How Conan Doyle Builds Tension In Pages 60-61
How Arthur Conan Doyle Builds Tension for the Reader in the Extract on Pages 60-61
Conan Doyle builds tension in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ in many ways, for instance personification and his use of detailed description. This extract contains several examples of these techniques, which I will analyse in this essay.
The extract begins with a charming description of Devon, ‘a sweet, simple country spot’ this lulls you into the false hope that nothing will go wrong here as it is too nice a place. However it then goes on to annihilate that image of the quaint village by ending the sentence with words like ‘dark’ and ‘soldierly’. This oxymoron leaves you with the idea that the picturesque quality is simply a facade for the evil that lies beneath. The idea that all is not as it seems builds tension because the reader then wants to know what is truly going on and why the lie was there in the first place.
One major way that Conan Doyle builds tension in this section is by the introduction of a rampant convent. These red herrings are of common use in murder mystery books, such as ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ as it is an effective way of building tension. This works because the reader begins to think of different ways the story could pan out, in an attempt to crack the case. However this will, most likely, take them down the wrong path, and so when the case is solved it will appear out of the blue.
Another example of tension building in this extract is the use of language techniques, like pathetic fallacy. ‘A tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside,’ this pathetic fallacy gives the idea that the whole area is desolate and sorrowful. This builds tension because it gives the impression that something awful happened here and makes the reader want to know what it was.
At the end of the second paragraph Conan Doyle writes, ‘the rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation -- sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw
Conan Doyle builds tension in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ in many ways, for instance personification and his use of detailed description. This extract contains several examples of these techniques, which I will analyse in this essay.
The extract begins with a charming description of Devon, ‘a sweet, simple country spot’ this lulls you into the false hope that nothing will go wrong here as it is too nice a place. However it then goes on to annihilate that image of the quaint village by ending the sentence with words like ‘dark’ and ‘soldierly’. This oxymoron leaves you with the idea that the picturesque quality is simply a facade for the evil that lies beneath. The idea that all is not as it seems builds tension because the reader then wants to know what is truly going on and why the lie was there in the first place.
One major way that Conan Doyle builds tension in this section is by the introduction of a rampant convent. These red herrings are of common use in murder mystery books, such as ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ as it is an effective way of building tension. This works because the reader begins to think of different ways the story could pan out, in an attempt to crack the case. However this will, most likely, take them down the wrong path, and so when the case is solved it will appear out of the blue.
Another example of tension building in this extract is the use of language techniques, like pathetic fallacy. ‘A tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside,’ this pathetic fallacy gives the idea that the whole area is desolate and sorrowful. This builds tension because it gives the impression that something awful happened here and makes the reader want to know what it was.
At the end of the second paragraph Conan Doyle writes, ‘the rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation -- sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw