Both "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band" share some characteristics of murder mysteries. What are the similarities and differences between the two stories? Did either of them make you want to read on more than the other?

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Coursework Assignment-Murder Mysteries

Both “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “The Speckled Band” share some characteristics of murder mysteries. What are the similarities and differences between the two stories? Did either of them make you want to read on more than the other?

I am comparing two short stories “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and “The Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  “ Lamb to the Slaughter” is a modern 20th Century novel as apposed to “The Speckled Band” which is pre-twentieth century.

“The Speckled Band” is a typical murder mystery with everything you would expect it to have.  First of all a victim and a villain, a detective, an eerie setting, suspects, a murder weapon, red herrings, a side-kick and a motive.

“Lamb to the Slaughter” on the other hand is more modern and follows a different storyline but still entices the reader.  It does this by Dahl’s black humour and the atmosphere he creates.

Dahl allows us to participate in the story straight away.  Roald Dahl creates an atmosphere of mystery and suspense in the story by the way he sets the scene in the first paragraph where he is telling us what is in the room and where it is.  He creates atmosphere when he says “Now and again she would glance up at the clock.”  Roald Dahl builds up the tension by making it seem that she is going to get caught; he keeps us hanging on in suspense.  I didn’t guess the policeman were going to eat the lamb because at the start and all the way through the story I thought that Mrs Maloney would be the one to be killed not her husband who happens to be a policeman.  This sets the scene and engages with the reader by making it seem like you are there.

Dahl describes the setting, the lonely atmosphere of the room and house.  Atmosphere is created right from the start when he says “The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn” in the first line which paints a picture of a loving family in the readers mind.

It doesn’t seem like a typical murder mystery and that murder is going to be committed.  There is no lightening, spooky house or mist etc which you would associate with a murder mystery.  Dahl then goes on to describe Mrs Maloney telling us everything that happened in great detail “the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look”.  The author points things out to the reader about Mrs Maloney.  He describes her look as “curiously tranquil”.  There is a slight sense that it is not normal for her to look this way and there is a false sense of security, that Dahl has lulled us into.  The tension then increases when Mr Maloney returns home, with the use of senses in his description.

“Tyres on the gravel” “car door slamming” and “the key turning in the lock”.  Roald Dahl tells us everything that happens step-by-step using deep description which is deliberate.

When Mr Maloney enters the house there is a difference in the greeting, “Hullo darling she said” and “Hullo he answered”.  There is suspense being built when Dahl gives us little hints to what is going to happen but not too much.  He hints there is nothing wrong but we know something is going to happen.

It’s a one sided relationship with Mrs Maloney doing everything for him.  Mr Maloney has an obsession with her husband, e.g. “she took his coat” and “made the drinks”.  It’s not an idyllic relationship but Dahl tries to make it seem like it is.  Mr Maloney isn’t happy for some reason which we never find out.  Dahl goes overboard with the description telling us how much Mrs Maloney loves her husband.  She was “enjoying his company” and she says “she loved him for the way that he sat loosely in his chair.  This is deliberately done so we do not suspect she would harm her.

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More tension is created when Mr Maloney “drains his glass in one swallow”  This happens suddenly and has an effect on the reader by making the reader wanting to read on and find out what is going to happen.  Mrs Maloney waits on her husband hand and foot but is there another reason?  She could be doing this because she knows something is wrong and she wants to keep him talking.  Mrs Maloney could be covering that she knows something is going to happen and she is keeping him busy purposely to put it all off.  

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