Ghost Map 1-55 {Marcus C.}

Pages 1-55 of “Ghost Map” describe the beginning of the epidemic in London, other wise known as the Cholera Epidemic. The outbreak of cholera left millions of people dead in the cities. A primary reason for the outbreak resulted in the unsanitary living conditions that people in that time were forced to live in. During the mid-nineteenth century, there wasn’t a well engineered sewage system to accommodate the health and well being of many of the cities occupants. From the reading, I noticed that the proper way to dispose of raw sewage was to have “Night-Soil Men” clean the pits below houses of human waste. It was a dirty, rather, filthy job, but the workers were often rewarded with whiskey as a source of nerve calming. As time went on, the cities population grew to an uncontrollable magnitude. Not to mention that the toilet was just invented for public use, which in term, caused a larger pile-up of feces in the cities. This only increased the likely-hood of one contracting the deadly disease, especially since it is said that the people’s drinking water was derived from the same water that was collected in underwater sewage lines. A horrible epidemic it was. Cholera was a bacteria that when consumed in “mega” loads, or by the million, can be fatal. Once it is in your system, it will find its way to your intestines. Then it will coat the surface, confusing the cells that normally regulate or control the water that comes into your system. One cell brings in most water, and the other cells eject the rest as waste. Cholera bacteria confuse the two, switching their characteristics. The person will die in a mater of hours, or days if they are unfortunate, for the symptoms are terrible. Diarrhea, muscle spasms, dehydration, hypertension, and at the same time, you remain conscious of it all.  The next few pages will begin to investigate the epidemic, for it has just started.

**Extra Credit** – (1941) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde {Marcus C.}

Seeing the 1941 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was more enjoyable than the 1932 version, I believe. This version was better acted and had a better dramatization over all. Compared to the previous screen adaptation, this one was a little longer, but had more of a “realistic” feel to it. When I say realistic, I am stating that the actors didn’t seem as scripted as they did in the 1932. I also noticed that the main character who played in this film was the same character from the Thomas Edison movie that we saw in Engl 101-MT6 last semester. I thought that it was better to make the transformation from Jekyll to Hyde less detailed. In other words, the 1932 version dressed Hyde up in a lot of make-up until he looked very much like a monster. In this newer film (newer in that time period), they didn’t change much about Jekyll’s appearance. Though I am not saying his appearance didn’t change at all,  but rather less. He still looked like he was Dr. Jekyll.

Differences in the two films were made known. One thing that I noticed between the two versions is that the 1941 didn’t emphasize as much on the relationship between Dr. Jekyll and his “wife to be”. They still kept the same story line, whereas he wants to unleash his inner darkness so that he can do things without guilt. But after watching both versions, I noticed that both times he failed. He eventually felt convicted in the end, which is why he wanted to “set his girlfriend free”. He still had the same story with the young lady at the club. The only difference that I remember is that in the 1932 version, the young seductress was an actual berlesk dancer. In the 1941 film, she was only a bar tender.

The same views I had comparing the actual book to the 1932 film still stand. In the book, they didn’t mention anything about a lady playing a major role, as did in the two films. If there was a lady in the novel, she wasn’t mentioned enough to the point where I could remember.

Between the two film versions and the book, I liked the 1941 film version better. The reason is that I feel as if it was better written and had a better story line. I was more apt to focus more, because it held my attention more.

Transformation of Dr. Jekyll {Marcus C.}

Juxtaposing the three transformations (Cinema, Novella, and Picture) their are both similarities and differences that they all have. The version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that was depicted in the film, I believed, showed a more “dramatic” transformation. For example, the movie displayed Dr. Jekyll as being more in “pain”. He showed more emotion and more dramatization by breaking surrounding objects and grabbing his face as if he was dying. In the novel, they only describe a few characteristics of his transformation. For instance, Stevenson says that he was nauseated and shortly after, felt younger and more “alive”. The picture on the opposite view, only shows a single frame-shot of Jekyll changing into Hyde. All three, however, display a dignified, young looking man transforming into something hideous, as if a beast. Hyde was never displayed as being “normal” in man’s eyes.

