The Veldt and The Adventure of the Speckled Band
"The Veldt" and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
For this assignment, we have studied two texts; "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury and "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" By Arthur Conan Doyle, to see what makes an effective short story. To do this I will explore and compare elements such as structure, techniques, characterisation and authorial purpose in order to assess the relative success of each.
"The Veldt" is a science fiction story written in the 1950's and set in the future in a world where people's lives have been eased by invention. "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" is a classic detective story, with the hero, Sherlock Holmes ably assisted by his friend Watson, fighting evil in the form of Dr Roylott and of course the narrative includes a red herring in the form of the gypsies.
The Conan Doyle story takes place in middle class Victorian England. Holmes and Watson travel by train from their apartments in London, then by trap "for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes," to the decaying country home of the Roylotts called Stoke Moran.
This familiar setting would clearly have appealed to readers of the day. Descriptions of houses, methods of transport such as dogcarts and lighting with candles are appropriate to the period. The 19th century audience could relate to these, for 20th century readers, it shows them that the story was set in the past. London is referred to as the Metropolis showing that it was the major urban centre of England. The popular prejudice against gypsies is openly expressed although at the time that it was written, there were different moral standards so they might not have seen it as prejudice. The story concerns people of the middle and upper classes. This is important because the readership of the time, who read this genre of books, either would have been the middle or upper classes or at least they aspired to be so.
In contrast, Bradbury's story is focused on one room in the Hadley's futuristic home, the Nursery. It expands to become a whole new world of imagination, primarily the African Veldt.
The many details of imagined high technology would have been readily accepted by the readership of the 1950's.This was the beginning of the technological revolution where all seemed possible. While reading, it may not be so obvious that the main setting of the story, the Nursery, is pure science fiction. This demonstrates the writer's skill. For a story to be effective, the reader must always have to accept the setting and not be questioning whether or not it is "real" to the imagination.
We can also summarise that the story was not written recently through reference to the text itself, for example the story tells us that the house cost $30,000. This was obviously a considerable sum at the time of writing, but now seems relatively insubstantial if we were buying a home.
The opening sentences of "The Veldt", in the form of brief dialogue, immediately suggests a serious problem, thereby securing the readers attention. Characters are not described but the key setting of the story is introduced. The suggested need for a psychologist opens the reader's mind to consider numerous possibilities. At this stage, murder is not one of them.
In sharp contrast, "The Speckled Band" opens with a ponderous lengthy first paragraph, constructed from only five sentences. The character of Sherlock Holmes would be well known to regular readers, having been created five years previously, in a story called "A Study in Scarlet" published in 1887. The reader is prepared to enjoy a tricky problem as the narrator, Dr Watson, explains that Holmes "refused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual or even the fantastic."
"The Speckled Band" continues to use lengthy description and long monologues which act as a narrative to build the typical case for Holmes to solve. These clues and facts which are pieced together are gathered and identified first by Sherlock Holmes and then revealed to the reader, who can enjoy the plot. It is known that Sherlock Holmes never fails but the death of Dr Grimsby Roylott comes as a shock, even to the detective. Only then can Holmes finally solve the mystery. He remains an untainted heroic figure because the guilty man brought about his own death.
For Conan Doyle, part of the story's effectiveness lies in the comfortable predictability of the outcome. A reader can expect a clean-cut ending, knowing they will never be disappointed.
The structure of "The Veldt" is far more complex. The reader gradually becomes aware of the possibility of the illusion within the nursery walls coming to life. Another layer of suspense is built up as the link between the nursery walls and the children's "telepathic emanations" is made. The reader begins to anticipate the fate of the parents long before they are finally killed. Unlike the Sherlock Holmes ...
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For Conan Doyle, part of the story's effectiveness lies in the comfortable predictability of the outcome. A reader can expect a clean-cut ending, knowing they will never be disappointed.
