Good v Evil

Part of the appeal of the Holmes mystery series is that the forces of good and evil are clear-cut and in opposition. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a perfect example.

The hound itself is "from hell." Sir Hugo was "one possessed by a devil." The moor is a place of evil and darkness; Baskerville Hall is a place of gloom and despair, haunted by ghosts of generations past.

The villain, Stapleton, will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He is willing to murder by the cruelest means: using a gigantic attack dog on a victim walking alone in the middle of the night. He is not beneath making a woman fall in love with him and then using her charms to entrap another man. He is cold-blooded and cruel; even his profession centers around death.

Watson and Sir Henry Baskerville represent the forces of...