Both 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band' shares the some of the characteristics of murder mysteries. Explain the similarities and differences between the two stories and say which story you preferred with clear reasons.

Sarah Turner

Comparison of Texts / Post 1914 Literature

Title of essay

Both ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ and ‘The Speckled Band’ shares the some of the characteristics of murder mysteries. Explain the similarities and differences between the two stories and say which story you preferred with clear reasons.

Both of these stories are different in the time they are set. This is important to consider when answering the question. The ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ was set in 1950’s England. This was a historical period in time that was very traditional which meant that family life was the most important thing in people’s lives at this time. The traditional family life in 1950’s England was that the man went out to work to earn money and the women stayed in to care for the children and house. Home life was the centre of people’s lives. This is reflected in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ in the setting and the characters. As readers this makes us not suspect Mary Maloney as a murderer ‘The Speckled Band’ however is set in Victorian England in 1886. At this time in London crime was high, prostitution was common, drug abuse and murder were all common things. Sherlock Holmes became popular because the people moral about the local police was low. The people of London wanted the character of Sherlock Holmes to be real and join the police as not many crimes were being solved at this time.

The two stories are murder mysteries. Lamb to the Slaughter is a about a woman who murders her husband as he has just told her he was going to leave her. ‘ The Speckled Band is a story of a man who attempts to murder his daughters to receive their inheritance.

It is clear that in both of the story openings are similar. They both open in a clam and peaceful mood. ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’ opens with a happy, cosy atmosphere while Mrs Maloney waits for her husband to arrive back from work. The writer creates a calm atmosphere by showing how much she loves her husband. There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did “. Initially Mary Maloney doesn’t seem like a cold-blooded murderer. . This atmosphere changes when Patrick Maloney arrives back from work. There is a change in his daily routine. This line “ He lifted his glasses and drained it in one swallow although there was still half of it, at least half of it, left “ indicates there was a change in his routine. This is because Patrick Maloney usually drank it slowly. It is clear that his mood alters as this line illustrates him speaking to his wife in an abrupt way “ Sit down. In contrast ‘ The Speckled Band ‘ at the beginning gives the impression of death and mourning indicated by this line “ A lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in the window “. Her entrance in the story shows her worry about the death of her sister and her own security.

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In both murder mysteries the two villains differ. Mary Maloney is a normal, happy housewife. When her husband reveals to her that he is leaving her she completely changes. After she had killed her husband her character becomes unstable. The murder of her husband is not planned compared to Dr Roylottt murdering Helen Stones sister. As the murder wasn’t planned in ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter we as readers have sympathy for Mary Maloney and don’t think of her as a murderer because initially she appears to be a happy housewife who dotes on her husband. Dr Royott has previous history of violence. This creates to us as readers a picture of him being a dangerous man. Dr Royott has is an unpredictable character and seem like the perfect person to be a murderer. This line illustrates that Dr Roylott had a menacing figure compared to Mary Maloney, “bile –shot eyes “ “ A fierce old bird of pray “. These two references from ‘The Speckled Band’ show that Dr Roylott looks like a murderer or a villain. In ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter I think that the villain or murderer is more believable because she didn’t plan the murder, it just happened. Dr Roylott is the stereotypical villain as he has a menacing figure and he is described as a ‘terror of the village’, which makes him already the villain to us the readers. The readers of ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter would be able to relate more to Mary Maloney than Dr Roylott as she is a normal house wife sitting at home waiting for her husband.

There are similarities and differences in the two detectives in both stories. Sherlock Holmes is a skilful and sharp detective. In the beginning of the story he notices that Miss Stone had a train ticket and that she had mud on her clothes. This line shows Sherlock Holmes sharpness “ The left arm of your jacket is splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dogcart, which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver”. Holmes is a calming and sensitive towards Helen Stone “ You must not fear”. He shows his detective skills, in this story, by listening. “ Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his lids now, and glanced across at his visitor”. He doesn’t care about the money, the case matters to Holmes. As a detective Sherlock Holmes knows what to do, he is prepared “ You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of you window, undo the hasp, put your lamp they’re as a signal to us, and then withdraw with everything, which you are likely to want into the room, which used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in site of the repairs, you could manage there for one night”. At the end of the story Holmes shows he is also a kind of philosopher by saying, “ Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another”. Sherlock Holmes is the perfect detective.

