Compare the Techniques used to create mystery and suspense by sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" and Ray Bradbury in "The whole Town's Sleeping"
Compare the Techniques used to create mystery and suspense by sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" and Ray Bradbury in "The whole Town's Sleeping"
In this essay I will be comparing the techniques used to create mystery and suspense by sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of The speckled Band" and Ray Bradbury in "The Whole Town's Sleeping". I will be focusing on the differences and similarities in setting, structure, characters, language and narration and also in endings.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "The Adventure of The Speckled Band in 1897 during the Boer War. He wrote the mystery story whilst studying to be a doctor at the University of Edinburgh. He was most famous for his Sherlock Holmes mystery stories, which he introduced in 1891. He then moved to Southsea in Hampshire to set up a small practise during his 20's.
In 1954 Ray Douglas Bradbury wrote a short American story, "The Whole Town's Sleeping". This is just an example of many American short stories written by Ray Bradbury. He is known as a science fiction writer and due to this he won innumerable honours and awards.
"The Adventure of The Speckled Band" was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1897 and is similar in some ways to Ray Bradbury's "The Whole Town's sleeping", which was written in 1954.
Although they were set at different times and in different places, the authors used similar techniques to create tension, suspense and mystery in their mystery stories.
"The Adventure of The Speckled Band" is set in pre-twentieth century England, in which two detectives solve a very peculiar crime. Most of the action is set in an old mansion, in one particular room, at night. In contrast to this story, "The Whole Town's Sleeping" is based in 1950's and involves a serial killer, known only as the Lonely One, targeting weak vulnerable women in a very small and quiet town in Illinois. These stories have their differences but also have similarities in the way both stories take place, far away from help and communication. This established the two authors goals of creating suspense and mystery.
"The Adventure of The Speckled Band" is mainly located around a room in an old mansion in a rural surrey. I think of this is because old is thought to be spooky and mysterious and so it creates tension and mystery. However, "The Whole town's Sleeping " is set in a very dark and damp ravine, and in a house, which is thought to be a place of safety, "Oh safe at home"(page 9). I believe the ravine is a major setting for danger due to the dead body of Eliza Ramsell found there and also, it is dark and quiet, which immediately suggested to me that this is the perfect surrounding to introduce danger. The ravine is a place where you don't want to be when you're on your own as the towns people think this is where the Lonely One is likely to be found. Lavinia Nebb's house is the opposite of the ravine even though it's a stereotype. A person's home is thought to be a safe and warm environment and not the other way round.
Lavinia's living room is turned into a very dangerous area just like the ravine. The ravine is always described as a very dark and dangerous region, 'Behind them were the lighted houses and faint radio music; ahead was deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark' (page 1). It's through the darkness that the living room is turned into another environment for the Lonely One, 'Behind her, in the black living-room, someone cleared his throat'. The fact that in "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" the victim was killed at home made me, the reader think twice about how safe a person's home really is.
The character of Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of The speckled Band" is a very unusual one. He is known to be a gentleman in the way he speaks as he uses very formal language. Although both Holmes and Watson solve mysteries, they don't work for a living and so are able to sleep until midday, "He was a late riser" (page 1). The reason for this is Holmes feels his profession has its own reward and so doesn't require money, "As to my reward, my profession is its own reward"(page 2). This states Holmes obviously has money.
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The character of Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of The speckled Band" is a very unusual one. He is known to be a gentleman in the way he speaks as he uses very formal language. Although both Holmes and Watson solve mysteries, they don't work for a living and so are able to sleep until midday, "He was a late riser" (page 1). The reason for this is Holmes feels his profession has its own reward and so doesn't require money, "As to my reward, my profession is its own reward"(page 2). This states Holmes obviously has money.
In the Victorian era, men were classed as superior to women, mentally, physically and emotionally and so women did not vote. These are some reasons why upper class women relied on men. In "The Adventure of The Speckled Band", men are known as two things, protectors and perpetrators of women. In this story, the protectors are Holmes and Dr Watson and the perpetrator is Dr Roylott. Because of this Dr Roylott physically bullies Helen Stoner, 'Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist'. This shows the reader that Dr Roylott is a powerful and aggressive individual. Due to this, the reader wants Sherlock Holmes to defeat Dr Roylott, as he does not play by the rules.