The structure of "The Veldt" is far more complex. The reader gradually becomes aware of the possibility of the illusion within the nursery walls coming to life. Another layer of suspense is built up as the link between the nursery walls and the children's "telepathic emanations" is made. The reader begins to anticipate the fate of the parents long before they are finally killed. Unlike the Sherlock Holmes story, there is no neat ending or clear resolution. The final outcome is not resolved; there are no solutions. Instead the reader must wonder what awful events might follow next.
While Dr Roylott is obviously a criminal, the reader remains ambiguous about Peter and Wendy Hadley. Are they completely to blame for the death of their parents? This raises all kinds of uncomfortable questions about child culpability, these questions our own society wrestled with over the James Bulger case some years ago.
There is a heavy moral element to "The Veldt". Ray Bradbury wants us to consider the consequences of new technology. He describes what might happen if parents used technology to look after their children in order that they might free themselves and enjoy a social life. This changes the role of parents within the family structure and can decrease a parent's love for a child and a child's love for a parent. In this way Bradbury raises questions of love over material possessions.
Although the story is set in the future, there are lessons for the present day. The author leaves the story open-ended, forcing the reader to think about the consequences of the children's upbringing and their act of parenticide. Bradbury may also be criticising an over-dependence on theories to bring up children rather than using human instincts and common sense. The character of McClean is possibly being used as a way of criticising psychologists.
In "The Speckled Band", Conan Doyle's purposes are more straightforward. The extended narrative delivered by Dr Watson as an opening, sets the story within a series which were written for a mass audience which Conan Doyle wants to entertain. It is made clear that crime never pays and that criminals will always be caught and/or punished.
Indirectly, readers are warned of the dangers involved in keeping wild animals. Conan Doyle wants the readers to admire Sherlock Holmes as he cleverly pieces together clues, but not to put together their own theories. It is also possible that the character of Sherlock Holmes became so popular because he was able to restore confidence in law and order, at a time when criminals such as "Jack the Ripper" terrorised society.
In both stories there is murder within a family. In "The Speckled Band", the motive behind the murder of the stepdaughter is to maintain the doctors income;
"She had a considerable sum of money... should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage."
Money is also involved in "The Veldt". The story is about a rich family who have used their wealth to have their house fitted with futuristic technology which then becomes instrumental in bringing about the parent's deaths. Both stories make a moral point that money and material possessions are not the root of happiness. The motive behind the children committing parenticide is more complicated, but it is based on the fact that they hate their parents.
Both writers use unusual exotic animals as the instruments of murder, these add interesting details and descriptions. Both animals used by the "murderers", are generally feared and respected by people.
In the Sherlock Holmes story, the snake forms a believable part of the plot. But in "The Veldt", the lions are part of the inventive landscape created by the author.
Sherlock Holmes and David McClean have many similarities, but whilst they have these similarities, they also have their differences. In "The Speckled Band", Sherlock Holmes is the central character in the story. He is mentioned throughout most scenes personally. In "The Veldt", Mr McClean plays a fundamental role towards the end of the story but he is referred to obliquely at the beginning;
"I just want you to look at it that's all, or call a psychologist in to look at it."
Both men are intelligent: Mr McClean must be well educated because he is psychologist and to become one you must have a degree. Even though he is a clever man, he does not seem to have much common sense, quick wits or intuition;
"can't say I did... but, oh, really nothing."
Sherlock Holmes seems to have an almost encyclopaedic mind, which he uses to apply knowledge to his cases;
" "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten..." "
He identifies the snake immediately and the origin of it and then explains the effects.
He possesses one of the greatest detective minds in fiction. He always solves his cases by analysing facts then using deduction. For example he noticed that the bell rope was a dummy and then by deducing all of the other entrances for the killer/murder weapon to come in by, he realised that something must have come in through the hole.
In "The Speckled Band", Sherlock Holmes is approached by Helen Stoner to solve her problem;
"Oh, sir, do you not think you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness that surrounds me?"
Similarly, The Hadleys go to Mr McClean with their problem in "The Veldt".