The World’s Fair {Marcus C.}

The documentary depicting the development and the story behind the Chicago Exposition was very informative. There were many things that caught my attention about the documentary. The architecture is what caused me to turn my head and glue my eyes to the screen. I was captivated about the work put into these buildings and how the theme was all white. I could only image being placed in that era in Chicago, only to witness true architecture at it’s finest. I could say that at one point, I wanted to be an architect, which is why I was awestruck by the designs in general. There wasn’t one design that I could say I liked specifically, but it was just the whole thing in general. Watching and learning how Chicago was nothing more than a swamp and how it became home to one of the world’s greatest fairs was amazing. The underdog stories are the kind I like to hear.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Movie vs. Novel {Marcus C.}

The 1932 screen-play classic version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was none the less a horribly told story in the making, I thought. The movie was derived far away from the actual Novel itself. I did not know what to make of it in the end. I though the end was horrible, considering he was shot and everyone surround him was in shock to find out it was actually the Doctor rather than the mysterious beast they mistook him for. I know some classic movies were a bit monotone, but this was lower than monotone (if there was a level lower). The entire hour and a half, I felt like I was watching a bad stage play. I thought everything about the movie, from the actual story line to the make-up, could have been better.

The film, I should also mention, was a bit off from the novel. In the novel, the story, as one of my classmates mentioned in their post, did not mention anything about a woman to the point where I could consider them a major part of the story. The movie used two women to juxtapose the differences in Jekyll and Hyde. The woman whom Dr. Jekyll was to marry resembled a happy, romantic love. The other woman, resembled a spicy lifestyle, or as one could say as it being wild.

All in all, I personally thought that the movie was better than the novel. The novel didn’t capture my attention much, which made it hard to pay attention to the important details. The novel, however, did portray more of a mystery compared to the movie. It made more of the details such as who was the actual Mr. Hyde seem more mysterious. In term, I mean it was put together as a mystery novel rather than a scary one. The film, as I stated earlier, reminded me of a stage play. IT wasn’t as mysterious,  but rather a plain story of the struggles of love.

Master and Commander {Marcus. C}

Master and Commander was a very educational film depicting naval battles of the past. It was interesting to see how the war was fought then, and how improved technology has changed the battlefield. The only issue that I had with the movie is that at times, it was hard to follow. I found myself lost at some points, not knowing what was exactly going on. Seeing the doctor being ecstatic over the discovery of new species was also interesting. He and the young boy, when they went the the Galapagos’s, went all over the island discovering new species. The species to us weren’t new, but to them they were. Observing how doctors performed in those days left me on the edge of my seat. How they had to cut off limbs and operate on themselves, when needed, were marvelous to discover. What was unique about this is that they hadn’t the use for pain killers or sedatives to ease the pain during the surgeries.

Newton’s Dark Secrets {Marcus C}

The documentary entitled, “Newton’s Dark Secrets,” was an educational venue. It brought me into the detailed life of Sir Issac Newton, himself. The ideal description that I could use to lable Newton, is that he is the secludded type. One who sits in there room for hours doing nothing more than discovering new ideas. When he was at Trinity Univrsity, one of the Ivy League schools of his day, he found himself not being able to have a social life. His comrads thought of putting pleasure before studies, and he thought that wasting ones time would be foolish. At one point during his college career, he moved in with one of the very few people that he could call a friend. They both shared similar morals when it came to studying.

One of Newton’s rivals, Robert Hooke, always had reason to refute his studies. He agreed with some of his findings, but only because he argued that he had discoverd some of the facts first. Some of Newtons reasonings were not always correct. For example, he argued against D’carte that things can only be proven if they can be tested i a lab. D’carte had said that he invisioned the universe as a giant machine, such as a clock, wereas parts were organized in order to work together.

Newton had taken his idea and became determined to explain the theories of the universe himself. It had been thought that the entire universe had revolved around the Earth itself. He argued that the other planets didn’t orbit the Earth, but rather they and the Earth itself orbitted the sun. The commonly known story of Sir Issac Newton and the falling apple was what led him to develop Calculus. This was known as the study of how things changed, or the rate of change. With this newly found version of math, Newton could calculate the way the planets moved.

When the apple had fallen from the tree, it struck Newton that the same force pulling the apple down was the same force that controlled the universal rotation of planets. By having this information, he discovered that the planets not only revolved around the sun, but they didn’t rotate in a circular motion. Their path was eliptical. The distance from the object, he stated, affected the strenght of the gravitaional pull. For example, if the planet was twice as far away from the sun, then the gravitaional force would have one-fourth the original strength.