Holmes is very different to Dr Roylott as Holmes approaches life with an intellectual view, although he is logical; Holmes is just as strong as Roylott even though he is not quite so bulky. 'With a sudden effort straightened it out again' (page 12). This quote states Holmes's physical appearance but also states he strength.
'A ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does that not strike you?' (Page 12). This emphasizes that Holmes is a more observant than Watson and due to him being more superior, he is put in direct contrast to the enemy, Dr roylott. In order to compare the two, they must each have different personalities. Sherlock Holmes is calm, Dr Roylott is aggressive. It rational versus irrational behaviour, manners against rudeness, although they have the same physical strengths. I think the author wanted us, the reader, to think that Holmes enjoys challenges such as Dr Roylott, however, he has nothing to prove.
The structure of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is that of a detective format in the Victorian era. It is a mystery story in which a crime needs solving as someone is in need of help, in order to prevent a death. This mystery story has been cleverly structured as it gives out a series of red herrings which are designed to throw the reader off and so want to solve the crime themselves and read on, for example, the cheetah, the baboon, and the gypsies are all used to play on the readers prejudice by creating mystery and suspense about whether they cause the death of Julia Stoner. The gypsies do this in a typical way, as they are known to cause trouble and commit theft. They are used in the same way the cheetah is, as they have been branded as vicious, so one can say that they are a stereotype. Although these clues are given out, we get ideas of what really happened to Julia Stoner, and so we follow the clues and try and play detective.
We are unable to solve the mystery as Holmes keeps one secret to himself and only releases it at the end.' An inspection of the chair showed me that he had been in the habit of standing on it,'(page 16). This makes Holmes look inferior to the reader as he observes a clue that both Watson and us are unable to come across. This is a major shock to the reader as the writer makes sure to hide this very crucial clue to make us, the reader, read on. In a way, this makes the reader feel betrayed by Holmes and the writer as w thought we could trust them.
In various parts of the story there are a series of boosts in suspense followed by a straight decrease. An example of this is when Holmes and Watson are climbing through the window of ~stoke Moran when, what is described to be a 'hideous and distorted child' (page 13) runs out of the bush. At that moment in time I felt tense as I had no idea if the so called 'child' was going to attack, in which case it never and so when I read on to find out the baboon runs off, releases the tension and quite a bit of suspense.
Although "The Whole Town's Sleeping" has its differences to "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" it has many similarities, such as they are both set in remote locations. A more obvious similarity is the way the two stories use women as victims and potential victims and men as aggressors, which also follows the Victorian era.
A narrator is a character in which tells and guides the reader through the story. In "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" the narrator is Watson. Watson is a first person narrator who accounts of a case, which happened years before. He is very professional as he keeps a diary of all the cases he and Holmes have come across in the past.
The language used in this story, tells us, the reader, that it is set in the Victorian era, as there are words, which are rarely used in today's society, such as 'aperture' (page 7). The language is very formal and due to this, the reader starts to come off the story. 'Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession' (page 13). This confuses the reader, as we don't know what it they mean unless they were familiar with the Victorian language. In a way this is a good thing as the reader continues to read on to find out the meaning of this sentence.
Conan Doyle used words that the modern day reader will be unlikely to come across as they are rarely used in today's society, for instance, 'pittance' (page 8). I think the reason for this is that Conan Doyle wrote as he spoke. To reflect upon the class and education of him and the characters, as they are all of the upper class community.
The story lacks description and rarely if ever gets an in-depth to the characters thoughts and feelings. I think the story is in deficient need of emotion as Conan Doyle chose to take a scientific approach to reflect upon the understanding and knowledge of Sherlock Holmes in this particular case. A cause of this is, it makes us feel less tension and suspense. 'Suddenly amidst the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman' (page 4).
"The Whole Town's sleeping" is third person narrative and the narrator is omniscient, meaning they know all and see all. By using this kind of narration, it brings the reader into the story as they way things are described makes the reader feel they are actually smelling, tasting, hearing, seeing and feeling everything the narrator is. For example, '' I didn't know what terror was, I wouldn't let myself think,' (page 9). This makes the reader believe they are Lavinia.
