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Mood
Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Stapleton's Net:
In Chapter 11, Watson finds the mysterious Man on the Tor's hideout. Unnerved by his presence and this strange twist in events, Watson uses a metaphor to suggest the person behind these occurrences is a shrewd and cunning mastermind, one step ahead of him:
Always there was this feeling of an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and delicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at some supreme moment that one realized that one was indeed entangled in its meshes.
As Watson investigates the Moor, he begins to feel an increasing sense of danger. Threats loom everywhere—in the strange, mournful calls he hears at night and the unknown whereabouts of the criminal Selden. At this point in the story, it is clear that danger is near, and the image of Watson and Holmes captured in a net heightens the dramatic tension of the moment.
The story’s use of metaphor in this moment is also an instance of foreshadowing. The description of a net closing in on Watson and Sir Henry alludes to the naturalist Jack Stapleton and his butterfly net, a recurring motif. Before Watson approaches the hut, he describes himself walking “as warily as Stapleton would do when with poised net he drew near the butterfly.” Holmes brings up butterflies in reference to Stapleton again in Chapter 13 when it is revealed that he is a long-lost Baskerville heir and therefore has a motive for the crimes. The chapter is fittingly titled “Fixing the Nets”:
We have him, Watson, we have him, and I dare swear that before tomorrow he will be fluttering in our net as helpless as one of his own butterflies. A pin, a cork, and a card, and we add him to the Baker Street collection!
Building the butterfly motif, Holmes uses a simile and compares Stapleton to one of the naturalist's subjects of inquiry. Watson first meets Stapleton out on the Moor, “dressed in a grey suit and wearing a straw hat" and carrying a specimen box and a green butterfly-net, a getup that turns out to be a clever coverup to explain his frequent presence on the Moor.
Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Stapleton's Net:
In Chapter 11, Watson finds the mysterious Man on the Tor's hideout. Unnerved by his presence and this strange twist in events, Watson uses a metaphor to suggest the person behind these occurrences is a shrewd and cunning mastermind, one step ahead of him:
Always there was this feeling of an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and delicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at some supreme moment that one realized that one was indeed entangled in its meshes.
As Watson investigates the Moor, he begins to feel an increasing sense of danger. Threats loom everywhere—in the strange, mournful calls he hears at night and the unknown whereabouts of the criminal Selden. At this point in the story, it is clear that danger is near, and the image of Watson and Holmes captured in a net heightens the dramatic tension of the moment.
The story’s use of metaphor in this moment is also an instance of foreshadowing. The description of a net closing in on Watson and Sir Henry alludes to the naturalist Jack Stapleton and his butterfly net, a recurring motif. Before Watson approaches the hut, he describes himself walking “as warily as Stapleton would do when with poised net he drew near the butterfly.” Holmes brings up butterflies in reference to Stapleton again in Chapter 13 when it is revealed that he is a long-lost Baskerville heir and therefore has a motive for the crimes. The chapter is fittingly titled “Fixing the Nets”:
We have him, Watson, we have him, and I dare swear that before tomorrow he will be fluttering in our net as helpless as one of his own butterflies. A pin, a cork, and a card, and we add him to the Baker Street collection!
Building the butterfly motif, Holmes uses a simile and compares Stapleton to one of the naturalist's subjects of inquiry. Watson first meets Stapleton out on the Moor, “dressed in a grey suit and wearing a straw hat" and carrying a specimen box and a green butterfly-net, a getup that turns out to be a clever coverup to explain his frequent presence on the Moor.
