RR 3.- Character

Reading Response #3

Character: The Red Herrings

As in many mystery novels there are many 'red herrings' that put the detective off the correct track. In The Hound of The Baskervilles some of the main ones are the escaped convict, Barrymore and his wife, and Stapeleton's 'sister. The sayig 'red herring' as something that diverts attention away for the idea of significance came from training dogs to follow foxes. When the trainer was training the dogs he deliberately put a trail of red herring sent over the path to test if the dog would stick to his initial task or be lead astray by the scent of the delectable little fish.

When arriving in Dartmoor Dr. Watson, Dr. Mortimer and Sir Henry observed “on the summit, hard and clear like an equestrian statue upon its pedestal, was a mounted soldier, dark and stern, his rifle poised ready over his forearm. He was watching the road along which we traveled' (Doyle, The Hound of The Baskervilles 80), this quote gives them the feeling that they are being watched but infact “ There's a convict escaped from Princetown, sir (Perkins: their driver says to Mr. Mortimer). He's been out three days now, and the warders watch every road and every situation, but they've had no sight of him yet. The farmers about here don't like it, sir , and that's a fact”(80). This comes to them as almost a relief because now they know it isn't themselves that are being watched rather the escaped convict. But this leads them to another question “could this escaped convict be linked to the death of Sir Charles Baskerville"?

Upon there arrival at the family estate, they are greeted by the Barrymores, Sir Charles loyal butler, whose family have been serving the Baskervilles for many generations. The estate is a large and vast, not exactly the friendliest house though ' Baskerville shuddered as he looked up the long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the farther end” (82), quoted by Dr. Watson. This quote set the mood for the scenes to come where Mr. Barrymore, announces he no longer wants to work at the Baskerville Hall. “Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?” “only when it is quite convenient to you sir” “But your family have been with us for several generations, have they not? I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family connection” “I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife. But to tell the truth, sir we were both very much attached to Sir Charles and his death gave us a shock and made these surrounding very painful to us. I fear that we shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall” ( 85). This made Dr. Watson and Sir Henry believe that he took part in the death of Charles Baskerville. Later on in the story they are lead to believe that their initial feeling of Barrymore is correct when they find him shining a light out the window as a signal to someone hidding in the bushes, “I (Dr. Watson) went down the corridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been in the night before. The western window through which he had stared so intently has one peculiarity above all other windows in the house- it commands the nearest outlook on to the moor” (120). Turns out this discovery leads Dr. Watson to confronting Barrymore the next night,  while he was caught dead in his tracks signalling a candle to something outside the window.   After some persuading, Barrymore confessed that he was signaling to the escaped convict which is Mrs. Barrymore's brother. Which led to the narrowing down of two red herrings, the escaped convict and Barrymore..

Mr. Stapleton, the true culprit for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville set up numerous 'red herrings'. The first significant one being that he said his wife was rather his sister. Laura Lyons was a pawn in Stapleton's game. He convinced her that he loved her but they needed the money to get married, so he convinced her to set up an appointment with Sir Charles to ask this rich man for money. Her appointment ended up being the time of his death. As Charles waited outside for Laura Lyons to discuss the matter of her marriage, Stapleton waited upon the moor to release his ferocious beast. The hound was kept in a dugout far out in a safe spot in the moor. When Dr. Watson and Stapleton were on walk the Hound howled, and Dr. Watson asked " 'What do you think is the cause of so a strange a sound?' 'Bogs make queer noises sometimes. It's the mud settling, or the water rising, or something' 'No, no, that was a living voice' 'Well perhaps it was. Have you ever heard a bitern booming? It's a very rare bird- practically extinct'" (99). Stapleton was using a rare bird calling to hid the reality of the situation which was that he is in-fact keeping the beast locked up in a dugout in the moor.

As you can see there are many 'red herrings'. I found that Conan Doyle highlighted the 'red herrings' more than the actual culprit: Mr. Stapleton. In many cases it made me realize that they are not the culprit, in a true mystery novel, the real culprit is right under every ones nose but is the one they least expected to be held a fault. I found that most of the red herring were presented very near to the beginning for example The culprit, Mr. Barrymore, and the rare bird. Near as the story progressed the 'red herrings' were proved wrong such as the escaped convict and the Barrymore's. As a result of the process of elimination , the true culprit: Mr. Stapleton is left standing. This is a form of deduction that Doyle so famously uses in his detective novels.

*red herring -idiomatic expression referring to literary tactic of diverting attention away from an idea of significance.