Hound and the baskerville Paper Trez Bentley

Hound and the Baskerville is one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most memorable Sherlock Holmes case. This case in particular deals with the unusual deaths of the Baskerville family. This is a very unorthodox case in comparison to Sherlock Holmes’ usual cases, mostly because there are two different views for this case. The first view, held by most of the townspeople in Devonshire, is that the cases cannot be solved by scientific means because the main suspect could be a supernatural hound committing the violent attacks out of revenge. The second view for the case is that it is not a spiritual hound, but rather a person getting revenge on the Baskerville family. The case of the Hound of Baskerville is not as supernatural as it appears because the case can be solved using science exclusively.

    The case seems to be strictly a supernatural, but it can easily be disproven. In the book, the foremost believer that the case is supernatural is Mortimer. Mortimer is a naturalist whom Holmes identifies as a practical man of science. During one of Mortimer’s first encounters with Holmes, Mortimer tells Holmes about the Hound of the Baskerville (Doyle 11). One of the residents of Devonshire, Hugo Baskerville, was well-known for kidnapping and raping a nearby farmer’s daughter. The girl escaped, and Hugo sent the hounds after the girl. The next morning, the girl and Hugo were found dead. The only clue found at the scene was a gigantic hound’s footprint. Next, Charles Baskerville moves in to the mansion, and he is immediately killed. At the scene of his death, there is another gigantic footprint (Doyle 19). Mortimer goes to Holmes to ask about the next Baskerville who is destined to live in the Devonshire Sir Henry. On pages 20-23, Holmes shows that the idea of the supernatural hound does not fit the criteria because the only evidence of the supernatural is the mysterious hound’s footprint. So far, the only evidence that Mortimer has is the footprint. Personally, I don’t think that a paw print is enough proof to jump to the conclusion of a supernatural murder. Another question that Holmes asks is, “In your opinion there is a diabolical agency which makes Dartmoor an unsafe abode for a Baskerville” (Doyle 24). Mortimer says, “At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence…” (Doyle 24). Holmes then replies by saying,” Exactly … If your supernatural theory be correct, it could work the young man (Sir Henry) evil as easily as in Devonshire. A devil with merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable a thing” (Doyle 24). This shows that they assume that the Baskervilles can only be killed in Devonshire. If this is a supernatural killer, the killer would be able to kill Baskervilles no matter where they are. This fact will lead you to the conclusion that a supernatural hound is not the solution to this case.

    The case of the Hound of the Baskerville was solved with science. First, Sherlock Holmes identified Stapleton as the criminal they were looking for when they found Sheldon dead. Stapleton saw the body and said,” Why, Dr. Watson, that’s not you, is it? You are the last man that I should have expected to see out on the moor at this time of night. … No – don’t tell me that it is our friend Sir Henry!”(Doyle 133). This is strange because Stapleton had no reason to believe that the body on the ground was Sir Henry. Holmes presumed that he would think it is Sir Henry because he sent the hound after Sir Henry’s scent. This happened because the clothes that Sheldon had on where the clothes of Sir Henry. Next, Holmes had to display a reason why Mortimer would want Sir Henry dead and why he killed Sir Charles. This is found on page 140 when Holmes uses his knowledge of face recognition by stating, “Holmes stood upon a chair, and holding up the light in his left hand, he curved his right arm over the broad hat and round the long ringlets. … The face of Stapleton had sprung out of the canvas. Ha, you see it now. My eyes have been trained to examine faces and not their trimmings.” (Doyle 140). Holmes realized that Stapleton most be a member of the Baskerville family. Holmes then set up a plan to capture Stapleton to solve the case.

    Hound of the Baskerville is a case of a criminal, not that of a supernatural hound. The case only appears to be supernatural, but Watson tells us that hound is mortal (Doyle 152). Without the hound, there is nothing supernatural about this case. This leaves the only explanation that there is a criminal who is killing members of the Baskerville family. By using logic and his method, Holmes solved the case and caught Stapleton.

