How does Arthur Conan Doyle create and sustain tension in The Hound of the Baskervilles?
Well, one thing is he doesn’t tell the reader about Holmes’ involvement till the very end. Everyone knows that Watson isn’t a good detective, so by keeping Holmes in the shadow, Doyle makes the reader curious to find out whether Holmes will ever appear. There’s tension as well ‘cos we know that unless Holmes appears, the danger won’t go away. Then there’s the use of the Epistolary technique. That’s telling a story through letters. In here we are only shown the story from one point of view (Watson’s) so tension is created because we don’t know what is happening to the other characters. Also the use of this technique makes the narration very personal, so that the reader experiences the same emotions, tensions and fears that Watson goes through. Also, the true form of the hound is not revealed till the end. The waiting scene in the mist is prolonged to create tension. Hope that helped. It’s some time since I studied the novel so i can’t remember everything.