On the other hand Jack Noonan in ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter speaks casually to Mary Maloney because he knows her. This shows that he isn’t as professional as Sherlock Holmes. The detective automatically presumes that the killer is a man. “ It’s the old story, Get the weapon and you’ve got the man”. This proves that he doesn’t really examine things thoroughly enough. This line illustrates the insignificance and incompetence “ Later, a police photographer arrived and took pictures, and a man who knew about fingerprints”. “ There was a great deal of whispering and muttering beside the corpse, and the detectives kept asking her a lot questions”. “But they always treated her kindly”.

The two stories both have a different murder mystery aspect to the story. ‘ The Speckled Band is a traditional story with a perfect detective, clues, suspense, atmosphere and the mystery wrapped up and the end. On the other hand ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’ isn’t like ‘ The Speckled Band’. The detective isn’t as sharp. Clever or as caring as Sherlock Holmes. At the end of ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter the mystery isn’t solved, Mary Maloney gets away with the murder as she has fooled the detectives. In ‘The Speckled Band’ Holmes holds back information to give suspense. This line demonstrates suspense and tension “ Holmes struck the light I heard a low, clear whistle, but the n a sudden glare flashing into my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which my friend lashed so savagely”.

The main narrator in ‘ The Speckle Band’ is Watson. The opening sentences indicates that Watson is the narrator ‘ In glancing over my notes of the 20 odd cases in which I have during that last 8 years studied the methods of my Sherlock Holmes” . As the readers we are encouraged to feel that Watson is an observer that can be seen in this line “I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in hid professional investigations”. Another narrator in ‘ The Speckled Band is Helen Stoner when she is telling Holmes and Watson about her sisters murder. The clues in ‘ the Speckled Band’ are given in much more detail, which means that the reader is pushed to concentrate more on different clues. ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter is written in 3rd person charting the order of events in sequence, following Mary Maloney’s movements, behaviour and reactions after she had murdered her husband.

‘ Lamb to the Slaughter is written in a simple, direct, non – descriptive language. Also the story isn’t very imaginative in the way it is written, there is little conversation in the story and little room for imagination. This line demonstrates the brief, short and simple sentences in ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’, “ At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head”. The Speckled Band is written in a more descriptive and has more detail than ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’. This line illustrates to detail and descriptions given in ‘ The Speckled Band’, It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace, after the fashion of the old country houses” .It is also a more complicate read and has longer sentences. ‘ The Speckled Band’ is constantly serious and dramatic.

At the end of the ‘Speckled Band’ the crime is solved by Holmes, Dr Roylott is caught and the twist is that he dies. Holmes final comment is “ in this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr Grimes by Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavily upon my conscience” , this shows that Holmes feels that Dr Roylott got what he deserved.’ Lamb to the Slaughter’ ends with an unsolved ending, as we are not sure whether or not Mary Maloney got away with murder. The detectives look foolish as they are eating the murder weapon. This is to give ‘ Black Comedy’ to the ending of the story and to show irony, as it was right under their noses the hole time. Compared to Sherlock Holmes the detectives in ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter’ were nowhere near to solving the murder mystery. By Mary Maloney Giggly at the end this shows that she thinks she has got away with murder.

In conclusion I preferred ‘ The Speckled Band’ because as a reader you could solve the crime as you red the story. I also thought that the style of writing of Conan Doyle was better as it was more descriptive, had more suspense and tension and was a more challenging read than’ Lamb to the Slaughter. I liked the fact that Watson was the narrator rather than someone who didn’t know Holmes and his work. I preferred the structure and plot of the story to the ‘ Lamb to the Slaughter.