Alec+J

Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of Baskervilles

1. Sherlock and his associate, Dr. Watson are confronted with a mystery about the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. The Baskerville family is a family with a lot of money and reputation, and there is said to be a curse on whoever is the current lord of the manor. The curse is that a hound-like beast will kill whoever is the lord. The next in the line of lordship for the Baskerville's is Sir Henry. Holmes is asked by Mortimer, the Baskerville body guard, to ensure the protection of Sir Henry. The first incident in the mystery is when a letter arrives at Henry's hotel room addressing him to stay away from the moor. Also, one of Henry's boots is stolen from the hotel room, then another is stolen the next day. It is at this point that Holmes enlists Dr. Watson to do the investigating of the case. Watson goes to the Baskerville residence to try to find clues, and send them back to Holmes through telegraph, while Holmes stays in London and does his own investigating.

Watson goes to the Baskervilles, and immediately begins to become suspicious with the butler, Barrymore. He hears sobs from Barrymore's room at night and sees his footsteps through his bedroom door at night. Then, he meets the Stapleton's. The Stapleton's are a brother and sister that live near the Baskerville estate. Dr. Watson becomes suspicious of them after Miss Stapleton warns him to get out of the moor after he talks to Mr. Stapleton. Watson further investigates Barrymore, and discovers that he and his wife are hiding a convicted murderer, who is his wife's brother at the woods in the estate. He then hears about another figure that is appearing and is hiding in the woods and being fed by a young boy. He encounters this person later in the story and finds it to be Holmes himself, saying that he couldn't let anyone know about his investigation. He explains to Watson that Mr and Miss Stapleton are actually married, and that Mr. Stapleton is actually a direct descendant of the Baskervilles. He says that Stapleton has been using articles of clothing to give his hound a scent of the person, then sending it on them to kill them, which explains the stolen boot. Holmes then comes up with a plan to catch Stapleton in the act. After Sir Henry is walking home from a dinner with Stapleton, he is attacked by the hound, by some timely gun shots by Holmes kill the beast. The trio then pursue Stapleton into his forest lair where they find that he has drowned himself in some quicksand that is on the property. The group then find out that he used phosphorous to make the hound appear glowing and then Holmes explain that he wanted to get rid of Sir Henry so he could collect the family inheritance for himself.

2.Dr. Watson- Watson is the main character in this story because of Holmes disguised investigation. He tells the story in first person as the narrator. He is not as good as Holmes at solving mysteries as he wasn't able to put it together from his direct investigation at the Baskervilles with all of the characters. This makes him feel bad about himself becuase he is not as good as Sherlock.

Mr. Stapleton- Mr. Stapleton also, Roger Baskerville Jr, is a master minipulator who is trying to get his family's inheritance. He cannot inherit it directly because of a particular scam in South America that he was a part of. He is married to Mrs. Stapleton, or Beryl Garcia who warns to stay away from the property because she knows of his plot.

Sir Henry Baskerville- Sir Henry is the next in line of the Baskervilles to be the lord of the estate. He is sort of a timid man, and he begins to fall for Miss Stapleton. Sir Henry is constantly in need of protection by Mortimer, and he almost doesn't go to dinner with Mr. Stapleton because he is so scared.

3. "I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth" This quotation explains that Sherlock is the superior of the two in regards to mystery solving. With a brief glance at this specific item, he was able to correctly predict its origin. It gave Watson a bit of confidence at first that he could correctly using clues of the cane to predict its origin, but then he realized that he was second in line to Sherlock.

"Excellent, you are perfectly right to be wary and discreet. I am just reproved for what I feel is an unjustifiable intrustion and I promise you that I will not mention the matter again." This quote was said by Mr. Stapleton after he asked Watson of his involvement on the case. From this quote it is obvious that he is paranoid about an investigation and that he has some involvement in the mystery. He makes it obvious by continually pressing Watson about the case and then saying that it is good that he is being discreet about the matter.

"The past and the present are within my field of inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer" This quote is said by Sherlock Holmes in teh last chapter of the book. This quote serves a few purposes. The one purpose is that it leaves the audience guessing as to how or what Stapleton was going to do with the inheritance. It gives the audience the invitation to make their own theories on the matter. Also, it reinforces that Sherlock Holmes is human. It explains that he cannot predict the future and cannot completely understand the motives of people.

4. Study Questions

Why did Stapleton take both of Sir Henry's boots? A: He stole the first boot and realized that it had never been worn. He needed an article of clothing that had been worn by Henry in order to give a scent for his hound to follow. This is why the second boot was then stolen. This was the older boot that Henry had worn and Stapleton needed for his hound. The first boot was found under a cabinet in teh hotel that Henry first stayed in. The second was found in the quicksand near Stapleton's forest lair.

How did Sir Charles die? A: Sir Charles died after he was sneaking out of the mansion. The hound of Baskerville was about to kill him, but due to an ailing heart, he had a heart attack by the very sight of the beast and collapsed dead. This was later noted in the story when the hound was encountered and how it glowing adn appeared to be breathing fire because of the phosphorous on it. He exclaimed that this sight could kill a man, and coincidentally it did kill Sir Charles.

What are the Stapleton's true identities?

Mr. Stapleton is actually a descendant of the Baskervilles. His name is Roger Baskerville Jr. Miss Stapleton, who acts as his sister, is actually his wife. Her name is Beryl Garcia and she is from Costa Rica. Holmes discovers that Stapleton is actually a Baskerville after examining the close resemblance between him and a portrait of Hugo Baskerville who was the original Baskerville lord. Holmes also investigates the fact that Stapleton had a school house in Northern London and he traces him back to South America too.