In the book The Hound of the Baskervilles, the characters all fear the myth of a ghostly Hound that is going around killing people. The Hound symbolizes fear and overall relates to the main theme of the conflict between rationalism and superstition.
In the book, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson get a knock on their door that there is a ghostly Hound that is going and killing people. When they arrive at the crime scene, they see Sir Charles Baskerville dead with a face full of terror. When investigating the case, Dr. Watson realizes there is an escaped convict on the loose. The whole Baskerville family fears the Hound and believes that it is a superstitious beast that has been sent to kill their whole family. Later on, Holmes deduces that the killer is Jack Stapleton, a neighbor of the baskervilles. Holmes believes Jack’s motivation was his wish of inheriting the baskerville estate. Holmes realizes that the Hound is no supernatural beast, but rather a vicious Hound that has been painted to appear like a sinister monster. Sir Charles' death was not caused by the Hound attacking him, but rather the fear caused by his superstitions. With all this information, Holmes goes to stop Stapleton, who is in the act of attempting to kill Henry Baskerville. Stapleton fleas and is believed to have been engulfed in the Grimpen Mire.
Throughout the book, the Baskervilles struggle to decipher between rationality and superstition. This leads the characters to make irrational decisions and have irrational thoughts. This is what led to Charles’ death. It wasn’t the Hound that was dressed in paint that killed him. It was Charles’ superstition that caused him to be scared to death. Throughout the book, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle relied heavily on an eerie setting and a mysterious atmosphere. This played into the irrationality of the supernatural tone.
The Hound was a perfect symbol of this book. It represented both rationality and superstition. On one hand, it represented rationality because although it was a vicious Hound, it was still just a dog. On the other hand, it represented superstition because the Baskervilles believed it was a ghostly, sinister Hound that was set to kill all the Baskervilles. The Hound revealed the main theme that was present throughout the whole novel. The use of the Hound juxtaposed the two ideas of rationalism and superstition.
Overall, the hound effectively symbolizes the theme that is present throughout the novel. It symbolized the fear of the Baskervilles even though it was not supernatural at all. Although it was just a myth, it still greatly symbolizes the theme of conflict between rationalism and superstition.