Analysis Of Richard Cox's The Hound Of The Baskervilles

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Richard Cox’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles: Overview” provides an overview of Arthur Doyle’s novel “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and examines a few of the elements that make it a successful detective story. Doyle did not publish a single Sherlock story for eight years after 1893. Doyle brought Sherlock back in 1901, emphasizing that Sherlock’s new case took place before his death, and therefor Sherlock was not truly back from the dead. Doyle’s new story “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was an organized story unlike his three other Sherlock novels. His characters are placed in a setting unfamiliar to them, emphasizing how vulnerable they are throughout the novel, and how dire their battle against the supernatural is. The end of another …show more content…

This unified tale uses its plot to become a classic example of the detective story type that W. H. Auden brought to life. Sir Charles Baskerville’s murder brings two important aspects of the family curse to the reader’s attention; the phantom like hound and the fate of the Baskerville heir. Sherlock Holmes attains the statues of ‘folk hero’, first given to him by Dwight Macdonald, in the “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by playing a part in the story similar to the heroic champions of old. The case in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is a severe test of Sherlock’s method; a point that Doyle makes clear throughout the novel. Sherlock’s method is tested by Dr. Mortimer who discreetly questions the validity of calling Sherlock’s method scientific. Doyle carefully makes it clear throughout the story that Sherlock and his method are just as scientific as Dr. Mortimer. Sherlock defends his claim to a scientific method by calling it a science of the imagination as opposed to the guesswork Mortimer thinks Sherlock utilizes. Sherlock’s methodology is not only tested in regards to Sherlock Holmes personally; the ideal for which his method stands is also put to the test. Watson and Sherlock’s interactions serve as a single part of their whole

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