAID REPORT.

Dr.watson had ended his first report with berrymore at the window. Things have taken quite an unexpected turn. One particular window in the house commands the nearest outlook on the moor.only this window can serve berrymore’s purpose.watson and sir. Henry decides to follow berrymore see what he does at night. Sir henry ‘s attraction for miss {mrs}stapleton continues. He insites on going on the moor to meet her alone. He doesn’t want watson to be a spoil ‘-spot’. Watson silently follows sir henry unnoticed. He notices sir henry and the lady standing deeply absorbed in there conversation . Soon appears stepleton with his butterfly net.he runs widly towards them. It appears as if he were abusing sir henry. The borrownet stands therefore a minute and walk back in dejestion. Then dr.watson clears the mystery surrounding barrymore .next morning ,they hear the creak of a step in the passage. Barrymore is deaf and can’t hear them .barrymore springs up from the window. Sir henry has made up his mind to now the truth. Watson hilds the candle himself he moves the candle across the window. Someone gives a signal back. Sir henry asks about the conspiracy that is going on in the house.barrymor refuses to tell anything .Then suddenly Mrs. Barrymor spilles the beans. She tells them that her unhappy brother is starving on the moor. The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him. She also tells that her brother is none else but the escaped convict selden. Watson also describes how they hear a wild and menacing sound on the moor. It is he cry of a hound –the hound of the baskervilles. At last ,they see an evil yellow face, a terrible animal face. He is the convict selden. They spring forward and the convict sreams out a curse at them. He runs away and there is no chance of overtaking him. The second report of watson makes it clear that barrymor is not the mai villain and has norole in the death of sir charles.

Q. DESCRIBE THE CLIMAX OF THE NOVEL’THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLE’

The invitation of sir henry to dinner by stepleton at the merripit house is the climax of ‘the hound of the baskervilles’. All the events have been building towards this movement. The devious but ingenius mind of stapleton has organised all the moves of his conspiracy in a flawless manner. However ,holmes has discovered all the intrigues of the clever antagonist. He takes watson and lestrade with him and they lie in ambuse to avoid the impending danger. They reach a point from where they could look straight through the uncurtained window . The murderous host and the unconscious guest are still sitting together .holmes knows what is going to happen next. Suddenly, they hear the sound of the steps. The steps grow louder. And then through the fog emerges the main they have been waiting for. Sir. Henry glance continunlly over his shoulders. He is like a man who is ill at case. Then a sharp click of a cooking pistil is heard. Lestrade gives a cry of horror. They are paralysed by the sudden appearance of a dreadeful shape that comes out from the fog. It is a black hound,an enormous and deadly hound. But it is not such a hound as a mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire bursts from its open mouth and its eyes glow with a smouldering glare. With long bounds the huge black creature leaps down the track towards sir henry. The very next movement holmes empties five bullets of his revolver into the creature’s flank. Sir henry lies insensible where he has fallen. The terrible creatures lies dead in front of them. Holmes comments :”we’ve ,laid the family ghost once and forever.”sir henry is saved and now he is the sole owner of the baskervilles.the major outcome of the events is that stapleton is dead.he tries to escape but in doing so drowns himself into the bog.the evil is finally distroyed.

Q. DESCRIBE STEPLETON’S CONSPIRACY TO KILL HENRY. WHY DID HE FAIL IN HIS DEVIOUS PLAN?WHAT WAS STEPLETON’S END?

Sherlock holmes established beyond all doubt that stepleton was indeed a Baskerville. Stepleton made extensive enquiries and found that only two lives intervened him and therich estate of Baskerville. They were sir Charles and sir henry. Sir Charles invited his own death by telling stepleton about the family curse and the spectred hound. After eliminating, sir Charles, stepleton had eyes on sir henry. He had been dogging sir henry since he was in London. He stole an old shoe to give his hound the scent and set him on the track after sir henry. He shadowed sir henry in a cab in London.

The first attempt of stepleton to killsir henry failed. It resulted in the death of the unfortunate convict selden. The hound was after the wrong man as he was wearing sir henry’s old clothes. It was now clear who was real villain and what was his motive. Sherlock holmes had to use sir henry as a bait to capture stepleton. The villain used used his own wife as an instrument to bring sir henry nearer to them. One day sir henry was invited to dinner.his wife knews that the ferocious hound was kept in the outhouse. Realizing that she would betray he tied her up and also gagged her. When sir henry came out of the merripit house on the moor the hound was let loose on the track. Things would have been different had Sherlock holmes not pumped five bullets from his pistol into the diabolical hound. Sir henry was saved. The villain was belived to have drowned into the grimpen mire while trying to escape from being captured.

THE FIRST REPORT DR. WATSON SENT TO SHERLOCK HOLMES

Dr.watson had been writing letters and telegrams to holmes. He kept him up to dateas to what happened in that ‘god-parsaken corner of the world’the spirit of the moor has sunk into dr.watson’s soul.it’s vastness and grim charms are infectious. But soon dr. Watson returns to the facts concerning sir henry Baskerville. First of all he tells about the escaped convict selden. A fortnight has passed since his flight. He has not been seen and nothing has been heard of him. It is very difficult to hold out upon the moor for such a long time. There is nothing to eat there.

In his first report dr. Watson writes that stapleton came over to call upobn Baskerville on the very first day sir henry seemed to be strongly attractedby miss stapleton. The feeling was mutual. But stapleton’s looks revealed that he didn’t approve of the relationship dr. watson also writes how dr. mortimer look them all to the yew alley at sir henry’s request. As the old sir charles stood there. He saw something coming across the mor. It terrified him so much that he lost his wits. He ran and rn until he dead of sheer ‘horror and exhaustion’ watson also writes of another neighbour. Mr. frankland of lafter hall. He has seven law suits upon his hands at present. He is also an ameture astronomer. He writes even about the butler barrymore.dr. watson alsowrites how one night,barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the glass. He started out into the blackness of the moor. Dr. watson can’t guess whatb was his motive. He realises that some secret bussiness is going on in baskerville hall. They will have to go to the bottom of it.