Because Holmes deducted that Miss Stoner “had a good drive in a dog-cart” we know the story is a product of its time because the people in the story rode by horse, as did the Victorians. This makes us enjoy the story, as we know we live in a more advanced time. We admire Sherlock even more because of this, as he is still clearly smarter. Because of this high regard of Holmes our interest is held even more.
The characterisation is another indication that the story is a product of its time. The characters are depicted in a very black and white way, with Holmes being the good, honest, noble man, whose “profession is [his] own reward” and Dr Roylett being the pure evil, dominant man who has an evil “resemblance to a fierce bird of prey”. Victorians loved this kind of depiction but a modern audience often finds it too simplistic and boring. Because we are used to more complex twists in tales that we read today.
But the characterisation of Holmes is also one of the things that keeps the interest of a modern audience. His amazing powers of deduction make him seem almost superhuman. He deducts that because “the left arm of [Helen Stoners] jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places… there is no vehicle save a dog-cart* which throws up mud in that way” and so he knows she rode a dog-cart to see him. These deductions make a modern audience admire Sherlock, infact we almost envy him, but are eager to read on to see what other amazing things he can deduct. The way that Holmes stays calm and polite at all times even if he is about to go into danger is another thing that keeps the interest of a modern audience like when he says “[he] would be very much obliged if [Watson] would slip [his] revolver into [his] pocket” we find this appealing because we would panic in such conditions, so we admire his composure.
The interest of a modern audience is also kept by the challenge to figure out the end of the story before Holmes does. This is done by following the main clues and trying to piece them together, just like Holmes does. Some of the clues are important but some are there to throw the reader and Sherlock off the scent. The reader has to take into account the dummy bell pull, the ventilator, which doesn’t ventilate, the bed fixed to the floor, the saucer of milk and the loop of whipcord. And they must discard the clue about the gypsies. Our interest is kept because it is more challenging for us to piece together the clues and we are kept guessing how the play ends. Many of the clues peak our curiosity and make us want to read on to find the significance of the them, like the saucer of milk.
The atmosphere created helps keep the interest of a modern reader. A sinister atmosphere was created when we hear that “it was a wild night” when we are being told how the sister died. A happy atmosphere is created later on as “it was a perfect day with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens” when Sherlock and Watson went to Roylett’s mansion. But once there, an even more eerie atmosphere is created again. The mansion is described as “a picture of ruin”. But eerier still is the fact that there is construction going on but no workmen anywhere.
Suspense is created many times in the story, as there are lots of mini climaxes, like when Helen Stoner is telling the tale of how her sister died, the suspense is created when we hear that “the wind was howling outside and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows” on the night when her sister was killed. Or when Holmes and Watson are creeping into the mansion and the see what seems to be a “distorted child”. But all the mini climaxes lead to the final climax where all the tension is built up where Holmes sat “within a few feet of [Watson] in the same state of nervous tension” waiting in the darkness. Until finally the snake came through the ventilator and Holmes lashed at it savagely.
This story is a fine example of the detective story genre because most of the readers are baffled by the whole events until the end of the story when the solution is told to us. It is also a fine example of the genre because it portrays Holmes as a clearly extraordinary man with almost superhuman deductive powers. This makes the audience admire his brilliance. The case is complex and mysterious (as there was no way in or out of the victims room) and the solution was out of reach for most readers until the end.
The fact that in the Victorian times there were no forensics, makes Holmes even more amazing. Because in our modern world we have easier ways to figure out who the culprits are in crime but Holmes has to search and use his mind to make the clues fit together to come up with the solution. There was no way Holmes could take fingerprints or DNA samples in his Victorian era. So his brain had to do all of the work. This makes The Speckled Band a fine example of the detective story genre.
This story is clearly a product of its time due to its complicated sentences, old-fashioned language, its use of melodrama, and its black and white characterisation. Never the less it still keeps the interest of a modern audience with its power to peak curiosity, keep us guessing and create vivid atmosphere. Also its superhuman characterisation of Holmes makes us shocked at his amazing deductive powers. All of these things combined make this story a fine example of the detective story genre.