After most of his findings, they were refuted and he vowed never to publish scientific works again. That is when he shifted to alchemy. Before he died, he had published two remarkable novels known as “The Principia Mathematica” and “Optics.” He died at the age of eighty-four.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles” {Marcus C.}

“The common folk belief in Britain that animal “familiars” – usually black dogs, or sometimes hares – were given to witches by the devil to carry out evil deeds” (Wagner, 25). In the 1901 classic novel, “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” Sherlock Holmes discovers that there may be some truth to this tale of the Devil hound that haunts the moor. Although, he doesn’t fully believe in these superstitious facts, he still has reason to believe that they are tampering with something that could be of great danger to them. “I picked up my heaviest stick, but I observed that Holmes took his revolver from his drawer and slipped it into his pocket. It was clear that he thought that our nights work might be a serious one” (Doyle, 137). This quote taken from”The Sign of Four” shows how seriously Mr. Holmes takes his profession. In “The Hound of The Baskervilles,” Holmes and Watson are armed with revolvers in fear that their hound may life threatening. 

From reading previous Sherlock Holmes novels, one could tell that Holmes does not come across cases very often that deal with the supernatural. Therefore, when he does, he thinks that they are nothing more than myths.

When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this singular narrative he pushed his spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the fire. “Well?” said he. “Do you find it interesting?” “To a collector of fairy-tales.” (Doyle 14)

As one can see, it is clear that Sherlock Holmes does not particularly care for cases that can’t be explained by scientific means. In the novel, it is interesting to see how Sherlock handles this case. Part of what made the novel interesting was the anticipation to see what would happen if the great detective really was faced with a supernatural phenomenon. The curiosity builds up to a suspenseful ending. However, in the end, we discover that Holmes thoughts opposing any such “demon dog” were correct. It turned out that there wasn’t a demon dog, but yet an evil man controlling the dog. When Dr. Mortimer began to elaborate more on the case, Sherlock Holmes began to become more interested. “Holmes leaned forward in his excitement, and his eyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly interested” (Doyle, 20). Even as Holmes began to ask question about this strange occurrence, he would get back an answer, disposing of his scientific inquires. “There are many sheep-dogs on the moor.” “No doubt, but this was no sheep dog” (Doyle, 20). When the time came to actually observe the moor, Sherlock gave orders to Watson to accompany Sir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer as they were on their way to Baskerville Hall. Holmes would remain behind, so we thought, and finish any detective work that needed to be done locally.

While at the hall, Holmes had asked that Watson report back to him, through wire, anything that would be of importance concerning the surrounding area of the moor. He especially wanted him to observe and learn as much as he could about the neighbors. “Anything which may seem to have a bearing, however indirect, upon the case, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his neighbours, or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles” (Doyle 52). Spending time on the moor, Watson was instructed never to leave the side of Sir Henry. Disregarding the instructions given to him, one night, Watson happened to have come into the presence of a man whom is referred to as Stapleton. This Stapleton character was one to keep a cautious eye on, due to the warning from Mrs. Stapleton, who was supposedly being passed off as his sister. “Can you not tell when a warning is for your own good? Go back to London! Start to-night! Get away from this place at all costs! Hush, my brother is coming” (Doyle, 72)!

Watson spent much of the time in the moor trying to live up to Sherlock’s standards. He went sleuthing on his own while sometimes leaving Sir Henry behind. In one scene, Watson went to search the moor for a mysterious child who had been walking upon it in secret. It turned out that Mr. Holmes had been one step ahead of the game the whole time, for the child was undercover providing him with clean clothes and fresh bread. While Watson had been searching for answers concerning the case, Holmes had been doing his own sleuthing, trying to stay hidden for he did not want to be discovered. He knew that if the person they were looking for knew that he had accompanied Sir Henry to the moor, they would have been on their guard; thus making it more difficult to find the culprit.

Holmes, however, knew that the culprit was Stapleton, nonetheless. The only thing he had to do was prove it. He had known from the very beginning, as stated, that there was no such thing as this dog from hell. Even though he did not believe that there was an evil dog, he knew that there was one. But the only way to catch it was to allow Stapleton to make a mistake.

