‘The Speckled Band’ is a typical detective tale. For every story of this genre, there must be a detective, and, very often, an accomplice. This is always the case in Doyle’s stories, with Sherlock Holmes and his good friend Dr Watson always present. There is the usual scene-setting paragraph at the beginning of the story, where Watson begins to describe the case around which the story will be based . The mysterious crime which is essential for detective fiction in this case is brought to our attention by a woman called Helen Stoner who comes to Holmes’ and Watson’s flat to consult them. This intrigues the reader and it is obvious that this is going to be a very interesting and difficult case for Holmes to solve. The character of Dr Grimesby Roylott adds to the mysteriousness of the case as he is described as being ‘morose’ and ‘absolutely uncontrollable in his anger’. He has already committed a murder in his life, so he is immediately the suspect in this case. We are also told of the first clues in the investigation, which are essential for a good detective fiction story. These clues are the ‘whistling’ which Julia Stoner heard before her death, the ‘gypsies in the plantation’ and the ‘cheetah and the baboon.’ The gypsies would turn out to be a ‘red herring’. This is a clue which misleads the reader and has nothing to do with the crime whatsoever. These ‘red herrings’ contribute to making an exciting and gripping story. There is also a motive suggested for Dr Roylott to kill the girl. It is Holmes’ job to piece together these clues and solve the case. He has clearly no idea how the girl was killed at first, as the coroner was ‘unable to find any satisfactory cause of death.’ We get a glimpse of Sherlock Holmes’ perceptiveness when he inspects the room of Julia Stoner. He notices things which nobody else ever would, for example the fake bell-pull and the ventilator. ‘Why, it’s a dummy!’ A detective also needs to be brave, and we see Holmes’ bravery when he confronts the snake – ‘lashing furiously with his cane at the bell pull.’ Holmes had already used his extraordinary powers of deception to work out what Dr Roylott was trying to do. ‘The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me.’ At the end, Holmes reveals to Watson how he solved the case, using great skill and cleverness. This story fits the criteria of detective fiction excellently.
‘The Dancing Men’ is, like ‘The Speckled Band’, an excellent example of classic detective fiction. Again, it has the classic format of the detective and an accomplice, Holmes and Watson. The detective in a detective fiction story must be, according to the requirements of the genre, extremely clever. We are made aware at the very start that Holmes doesn’t fall short of this requisite when we see his cunning and intuition as he astounds Watson by knowing his ‘most intimate thoughts.’ ‘You do not propose to invest in South African securities?’ The reader is intrigued by this display of genius and wants to read on. The case involved in the story is then introduced to us and it is indeed very strange and mysterious, a quality that a successful detective chronicle must have. The circumstances of Hilton Cubitt’s marriage add to the mysteriousness of the case, as do the dancing men. ‘It is certainly rather a curious production.’ Immediately the readers find themselves thinking that there has to be something wrong with his wife and that she will play a major role in the case. The ‘dancing men’ are a clue to the problem, which seems nearly unsolvable. Clues such as these are necessary to keep the reader engrossed as they try to solve the crime themselves. Holmes shows great skill and adroitness to crack the code of ‘the dancing men’, and thus anticipate what is going to happen. ‘I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it.’ The fact that Hilton Cubitt is dead and his wife on deaths door when Holmes arrives at their house is a major twist to the tale. All high-quality detective stories must have twists in the tale to throw the reader, and indeed, the detective, completely off the scent and make the story more stimulating. Although many people believe that ‘she (Mrs Cubitt) shot him and then herself’, Holmes knows that there is more to it than that and he has to investigate it. On inspection of the scene of the crime, he sees small things that are extremely important but no one else has managed to notice. ‘Perhaps you can account for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window.’ The police inspector is astounded by Holmes’ cleverness and insightfulness. ‘ “Capital!” cried the inspector.’ Holmes deciphers the crime using great dexterity and skill and then goes on to set a beautifully thought-out trap for the villain, Abe Slaney. This is the point of the story when things really begin to get exciting, as the reader anticipates a confrontation. It is an excellent way to captivate the reader and keep them immersed in the story. Holmes then explains to Watson and the police inspector how he cracked the code and solved the crime, and they are astounded by how he did it. It is essential for a story of this type to have an explanation as to how the crime was solved by the detective. This is another classic example of detective fiction and fits into the genre superbly.
