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Similes
Chapter 9
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.