Ray Bradbury used a personification technique, which made Lavinia Nebbs feel as though she had just fallen victim to the Lonely One as her privacy had been invaded in the same way the Lonely One's victims were. ' The heat pulsed under your dress and along your legs with a stealthy sense of invasion' (page 7). The heat invaded her; in the same way the Lonely One invaded his victims.
Another technique used by Ray Bradbury was the use of repetition, which he used to describe two things, the ravine and the sense of safeness. He repeats the description of the ravine to be dark, quiet and damp "ahead was deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark" (Page 1). I think he repeats this to make the ravine sound forbidding and a place for the Lonely One to visit, as that's where the murdered body of Eliza Ramsell was found. In contrast to this, Ray Bradbury repeats the word "safe" to give a feeling of relief, which decreases the readers' anxiety. "Safe, safe, and safe at home!" (Page 9)
Although the readers' anxiety is decreased, the author creates points of panic to raise the level of anxiety. He does this by shortening sentences and chooses very descriptive words. "At the bottom of the steps. A man, under the light! No, now he's gone!" (Page 8). This states exactly what is waiting for Lavinia at the bottom of the ravine, however, it doesn't state who is waiting. This builds tension, as neither Lavinia nor the reader knows who the man is. He could be the Lonely One on the break of his monthly sin or a passer by.
The author also mimics the body at these panic points. As the character of Lavinia gets breathless, her heartbeat and respirationincreases. This is shown by short sentences, as though she is gasping for breath. This automatically makes the reader breathless. The panic points are meant to be read fast to built tension and suspense, and again, us, the reader, feel as though we are present in the heart-pumping story.
In "The Adventure of The Speckled Band", the ending is made up of mystery, suspense and tension. But all of this is lost as Sherlock Holmes solves the crime before the story is ended and before the reader can solve it. So we, the reader, feel a touch of disappointment, although Conan Doyle makes it impossible for anyone else other than him to solve the mystery. He does by keeping secret a clue. "An inspection of the chair showed me that, he had been in the habit of standing on it" (page 16). This is the most important clue and so, Holmes decides to keep it within his own mind and nobody else's. This makes the reader feel betrayed, yet relieved, the crime has been solved.
However, "The Whole Town's sleeping" finishes in a cliffhanger type ending. "Behind her, in the black living-room, someone cleared his throat..." (Page9). This is the last sentence of the story and, even after this, it still creates tension, mystery and suspense, as there are only possibilities that it might be the Lonely One, but no assurance. And so, we, the reader, are left to wonder who he can be. We want to know what happens next and so, the reader uses their imagination to try and predict possible endings.
I think the most successful ending was that of Ray Bradbury in "The Whole Town's Sleeping", as it makes us, the reader, think about the story even when it has finished. This is because Ray Bradbury left it upon the reader's imagination to end the story.
My opinion of these two stories are that, Ray Bradbury's "The Whole Town's Sleeping", is far more successful in creating mystery and suspense than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of The Speckled Band". My reason being "The Whole Town's Sleeping" ends in a way, which makes the reader, think. The author left it up to the imagination of the reader to predict what happens, although we'll never know for sure. In contrast to this, "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" ends with the reader feeling disappointed yet relieved that the mystery has been solved. We feel disappointed as, we the reader, were unable to solve the crime due to both the author and Holmes held back on the reader by keeping a clue to themselves.
Both authors used setting in the same way as; both stories are set at night, in locations far away from help and communication. They also used women as victims and potential victims as well as men as killers. Although they are different eras in society, I believe Ray Bradbury and Conan Doyle used the same basic story line in which a mystery needs solving and a woman is in need of help.
I think the main reason for "The Whole Town's Sleeping" in being more successful at creating mystery and suspense than "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" is the use of language. I feel "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" lacks description as Conan Doyle chose to take a scientific approach. I also strongly believe "The Whole Town's Sleeping" has far more panic points to keep reader, the feeling suspense, tense and us.
By Mario Franciamore
