Themes are what drive a novel to completion and influence the author to write the story. Themes are the main and central idea of the novel and usually can be picked up on quickly. In Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Doyle expresses his themes in numerous ways, some of which are subtle, while others are more obvious. The themes in the novel include science versus superstition, appearance versus reality, and trust and betrayal. In Doyle’s time, forensics and criminology sciences were on the rise, proving many myths at the time false. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, some of the characters are easily persuaded by the hound’s appearance, while Sherlock Holmes stands firm in his scientific belief.
The main but subtle theme of The Hound of the Baskervilles is science versus superstition. The triumph and factual knowledge of science is represented by Sherlock Holmes, while the superstition is represented by the Baskerville curse. Sir Charles Baskerville is taken so much by the superstition that it ultimately leads him to his death: “Sir Charles Baskerville was so consumed by superstition that he is manipulated into an untimely death” (Kissane129). Sir Charles Baskerville is uptight due to the legend of the hound, and later is spooked to death when a beastly animal chases him through the moor at night. Holmes, in contrast, says from the beginning that there is a reasonable explanation for the occurrence: “Holmes’s sense of logic and reason, while evident in the way he handles cases, is also repeatedly pointed out by the narrator” (Kissane129). When Holmes is called to the case by Dr. Mortimer he immediately pushes all unrealistic elements aside and tags the case as strange. Even a man of science such as Dr. Mor...
... middle of paper ...
... Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. Ed. Hatch, Anne Marie, and Dwayne D. Hayes. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning, 2009. 494-497. Print.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles”. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Vol.2. Civil Wars to Frontier Societies (1800-1880’s). Detroit: Gale, 1997. 152-159. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles”. Novel for Students. Vol. 28. Detroit:Gale, 2009. 119-146. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Nov.2013.
James Kissane and John M. Kissane, “Sherlock Holmes and the Ritual of Reason”, in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol.17, NO.4, March 1963, pp.353-62.
McCauley, Kelly. “The Best Notes on The Hound of the Baskervilles”. The Best Notes.com. 11 December 2013. 11 May 2008.
...ke." Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism. Ed. Sculley Bradley, et al. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1977. 421-22.
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Meyer, M., Ed., (1999). Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin.
The World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed. : p. 78. Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. The "Scarlet Letter" The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Ed.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
2nd ed. of the book. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center -. Web.
The Norton Anthology World Literature Volume 2: 1650 to the Present. Ed. Martin Puchner. Shorter 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2013. Print
Thousands of readers made complaints and the once well known cult figure had been feared to be gone forever. For a couple of years Conan Doyle avoided the reader's. complaints but Doyle eventually buckled under stress and wrote a book. called "The Hound of the Baskervilles". A story set before the tragic ending of Sherlock Holmes.
... World Literature. Ed. Martin Puncher. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 441. Print.
The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th edition. Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 1999. http://www.martinspress 1564 - 1612 -.
Abrams, M.H. and Greenblatt, Stephen eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Seventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001.
Lawall, Sarah,et al. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Volume A (slipcased). Norton, 2001. W.W. Norton and Company Inc. New York, NY.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Great Britain, Penguin Groups, 2004. New York, Berkley Publishing Group,1993.
Klinkowitz, Jerome and Patricia B Wallace. The Norton Anthology of Americal Literature. Seventh. Vol. Volume D. New York City: Norton, 2007, 2003, 1998, 1994, 1989, 1985, 1979. 5 vols.
113- The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. of the book. Vol.