Symbolism occurs when authors use elements to signify certain ideas by giving them a meaning different from what they literally represent. Most authors use this literary device in their books because it adds to the depth of the book. Symbolism allows the author to give a deeper meaning to a concept. In the classic mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, symbolism is used. The three objects to which Doyle applied symbolism were the moor, the dog, and Stapleton's nets. The moor is represented as darkness and strangeness. The moor is not a place that many people visit and explore, in fact most people are afraid of it and tend to avoid it. Watson describes the moor when he says, “Above the green squares… like a fantastic landscape in a dream” (39). Here Doyle reveals that the moor is a place that gives people chills when they see it. He does this through the character of Watson, because in this quote words with negative connotations such as "strange, gray and melancholy" are used to show what the moor is like. Doyle uses another dark and unsavory word when ...