There is a striking difference in their attitude to what they are doing, when Holmes makes an error, he openly corrects himself;
" " I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data." "
For Holmes, his goal is to discover the truth. He explains how he followed the wrong line of investigation when Helen Stoner mentioned her sister saw a speckled band. He goes on to explain how observed facts e.g. the bell rope and the bed clamped to the floor, caused him to revise his theory.
McClean develops his ideas and theories in a more haphazard, vague way. He could be just playing with words. He says that he can trust his "hunches" and "instincts" rather than using concrete facts;
"My dear George, a psychologist never saw a fact in his life. He only hears about feelings, vague things."
He describes the nursery as becoming "a channel towards destructive thoughts." He then questions George Hadley about the children's behaviour before suggesting a solution. When Sherlock Holmes is explaining anything, he always appears to the reader to be fully in control of the facts. However, Mr McClean seems to be unaware of how disturbed the children's behaviour really is. The reader would not agree with his analysis. Because his solutions are so simplistic, the consequences are fatal. He seems too casual with his analysis and advice. Mr McClean, on the other hand is a professional who seems amateurish. He is employed as a psychologist. We feel he only works to earn a living.
Sherlock Holmes has a passion for the job he does and we are told does not do it for the money;
"for, working as he did rather for the love of his art than the acquirement of wealth,"
He is an amateur who seems to be the perfect professional.
The deaths at the end of the stories cast different lights on the two characters; Holmes prevented an innocent victim being killed while the doctor deserved his fate. Therefore Holmes remains a hero and the story ends neatly: evil is overcome and the innocent survive. However Mr McClean was partly responsible for the deaths of George and Lydia and is judged as flawed. He is left, perhaps at the mercy of two emotionally damaged, sinister children.
Roylott is classically depicted as the perpetrator of crimes and is dramatically introduced as someone whose actions and eventual death are "even more terrible than the truth." He has an infamous reputation for immense strength and uncontrollable anger. He ahs been convicted of one murder and is suspected of another. When he is first presented in body to the reader, his evil presence resembles "a fierce old bird of prey." He challenges Sherlock Holmes as though a duel was about to be fought. The fight for victory is sustained between the two characters until the final events of the story unfold.
In "The Veldt", the instigator of the murder, Peter, is less clearly drawn, and not presented as a rival to the psychologist. As with other features of the story, the reader only gradually understands Peter's role as his mental instabilities become clearer.
In both stories, language helps to set the location and the period.
In "The Veldt" the language reveals that the story is set in America. The use of words such as "mom" and the stated currency of "dollars" tell us this. Other specially created words like "odorophonics" and "automaticity" suggest that it is set in the future. They are combinations of existing words to subtly suggest a future time.
The tone is informal and sometimes the conversations are formed from snatches of sentences. The couple use abbreviations normal for everyday speech e.g. "don't" and they use familiar sayings like "nothings too good for our children."
Whilst Ray Bradbury tries to give his story a futuristic feel, sometimes the things the family does are very reminiscent of the fifties/sixties e.g. having supper for four.
The author uses lots of rich visual and stimulating language when he is describing the Veldt;
"Now the hidden odorophonics were beginning to blow a wind of odour... on George Hadley's upturned sweating face."
The language outside the nursery is functional and provides a contrast to the description within. This also emphasises the power of the nursery in the narrative and encourages the reader to imagine and to believe in The Veldt. Throughout the story, the third person is used, which makes the reader feel like a detached observer, and more likely to be critical of events as they unfold. The writer always says George Hadley, never George on it's own. This suggests that he does not want the reader to empathise with the parents as it is very distant.
In contrast, phrases like "my dear fellow" and "sharing rooms as bachelors in Baker Street" set "The Speckled Band" firmly in the past.
When Dr Watson is providing description he uses long rambling sentences;
"It is perhaps as well... which tend to make the matter even more terrible than the truth."
The sentences he uses like this one could be summarised in a few words- (Dr Roylott had died and there were rumours concerning the truth)
In the time when this was written, this was a popular literary technique. The rambling sentences tantalise the audience because they never fully reveal the true nature of the problem for Sherlock Holmes to deal with.
