The Valley of Fear

Darkly the shadow lay upon the Valley of Fear. The spring had come with running brooks and blossoming trees. There was hope for all Nature bound so long in an iron grip; but nowhere was there any hope for the men and women who lived under the yoke of the terror. Never had the cloud above them been so dark and hopeless as in the early summer of the year 1875.

Narrator, 300

Doyle uses the metaphor of nature to describe the feeling the townspeople have about the Scowrers' rule over them. They live in a "Valley of Fear" full of shadows. They have a dark cloud above them, closing them in and taking away their will and ability to survive. Within this quote is another interesting dynamic, for Doyle also contrasts how nature can throw off the yoke of cruel winter but the people can never throw off the rule of the Scowrers. Both the metaphor and the comparison create a bleak picture of life in the Valley.