 

In “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place,” the family spaniel’s ability to tell mistress from stranger provides Holmes with a vital clue, and he announces to Watson, “Dogs don’t make mistakes.” Maybe not, but their handlers often do, as was made very apparent during the search for the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper in 1888. (Wagner, 27)

When the time was appropriate, Holmes directed Sir Henry to play into the hands of Stapleton. As did, the baronet, Watson and Holmes waited, hidden along the path that he would take walking from the Merripit House. Before they knew it, the beastly hound came running out from the yard and after Sir Henry. However, they were able to overcome the hound with just a few shots of ammunition. By examining the dog, they noticed that it was a rather large hound. On the other hand, the flames that were said to have come from his mouth was nothing more than paint. “Driving back in the evening from the Coombe Tracey, he was in time to get his hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast round to the gate…” (Doyle, 162).

As the full truth of the tale came about, one learns that there truly was no dog of flames, yet just another clever scheme thought up by a criminal. Stapleton was later reviled to be in the line of the Baskerville family. Knowing this, all the pieces of the puzzle were placed together. He had fallen on hard times and wanted need the money; thus, was his motive for gaining the Baskerville estate. When he had thought that there was only one Baskerville alive, he had moved close to the estate so that he could launch his devilish plans. He knew that the remaining Baskerville, Sir Charles, was terrified about the legend of the evil Hound. Therefore, he had purchased the biggest, meanest, black hound he could find. “It was the strongest and most savage in their possession” (Doyle, 162). He had painted it to look like the hound of the legend. He had recalled that Sir Charles suffered from heart disease and that one moment of excitement could kill him. Therefore, he had unleashed the hound on him, scaring him while he fell to his death. But shortly afterwards, he had learned of the existence of yet another Baskerville, Sir Henry, coming down from Canada.

The methods that Sherlock Holmes used were not altered in any way to work in favor of the supernatural. He relied on three qualities that he had mentioned in the Sign of four. “The power of observation, deduction, and knowledge” (Doyle, 126). As stated on the same page, he needed to have these three qualities in order to have successfully solved this case. In this case however, using these three characteristics, Sherlock Holmes proved that “The Hound of the Baskervilles” was nothing more than a fairy-tale.

The Hound of the Baskervilles; pages 53-109 {Marcus C.}

Reading the second portion of The Hound of the Baskervilles, I became more intrigued in the novel. It was brilliant of Doyle to tell a story through letters written to Holmes from Watson. By reading these letters from Watson’s account at Baskerville Hall, I couldn’t help to feel that I was in the place of Sherlock Holmes himself. It is known in any case, that by taking out the main character, most of the time you will lose the audiences interest. However, in this case, I was more interested. Sending Watson to the mansion with Sir Henry Baskerville without Holmes was, to me, a tough task. Out of all the cases that I would think Holmes would need to be apart of, I would mostly assure that it would be this one. The story sends chills down my spine as I await to see what the truth is about this mystery hound. For all the clues so far seem to lead away from the creature. Could it just be a myth, or reality? I am very anxious to find out.

The Hound of the Baskervilles; pages 3-52 {Marcus C.}

Just by reading the first fifty pages or so of The Hound of the Baskervilles, I was most certainly impressed. The story held my attention very well and even though we were only supposed to read the first five chapters of the series, I would have gladly read more. The case that is set before Sherlock Holmes in this story is undoubtedly an interesting one. A man by the name of Dr.Mortimer comes to Sherlock because of his reputation of solving crimes. The case he presents before the crime solving duo is a curse, which comes across Holmes and Watson as a very superstitious affair. But the very fact that this case presents itself as unnatural, makes Sherlock want to dive into it. The first five chapters basically lay out the details of the case. Every detail or thought that arises from the situation seems to take a turn for the unexpected. Even Holmes finds himself shocked at the cleverness of the person or creature they are after. In the fifth chapter, I knew that this would be an interesting case as Sherlock received information from the cab driver he was chasing. The driver reported to Holmes and Watson that the person he was driving around claimed to be a spy. The next words left me in complete awe. The driver recalled the passenger saying his name was Sherlock Holmes. I immediately thought that Holmes could actually have met his match. This mysterious clone of his apparently was one step ahead of Sherlock the whole time. A criminal clever enough to outwit Mr. Sherlock Holmes? I am on edge, waiting to finish the story.