Draft

     Science is a key part of our everyday lives. We use science to come up with new technology, increasing production, and building on existing technology. Science is also being used as a form of entertainment. TV series use science to solve cases such as Crime Science Investigation, Law and Order, Cops, The District, and NYPD Blue. These TV series use science and reason to solve their cases. But before these TV series there was the book series similar to the modern TV series, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a story about a detective that solved complicated cases.  Sherlock Holmes was able to solve the difficult cases by using his scientific methods to solve the cases.      Sherlock Holmes uses his knowledge of London and observations to solve to come up with his theories. In the beginning of the story Holmes came up with the conclusion that Watson was sending a telegram not mailing a letter (Doyle, 127). Holmes knows that the dirt on the bottom of Watson’s shoe is only found in one place in London.  That place is where people in London sent telegrams. Another observation of Sherlock Holmes is that Watson had stamps in his desks and that also helped him come up with the theory of mailing a telegram. Next time Sherlock Holmes use his know of London is figuring out that Watson’s pocket watch used to belong to Watson’s brother (Doyle, 129 – 130). First Holmes knows that in London the oldest son gets all of the valuables of the family. Then Holmes asked Watson was his brother a careless men and Watson says yes. Holmes then states,” When you observe the lower part of that watch-case  you notice that it is not only dinted in two places but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects, such as coins or keys, in the same pocket. Surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty-guinea watch so cavalierly must be a carless man.” (Doyle, 129).Then Holmes opens the watch and noticed that the watch had serial numbers inside of it. Holmes knows that pawn shops put serial numbers inside items that are pawned. So this observation let Holmes know that Watson’s Brother went through hard times.      Holmes’ method include the ability to get information out of people and also getting help from the citizen of London.    

5a: The Sign of Four 1-24 — Zack Long

1. I believe that Holmes is an unusual person because he is an intellegent man, and will notice clues that the average person wouldn’t see. Also, if he doesnt have a case to work on, he’ll inject morphine or cocaine into his arm.

3. Watson’s role in the story is not only being a narrorator, but being the right hand man of Sherlock Holmes.

4. Sherlock Homles’ method of solving cases is to study the physical propeties of his evidence before looking at other aspects of it. For example, when he looks at a letter, he first sees the quality of the paper to determine if it’s the kind of paper either a rich man would use or a poor man.

Signs of Four Ch1 and 2

1. The introduction starts out with the description of Holmes’ bad habit, and how his roommate feels about Holmes and his cocaine.  It seems like Watson only sees his roommate as a lazy crack addict with very little intellect. Watson even doubts Holmes’ scientific observation by calling it romantic- like a fairy tale.  Later in the chapter Watson puts Holmes’ ability to the test by asking Holmes to describe the character of Watson’s brother base off a watch.  Of course in the end, Holmes’ answer infuriates Watson.  Holmes was able to tell Watson things about his brother that relatives probably didn’t even know.  The chapter ends with the landlady telling Watson that a young lady was there to see them.
2. Mary Morstan came to Holmes asking for help with a ten year mystery.  Ten years ago Mary Morstan’s father took a year leave from work.  He traveled to England to ask Mary to come visit him at Langham Hotel.  When Mary arrived, she was informed that her father was checked-in but wasn’t in his room.  Mary waits all night for her father’s arrival, but he never returns.  Langham’s manger advised Mary to call the police.  The paper advertised Mary’s father disappearance, but her prayers went unanswered.  Four years later, May 4, 1882, Mary received a striking pearl in the mail from an unknown sender.  Afterward every year a similar pearl in a similar box was sent to her.  Recently Mary received a letter in the mail asking her to come to the Lyceum Theatre.  The suspicious sender understands Mary’s discomfort and tries to comfort her by telling her to bring two friends, anyone but the police, if she is unsure.  Holmes volunteers Watson and himself to escort Mary to the Lyceum Theatre. Mary leave anxious for the night.