Compare and contrast Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, and The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Compare and contrast 'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene, and 'The Speckled Band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Graham Greene wrote 'Brighton Rock' in 1938, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 'The Speckled Band' in the late 19th century. Both are detective stories, although 'The Speckled Band' is a short story originally printed as regular instalments in a newspaper. 'Brighton Rock' is a novel that was written and published in a time after that in which it is set. In these stories, as in all detective stories, someone tries to find out the truth about a crime or suspected crime that has been committed. The crime can be anything from a straightforward stolen item to a complicated murder. Investigating a crime is not the only option though, sometimes a lost item or something similar is all that is examined, and it may or may not lead to a crime.
The author of a detective story can use many different ways to keep the reader engaged. One of these is by using suspense as the crime is revealed. If the author shows the nature of the crime to the reader before the detective finds out, then the reader feels a sense of irony, as they know what the detective does not, and can follow the detective's actions and reasoning. This keeps the reader interested in the story, and encourages them to read on. This is what Graham Greene does in 'Brighton Rock'.
In 'The Speckled Band', Conan Doyle uses an alternative method to keep the reader interested. Instead of showing the crime at the start of the story, he gives the reader all the same clues as Sherlock Holmes has, so that the readers have a chance to solve the crime themselves. Holmes, and his assistant Dr Watson, solve the crime in this story. Holmes is a private detective who is very scientific and methodical, and Watson recalls the case as narrator of the tale. I feel this method of not revealing the crime is more successful, as the reader can try to work out who killed Julia Stoner, and how the crime was committed.
In 'Brighton Rock', Graham Greene actually tells us that Pinkie and his mob killed Fred Hale. We know that Hale was in Brighton as the Daily Messenger's Kolley Kibber, who distributed cards for people to claim prizes. Graham Greene does not tell us how he was killed, although there are several gruesome references to the use of Brighton rock. The emphasis of the book is on the alibi Pinkie creates to prove the innocence of his mob. They distribute more of the cards after Fred's death so it would appear he was alive after the mob had been ...
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In 'Brighton Rock', Graham Greene actually tells us that Pinkie and his mob killed Fred Hale. We know that Hale was in Brighton as the Daily Messenger's Kolley Kibber, who distributed cards for people to claim prizes. Graham Greene does not tell us how he was killed, although there are several gruesome references to the use of Brighton rock. The emphasis of the book is on the alibi Pinkie creates to prove the innocence of his mob. They distribute more of the cards after Fred's death so it would appear he was alive after the mob had been with him. However one of the cards was left by Spicer, one of the mob, at a café where a waitress, Rose, had the opportunity to see who he was. This meant that Rose had enough evidence to hang the mob. Pinkie tries to prevent this through threats, false love, and eventually marriage.
In both stories there is a suspected murder. Both characters died in mysterious circumstances, although we get to know Fred Hale in 'Brighton Rock' as the book follows his final moments. I suspect that Graham Greene did this so that we feel pity for Fred when he eventually dies. In 'The Speckled Band' we feel sympathy for Julia Stoner through the way her sister speaks of the events concerning her sister's death. As in all detective stories it is up to the people investigating to discover what happened.
The unlikely detective in 'Brighton Rock' is Ida Arnold. She was with Fred until just before his death, and thought that the circumstances of his death were suspicious, so she decided to investigate. She is from a higher level of society than Pinkie, his mob, or Rose, who come from the slums of Brighton like Nelson Place. It is ironic that if she too had come from the slums then she would not have left Fred to 'wash up and fix' her face, so Fred may not have died. She also does the same thing at the Cosmopolitan Hotel when she could have got valuable information from Cubitt that would have saved her a lot of trouble.
Ida Arnold is very different to Sherlock Holmes. