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the hound of the baskervilles theme analysis
analysis of novel the hound of baskervilles by sir arthur conan doyle
the hound of the baskervilles theme analysis
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Why do you think Conan Doyle’s crime stories have been so popular?
I’m going to closely examine some of Conan Doyle’s stories in order to
show why they have proved to be so popular. Conan Doyle has been
branded the “father of crime fiction” because he was an outstanding
author among the first crime stories writers. First of all I would
like to focus our attention on the first story which were published in
“The Strand magazine” in the 1800s
At some point during this period Conan Doyle decided not to write for
the magazines and this led to an excessive plummeting of the sales off
“the Strand”. Some readers made a profit much to demonstrate the
withdraw of Doyle’s stories. This suggests that the stories had become
quite popular.
Now, let us look at “The Speckled Band” there is no doubt that it is a
fantastic and captivating narrative.
The narrative structure of “The Speckled Band” according to Tzventan
Todorov starts with “Equilibrium disruptions or conflict and new
equilibrium”. These theories suggest that the narrative is driven by
the need to resolve a conflict or a complication.
In fact most of Conan Doyle’s narratives have adopted this underlying
this structure. It is not a surprise then that the stories command a
huge market share.
The opposing forces which form the main themes of Doyle’s stories are:
Good Vs Evil, Strong Vs Weak, Villain Vs Hero and Rationality Vs
Irrationality.
Going back to “The Speckled Band”, Dr Roylott is portrayed as an
irrationality villain who was driven by greed.
The opening of “The Speckled Band” is devoted to the remarkable
quality of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle uses a foil character in the
person Dr Watson to narrative the story. He has done this in orde...
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... reading
these stories to answer my question, I have found out that these
stories that Conan Doyle has something to learn from them every time a
story is read. As these stories were written in the 1800s times were
different to now, Conan Doyle’s language used is very formal, and
where by there is no informal language used. In every story I have
read Sherlock Holmes always like to be in the lead of his clients, he
finds out information on his clients by glancing at them in detail.
When most stories are told they are told by Dr Watson who is a
colleague of Sherlock Holmes, this also makes the audience more into
the story, rather than being told the problem they are brought into
it. I have come across that Conan Doyle’s has been popular because he
has come up with many good stories which could appeal to people in
real life and help them solve life’s problem.
The birth of classic detective fiction was originated just in the mid nineteenth century, and was producing its own genre. Classical detective fiction follows a set of rules called the ‘Ten commandments of detective fiction’. The genre is so popular it can bee seen by the number of sales in any good book stores. Many of these books have been created a long time ago and there is still a demand for these types of books. The popularity is still ongoing because it provides constant entertainment, and also the reader can also have a role of detective trying to solve the crime/case committed. Classical detective fiction has a formula, the detective story starts with a seemingly irresolvable mystery, typically a murder, features the astute, often unconventional detective, a wrongly accused suspect to whom the circumstantial evidence points, and concludes with a startling or unexpected solution to the mystery, during which the detective explains how he or she solved the mystery. Formula that includes certain elements such as, a closed location to keep the number of suspects down, red hearings spread around the stories to keep the reader entertained yet interacted.
“For many early Victorians, policing was a new and low-status occupation. Few men became policeman for positive reasons" (Taylor 49).
The novel, The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle, written by Avi, is about a proper young lady sent on a ship to providence her home town. The setting plays a big role in the novel. The setting, for almost the whole book, is a ship called the seahawk. Without the setting of The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle, the novel would not make any sense. Especially, the setting in this novel. It makes the book different and exciting. A ship unique on its own, but when you are on the seahawk, with an evil captain and enjoyable crew, it is very different. This setting brings action, suspense, and excitement to the story. The setting of The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle is the most important part of the novel.
Exploring the Reasons Behind the Popularity of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories Although not a real detective, the character of Sherlock Holmes gave the general public a sense of security because in the stories he is seen to solve cases quite easily, such as in "The Man With The Twisted Lip." Watson says "I wish I knew how you reached your results" and Holmes replies, "I reached this one, by sitting upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. " This gives the readers a sense of security because it seems as if Holmes makes no effort to solve the crimes but they are still solved with the minimum of fuss. At the time of writing the concept of detectives was new, and when the stories were written there was almost no confidence in the police force. This point is brought up in "The Man With The Twisted lip," the police force caught a criminal and then proceeded to let him go.
"During the Elizabethan era, crimes of treason and offenses against the state were treated with the same severity that murder is today” (Beyer 1). Some crimes in the Elizabethan era wouldn’t even be considered crimes today. Punishments were extreme. Minor crimes such as begging would result in public beating until they ran to the town’s border. If any simple crimes were repeated they would be sent to jail, or possibly hung. On the other hand, those who committed extreme crimes wouldn’t be considered for jail. Depending on what time the activity was committed, it could be considered a crime. “Punishment for poaching crimes differed according to when the crime was committed - Poaching at night resulted in the punishment by death, whereas poaching during the day time did not.” (“Elizabethan Crime and Punishment” 1) . Elizabethans would cautiously watch their activities, as they knew any simple wrongdoing could be considered for capital punishment.
went on strike for more pay and Eva Smith was one of the ring leaders,
To what extent do the detective fiction stories looked at imitate The Murders in the Rue Morgue in terms of the character and the creation of tension? Question: To what extent do the detective fiction stories looked at imitate 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' in terms of the character and the creation of tension? This essay will explain, discuss and examine the effects of Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' had on other authors writing detective stories during the 19th century. ' The Murders in the Rue Morgue' was a new kind of story and Edgar Allen Poe had many authors imitate him.
Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories and Their Undying Appeal When the Sherlock Holmes books were written, London was rife with croime. The slums, especially, were victims to prostitution, murder and drug abuse. Jack the Ripper was free on the streets, making many people scared. The police couldn't catch him so the public resented the police force as they weren't seen to be protecting them. I think that this is one of the reasons why the Sherlock Holmes stories were so successful.
The idea of a detective catching an elusive convict or solving an improbable crime has been prevalent in all corners of the world, spread throughout many cultures and societies. The detective genre is held as the idea that an individual has to solve a crime. This detective usually has nothing to gain from solving the crime, but they see it more as an obstacle. The detective doesn’t always take every case, as human beings, we are too often curious of the impossible; our natural instinct is to question why and how things work in this world. People crave mystery, to taste a bit of improbable, to see what the detectives see, to see what is overlooked by many. The idea of an intelligent witty, sharp “sleuth” with an obedient sidekick has been prevalent
First, Holmes is the first scientific detective. Second, all of his cases ended up solved so therefore there are no flaws in his method. Well after researching in and out of books and web sites, I finally found the "true" way Holmes solved crimes. The site I found such spectacular information is Sherlockian.Net. This sight was helpful and it made me understand most of the stories by Conan Doyle.
“Crime myths are powerful constructions of reality because they speak to our personal values and beliefs and are steeped in rich symbolism, which reinforces those values and belief.” (Kappeler & Potter, 2004) Crime myths are created when a series of fictional events that are later altered so that they become social and political problems. The media plays a major role in the creation of crime myths they broadcast images and videos to go along with the crime myths, they also use social context that play on humans thought on the community seeing it as unsafe. Myths also contain some measure of economic conditions that then cause reactions by politicians to create new laws to prevent these myths from becoming major problems in the criminal justice system. (K&P, 2004) In order for a statement to be characterized as a crime myth, if the crimes instill fear and threaten the vast majority of society. (K&P,2004) Crime myths are made up of components that targets and identify of a distinct deviant population, they involve innocent and helpless victims, the emergence of brave and virtuous hearos ,comes as a threat to peoples established norms, values, or traditional lifestyles.
On June 7th 2008, Sarah May Ward was arrested for the murder of Eli Westlake after she ran him over in a motor vehicle in St. Leonards. Prior to the incident the offender had been driving the wrong way down Christine Lane which was a one way street. Whilst this was occurring she was intoxicated, under the influence of marijuana, valium, and ecstasy and was unlicensed to drive. The victim and his brother who were also intoxicated, where walking down the lane and where nearly hit by the offender. This prompted the victim to throw cheese balls at the car and make a few sarcastic remarks regarding her driving ability. After a brief confrontation between the two parties the victim and his brother turned away and proceeded to walk down Lithgow Street. The offender followed the victim into the street and drove into him while he was crossing a driveway.
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the theme of duality and the conflict between personal desires and morals is present throughout much of the novel. There are dual conflicts: one external between a disillusioned individual and his world, and the other internal between an isolated soul and his inner thoughts. It is the internal conflict in the main character, Raskolnikov, that is the focused on for much of the novel. The first of Rodya’s two sides is his intellectual side. This side of rodya is inhumane, and exhibiting extreme self-will and power. This is the side of him that comes up with his theory. The crime was a result of his theory that some people possess extraordinary abilities while others have no ability. It's this intellectual side of him that caused him to conceive and execute his murder. Through the authors use of setting tone, diction, and allusion, the readers get a better understand if what type of character, rodya is.
Joseph Straubhaar (2009) stated that television genres continue to develop over time in response to changes in audience tastes and original creative ideas. Indeed, television genres will keep on developing to meet the expectations and satisfaction of the audience. Crime drama series have become one of the most popular television genres within our society. It attracts the audience by dealing with themes and issues relating to the news and current affairs that the viewers are aware of. Crime fiction has various sub-genres including detective fiction such as Monk (2002-2009) where a detective investigates and solves a crime. Furthermore, Law & Order (1990-2010) represents the legal thriller and courtroom drama sub-genres as these crime dramas focus more on the struggles of the law and deal with many criminals such as rapists, murderers etc...and the strain of defending the innocent people.
The most important part of any type of book or story is that it be interesting. This proves to be particularly important in detective fiction as well. What could be more interesting than having a crime committed in front of you, given all (or most) of the details and still not be able to figure it out? This is exactly how detective fiction authors draw people into these stories and books. By weaving an intricate and interesting plot full of fascinating characters, and all types of details about the crime, readers get drawn into the plot and cannot stop reading until they find out the solution to the mystery. Simply put, readers are drawn to detective fiction because it is so easy to become completely engrossed in the stories. The trick of the author is how to create such an environment to keep readers coming back again and again to the genre.