The gentle pace and the use of the first person for parts of the narrative make the reader feel personally closer to the events of the story.
When Sherlock speaks it is very precise, correct and detailed;
"I observe the second half... before you reached the station."
This could not be summarised easily, a direct contrast with Dr Watson. He is concise. This puts an emphasis on his intelligence.
The tone of the writing in these sections is more formal. Characters and clues are described in great detail to impress upon the reader how important it is to have a clear picture.
The opening paragraph in "The Speckled Band" takes the form of a recollection back to the events of the story.
This narration places the story and the characters within this time frame. Each time a new character or setting is introduced there are detailed descriptions allowing the reader to build up a clear picture of people and events.
There are long sections of speech where characters divulge the process of events. As information is revealed, tension is created. For example; as Helen Stoner describes sleeping in the same chamber where her sister died, she says she heard, with a "thrill of terror", "the low whistle which had been the herald of her (sisters) own death."
When the doctor is first introduced, there is conflict between him and Sherlock Holmes, the reader immediately distrusts the doctor and suspects him. This creates tension as the reader anticipates their next meeting. The author builds the tension to a climax by describing Holmes as he watches over the empty bed to prove his theory. All the clues about the murder are explained to the reader.
The story ends with a dramatic twist, which the reader might not have expected, when the doctor is killed by his own snake.
The dialogue in "The Veldt" is different from "The Speckled Band" because characters only make brief observations to each other;
""The fool rooms out of order," he said, "it wont respond."
"Or-"
"Or what?"
The dialogue follows a normal sounding conversation, where people stumble across ideas, as when Lydia becomes aware of the children's obsession with the African veldt;
" "Or it can't respond," said Lydia, "because the children have thought about Africa and the lions and killing so many days that the room's in a rut." "
The story does not give a step by step explanation of what is happening. Unlike the Conan Doyle story, the reader is invited to put together small pieces and draw their own conclusions.
Although the characters do not reveal much in their speech, there are descriptions of their thoughts. Arthur Conan Doyle seems to deal with facts and makes each stage of the story clear, but Ray Bradbury deals with feelings and suggested motives. For example George Hadley wonders "Perhaps Lydia was right," as he contemplates a holiday away from the nursery. The reader is also told of George ignoring the threatening presence of the lions "but being busy he had paid no attention". This is a more subtle way of developing tension; it requires the reader to think.
The names of the children, Peter and Wendy, seem to have been deliberately chosen to make the reader consider J M Barrie's Peter Pan and Wendy. Peter allows Wendy to escape to "Never Never Land", where Wendy becomes a mother for the lost boys who are neglected by their natural parents. But where as the Peter Pan story ends happily, the Bradbury story takes the distortions of family relationships to a horrible conclusion. At the end of the story Wendy is acting like a mother; "A cup of tea?"
As George Hadley decides he must turn off the house, the reader already knows what the children are planning to do. The writer then creates tension by speeding up the pace of action and showing the parents in an increasing state of panic; The parents repeatedly cry "Wendy, Peter" and "Open up."
They then try to be calm and plead with the children;
"Now don't be ridiculous... Mr McClean'll be here in a minute."
But by this time, they are too late, the trap is set. Two words- "the lions" pinpoint the final moment when they realise their fates!
In comparing these two stories I have decided that I think it is much more effective for the writer to leave the reader to imagine what might happen next.
In conclusion there are many factors which work together to make an effective short story. Both the stories discussed succeed, but whether the reader finds one more effective than the other will depend on the individuals preferences and taste.
I preferred "The Veldt" because the Conan Doyle story is too predictable. The classic detective storyline make it only too easy for me to predict the ending although there was a slight twist when the doctor killed himself accidentally, with the snake he had intended for another.
"The Veldt" made me think more because characters never revealed all they were thinking so it was more challenging to piece together clues. This made it more satisfying at the end when events I had anticipated occurred.
My favourite part of the story was when the writer was describing the African Veldt within the nursery. The detailed, realistic description assisted me in creating a vivid picture in my mind.
Rosemary Maguire Wide Reading Assignment