The Representation of the Bloodhound
In Neil Pemberton’s selection, he discusses multiple ways how Conan Doyle uses the bloodhound to enhance his plot. For instance initially, the bloodhound functioned as a ghost who haunted others down for revenge. However at the end, we find out that the bloodhound is actually a real animal that is trained to hunt. Conan Doyle uses bits of Victorian culture such as the doglike characteristics of the bloodhound such as “sniffing a scent out” or “finding the culprit” to attribute to Holmes’ investigative style and how he comes up with his reasoning. This leads to the bloodhound having a sense of detective and productive connotation. It can be used to understand Sherlock a little more since we cannot read his thoughts from the first person point of view.
I did some research on the bloodhound breed. They are large scent hounds, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, and for tracking people. This was an interesting choice of dog for Conan Doyle to choose to write into the story. It seems to be a detective against another detective. Sherlock against the bloodhound. I like what you had to say about how this animal is trained to hunt. He is trained in the same way Sherlock “practiced” solving mysteries. While these two beings are trained they also have a natural ability to solve mysteries, a leg up above the other detectives of the world.
