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The Hound of the Baskervilles Essay

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The Hound of the Baskervilles At the start of the story the setting is described through the legend of Sir Hugo Baskerville. Sir Hugo is described in the legend as a “wild, profane and godless man” This suggests that his inhumanity and “evil” make him a potentially viable enemy who will stop at nothing. It is Sir Hugo that sets the tone for the setting. Sir Hugo uses his power and Baskerville Hall as a prison for the young girl. She manages to escape by “the aid of the growth of ivy which covered the south wall.” The ivy indicated the age and wildness of the hall and its setting. The “moon” is “shining bright” and the act “which was liked to be done” on the moor adds to the sense of danger and isolation that we, as readers, …show more content…

When Watson and Sir Henry arrive at the Hall, they give us an impression of despair and loneliness. It seems almost as if the moor repels people as “within a five mile radius, there are only a few scattered dwellings.” At night this feeling of evil, isolation and fear is amplified, and “there is hardly a man who will cross the moor at night.” Night time is when the pressure of the legend of the hound is at its highest “Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind. A half moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds.” The environment itself seems as if it is alive, and if anyone ventures out onto the moor it will trap them. Even the people who live there admit that the setting has an evil presence, as Dr Mortimer says “the setting is a worthy on, if the devil did desire to have a hand in the affairs of men.” The weather also intensifies the sense of fear that the moor instils, “the cold wind swept down… set us shivering” and “chilling wind, and darkening sky… even Baskerville fell silent. Again you get the feeling that Baskerville Hall is the only safe place on the moor, but at night it becomes corrupted by the legend of the hound, “As Henry and I sat at breakfast the sunlight

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