Lamb To The Slaughter And The Speckled

Band” Essay, Research Paper

Murder mysteries all have a

similar plot consisting of a body, a motive, a weapon, a suspect, an alibi and

detectives. Viewers and readers expect this in the text, Lamb to the Slaughter

and The Speckled Band are no exception.The structures of the two stories are very

different, with The Speckled Band story unfolding in chronological order,

finding out the murderer right at the end, however in the Lamb to the

Slaughter, the murderer is known at the beginning of the story.The two stories are seen from two different points

of view, first-person narratorinTheSpeckled Band as Dr

Watson acharacter

within the story and therefore limited in understanding and the all-knowingthird-person

narratoror omniscient in Lamb to the Slaughter as the narrator stands

outside the story itself and guide the reader’s understanding of characters and

the significance of their story. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????? Most murder mysteries have the typical

victims, murderers, and detectives, this is especially true in the older murder

mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Speckled Band has a typical detective,

the famous detective being Sherlock Holmes with his deer stalker hat and pipe

always deep in thought about the investigation ?his arms folded, his hat pulled

down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest

thought?. But in the Lamb to the Slaughter the detectives are so foolish and

naives, a complete contrast to Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes comes across as

a typical fictional detective. In addition Miss Stoner, in The Speckled Band is a

typical victim, vulnerable, anxious, weak and scared. She say?s ? It is not

cold which makes me shiver?, she was worried for her life. This line grips the

reader and we can sense that something sinister is about to happen. Also in The

Speckled Band, Dr Roylott, is the evil, plotting, devious, fictional murderer,

this character was portrayed in most murder mysteries stories written in the

late 19 century. The Speckled Band was written in 1892.????????? In the Lamb to the Slaughter we had no

idea who the murderer and victim were going to be until the murder had been

committed, in fact you might of thought the roles would have been reversed once

reading the first few pages. The detectives in the story are portrayed as

acting as typical modern police detectives, they eat the evidence! The

detectives appear so stupid and useless compared to the marvellous and

calculating Sherlock Holmes. ????????? The points of high tension are

different in the two stories. In The Speckled Band the main point of high

tension is right at the end when they find out who the murderer is and when the

snake comes at Holmes ?Holmes sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed

furiously with his cane at the bell-pull?. Other points of tension were Helen Stoner talking to

Holmes, ? Frightened eyes like those of some hunted animal?, the night of the

murder, ?A wild wind. The wind was?

howling outside?.. suddenly there burst forth the wild scream of a

woman?, and the sister?s hot words, ?She suddenly shrieked out in a voice which

I shall never forget, ? O, my God! Helen! It was the band! The Speckled band!?.

In the Lamb to the Slaughter the point of high tension is whether the

detectives would find out that it was Mrs Maloney who killed her husband,

?Probably right under our very noses. What do you think, Jack?? And in the

other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle?.????????? The differences in the settings in the

two stories is that the Roald Dahl story is set in the present time, whereas

the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story is set in a period of over 100 years ago. Both

of the murders are set in the family home. In the Lamb to the Slaughter, ?The

room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight?.? ?The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground

floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the building?, describes

the house of Dr Roylott in The Speckled Band.????????? From my perspective I think that the

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, The Speckled Band is the most successful out of

the two, as the author made the main character, Sherlock Holmes such an

intriguing and interesting character, who draws the audience in. He leaves the

reader in suspense until the end of the story until the murderer is revealed.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?s stories are so well-know due to the stories being

turned into films and shown on the television.????? Katherine

Bond 11W