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Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Watson & Holmes:
In Chapter 1, Dr. Watson and Holmes are introduced to their new client, Dr. Mortimer, through his walking stick. The story establishes Watson and Holmes as foils, with Holmes asking Watson to deduct the identity of the stick's owner purely through observation:
'Well, Watson, what do you make of it?’ Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation. ‘How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.
Many Sherlock Holmes stories begin with this kind of scene, where Holmes appears to have some supernatural ability. Here, it is as if Holmes has read Watson’s mind or, as Watson states using hyperbole, literally has eyes in the back of his head. This emphasizes Holmes’s eerie ability to know things, a result of his extreme powers of reasoning. Holmes's eerie ability contrasts with Watson's more average steadiness. The pair’s character traits are compared and contrasted throughout the novella, which allows the reader to gain deeper insight into both characters. Overall, Holmes is brilliant and unpredictable, while Watson is solid and dependable.
After Watson provides his deductions, he asks Holmes:
'Has anything escaped me?’ [...] ‘I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have over-looked?’ ‘I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous.'
It is revealed that most of Watson’s guesses about the nature of the man’s identity are incorrect. Holmes tells him:
So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty, amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite dog.
Moments later, Holmes’s deductions are confirmed when Dr. Mortimer walks in. As usual, Holmes’s rare skills of deduction and powers of reason lead him to solve a mystery, which is contrasted with Watson's seemingly sound yet erroneous reasoning. The use of this foil sets up Holmes as the epitome of scientific reason.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Selden & Mrs Barrymore:
In Chapter 9, after Watson learns the notorious murderer Selden is related to Mrs. Barrymore, he is shocked and wonders:
Was it possible that this stolidly respectable person was of the same blood as one of the most notorious criminals in the country?
According to Watson, Selden is:
A danger to the community, an unmitigated scoundrel for whom there was neither pity nor excuse. We were only doing our duty in taking this chance of putting him back where he could do no harm. With his brutal and violent nature, others would have to pay the price if we held our hands.
In comparison to her brother, Mrs. Barrymore is a respectable and dependable member of society. Selden is a foil for Mrs. Barrymore; that is, his traits draw attention to the qualities of his sister. Selden is deviant and a law-breaker, while Mrs. Barrymore is law-abiding and well-adjusted.
Mrs. Barrymore then explains that Selden’s criminal nature is the product of his faulty upbringing:
We humoured him too much when he was a lad, and gave him his own way in everything, until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and that he could do what he liked in it. Then, as he grew older, he met wicked companions, and the devil entered into him, until he broke my mother’s heart and dragged our name in the dirt.
Mrs. Barrymore’s statements reflect the larger idea of criminal nurture vs. criminal nature, a debate over whether behavior is informed more by a person’s upbringing or has a biological basis that predetermines one’s actions. Through the foil pairing of Mrs. Barrymore and Selden, Doyle presents a view that it is nurture, not nature, that determines one’s behavior.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Man on the Tor:
Doyle first sets up an instance of situational irony—overturning audience expectations—in Chapter 9 when Watson, writing to Holmes, describes seeing a mysterious figure on the Tor:
There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay behind him.
Watson suspects the man is involved in the mystery and is perhaps the person who tailed them in London or even the mastermind behind Sir Charles Baskerville’s murder. In Chapter 11, he attempts to ambush the man after finding his hut:
If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at the point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged us so long. He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street, but it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor.
At the end of Chapter 11, it is revealed that the stranger is Holmes, who has secretly traveled to the Moors to investigate the crime:
‘It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,’ said a well-known voice. ‘I really think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.’
Chapter 12 then dramatically opens with the conclusion of Watson's discovery:
Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight of responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul. That cold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the world. ‘Holmes!’ I cried – ‘Holmes!'
Through this instance of situational irony—an unexpected outcome or turn in events—the story reveals the level of Holmes’s brilliance as a detective. One step ahead of Watson, Holmes reveals that his deception is all part of a larger, carefully thought out plan to capture the killer, who he suspects is Jack Stapleton. Once again, Holmes outwits and is a foil to Watson. In this case, it is presented through an unexpected turn of events.
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—The Man on the Tor:
Doyle first sets up an instance of situational irony—overturning audience expectations—in Chapter 9 when Watson, writing to Holmes, describes seeing a mysterious figure on the Tor:
There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay behind him.
Watson suspects the man is involved in the mystery and is perhaps the person who tailed them in London or even the mastermind behind Sir Charles Baskerville’s murder. In Chapter 11, he attempts to ambush the man after finding his hut:
If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at the point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged us so long. He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street, but it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor.
At the end of Chapter 11, it is revealed that the stranger is Holmes, who has secretly traveled to the Moors to investigate the crime:
‘It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,’ said a well-known voice. ‘I really think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.’
Chapter 12 then dramatically opens with the conclusion of Watson's discovery:
Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight of responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul. That cold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the world. ‘Holmes!’ I cried – ‘Holmes!'
Through this instance of situational irony—an unexpected outcome or turn in events—the story reveals the level of Holmes’s brilliance as a detective. One step ahead of Watson, Holmes reveals that his deception is all part of a larger, carefully thought out plan to capture the killer, who he suspects is Jack Stapleton. Once again, Holmes outwits and is a foil to Watson. In this case, it is presented through an unexpected turn of events.
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—The Man on the Tor:
Doyle first sets up an instance of situational irony—overturning audience expectations—in Chapter 9 when Watson, writing to Holmes, describes seeing a mysterious figure on the Tor:
There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay behind him.
Watson suspects the man is involved in the mystery and is perhaps the person who tailed them in London or even the mastermind behind Sir Charles Baskerville’s murder. In Chapter 11, he attempts to ambush the man after finding his hut:
If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at the point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged us so long. He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street, but it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor.
At the end of Chapter 11, it is revealed that the stranger is Holmes, who has secretly traveled to the Moors to investigate the crime:
‘It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,’ said a well-known voice. ‘I really think that you will be more comfortable outside than in.’
Chapter 12 then dramatically opens with the conclusion of Watson's discovery:
Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight of responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul. That cold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the world. ‘Holmes!’ I cried – ‘Holmes!'
Through this instance of situational irony—an unexpected outcome or turn in events—the story reveals the level of Holmes’s brilliance as a detective. One step ahead of Watson, Holmes reveals that his deception is all part of a larger, carefully thought out plan to capture the killer, who he suspects is Jack Stapleton. Once again, Holmes outwits and is a foil to Watson. In this case, it is presented through an unexpected turn of events.
