'As a murder mystery story, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's 'The Speckled Band' is far more effective than Roald Dahl's 'Lamb to the Slaughter'. Do you agree?

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18th January 2002

Anthony Seymour

‘As a murder mystery story, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle’s ‘The Speckled Band’ is far more effective than Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’. Do you agree?

The beginning of ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ displays a warm atmosphere, with Mrs. Maloney knitting while relaxing and waiting for the home coming of her beloved husband. She then sets about her familiar routine of setting out a bottle of whiskey and a glass to welcome him home. She then happily awaits his return and seems to be content. It would appear the opening to ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ leads the reader to believe she lives in a settled household, with no indication that Mrs. Maloney could later be capable of becoming so incensed that she should take such a drastic action as to murder her husband. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ has a more appealing beginning than ‘The Speckled Band’, as the reader is led to believe that the Maloney family live in a happy environment. Later the reader is shocked by the unexpected murder, to think a stable lady is driven to such violence. The ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is made effective as a murder story because it combines the element of surprise with a completely unsuspected murder. However this story is ineffective as a ‘mystery’ to the reader because it lacks the general layout of a typical murder mystery in as much as Roald Dahl describes the actions of the murderer so the reader already knows who committed the crime, opposed to ‘The Speckled Band’ which follows the detective around.

The opening of ‘The Speckled Band’ begins with Sherlock Holmes being alerted by an unexpected early caller. He then goes to wake his companion and narrator of the story Dr. Watson. Watson is quite startled at being woken up so early. There is a feeling of urgency in the atmosphere and a certain amount of mystery and tension. The detectives wonder about what could be so important to bring a young woman to call on them at such an hour. I believe the opening of ‘The Speckled Band’ prepares the reader for a mysterious crime to unfold. The difference between traditional detective stories like ‘The Speckled Band’ and the more modern crime stories like ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is that in ‘The Speckled Band’ it becomes apparent who the suspects are very early on and the story is based around the detection methods used to catch the murderer, whereas in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ the murder takes place later on in the story and there is little in the way of any detection work done by the reader at all because of the circumstances of the murder. However the detectives still carried on with their investigation after the story had ended.

The language used in ‘The Speckled Band’ for example ‘The lady dressed in black and was heavily veiled…. She had ridden in a dogcart to the station…. Last week he hurled the local blacksmith into a stream’ and ‘having a black top-hat, a long flock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters with hunting crop swinging in his hand’ Suggest the story was set in the 19th century because the phrases mention clothes from that period and also a mention of a blacksmith which were very common at that time. Also the mention of Waterloo Station and that the trees and hedges were just sending out their first shoots concluded that the story was set in England at springtime. These phrases contribute to the impact on the reader because they create an atmosphere and give the story a realistic feel. Subtle hints scattered around, directed towards where the story’s roots lie are good details, for they allow the reader to understand in depth the surroundings of the story and what the structure is likely to be later on. By giving clues of what era the story is set leads the reader to understand why the type of language is being used. For example in ‘The Speckled Band’ the clues in the story suggest it is set in the 19th century which means the language being used is likely to be complicated and the structure different to what it is in modern stories, also it is likely to be a more traditional detective story.  I feel the phrases in ‘The Speckled Band’ suggesting where and when the story is set are well placed and very effective because they offer information towards the plot and allow the reader to understand the background of the story better. This would be important to a reader who is unfamiliar with Holmes. A reader’s prior knowledge of Holmes may help them with the understanding of his deduction methods.

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The references used in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ for example ‘She heard the tyres on the gravel’ and ‘Everything’s in the freezer’ suggest this story was set in recent years, with the use of a car and freezer. Also the names ‘Mary Maloney, Patrick Maloney, Jack Noonan and O’Mally’ sounds as if they were all Irish, however phrases such as ‘That’s the hell of a big club the ‘guy’ must’ve used to hit poor Patrick.’ And the word ‘doc’ instead of doctor makes me feel that the story was set in America.

The clues in ‘Lamb to ...

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