The two stories, ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Dancing Men’, have many similarities. In terms of style of writing, they are both very alike. They are both told in the first person form of narration – Watson tells all the stories. This makes the reader feel that they are close to Holmes and that they know what is going on in his head. Readers can relate to Watson, as he is a mere human like themselves whereas Holmes seems to be super-human. It adds a more personal theme to the stories. Instead of regarding Holmes as just a detective, they see him as a real person with feelings. It also gives them more of an understanding as to how Holmes goes about his work and they can comprehend how he manages to solve the crime. The language used by Holmes is very similar – he likes to use long and complex words. The stories both start in roughly the same manner – Holmes is with Watson in their flat when someone comes to consult him about a problem. His methods of going about solving the case are very similar. He uses all the clues he has to build up an image of what is going on and then inspects the scene of the crime. He uses a well-executed plan to catch the villain, and they work. It is evident throughout both stories that Holmes spends a lot of time to himself thinking. ‘His chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought.’ In both stories, Arthur Conan Doyle has used clues such as figures, letters and codes. In ‘The Speckled Band’, Holmes goes off to get information on The Roylott’s will. ‘He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and figures.’ In ‘The Dancing Men’, a code is used by the villain to communicate with Elsie Cubitt and also Holmes sent and received letters from Hilton Cubitt and a contact in Chicago. Doyle uses all these things as clues to the cases. As the reader comes across these different clues they try to piece them together in their head and try to solve the case themselves. They feel that they are doing the investigation with Holmes. This makes the stories very enjoyable and exciting to read.
Although there are many similarities between these two stories, there are also a number of differences. At the beginning of the stories, it seems that ‘The Speckled Band’ is about a very sinister crime but ‘The Dancing Men’ seems to be just a practical joke of some sort. This is disproved, however, as ‘The Dancing Men’ turns into as sinister a story as ‘The Speckled Band.’ In ‘The Dancing Men’, Holmes took a lot of time to think on his own about the case before he actually went out to the Cubitt’s home but in ‘The Speckled Band’ he went out to the Roylott estate almost immediately to investigate it. In order to catch the villain in ‘The Speckled Band’, all Holmes had to do was use brute strength to turn the snake back to its master but in ‘The Dancing Men’, he had to use a lot of wit and cleverness to lure Abe Slaney into a trap.
The Sherlock Holmes stories reveal a lot to us about Victorian Lifestyles and habits. Holmes and Watson live together in a flat and they have their own housekeeper, Mrs Hudson. It would be very strange nowadays for people living in a flat to have a housekeeper. In addition, we know that old English families were very important to people back then, and their reputation as well. ‘There is no man in England who ranks his family honour more highly than I do.’ Holmes and Watson often used hansoms and cabs – these were basically horse and carts. We also know from Watson that land in South Africa, at the time, was owned mainly by English landlords, and not natives. ‘Thurston had an offer on some South African property.’ The home of the Cubitts had many servants – cooks, butlers and stable boys. In Victorian times, this was obviously quite usual for a family with money.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Sherlock Holmes stories. I found them captivating and I couldn’t help but marvel at the superb writing skills used by Arthur Conan Doyle to enthral his readers. The stories are very important in literary tradition. Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not the first detective fiction writer, as Edgar Allan Poe came before him, it was his stories that made the genre famous. His inspiration came from Poe, but his own imagination and brilliant writing made the Sherlock Holmes stories into intriguing chronicles which were well-read and enjoyed all over the world. Doyle’s stories sparked an explosion of detective fiction stories being published all over the world, but very few can be compared to his own. Even the great Agatha Christie, creator of the famous Miss Marple and Hurcule Poirot, admitted that no one could ever be as successful as Doyle. ‘There was Sherlock Holmes, the one and only – I should never be able to emulate him.’ Nowadays, some of the most popular television shows are detective stories, the most renowned being ‘Inspector Morse’ and ‘Silent Witness’. People love to try to solve the crimes themselves and very often they are very exciting and thrilling. The French policeman, Eugene Vidocq, inspired Edgar Allan Poe. His techniques included taking footprints and using a filing system. The police system of today probably has gained useful methods from Vidocq and from other detective stories. I believe that the Sherlock Holmes stories have played a very important part in both literature and everyday life. They are wonderful stories to read and will go down in history as the best examples of classic detective fiction.
MATTHEW WILSON
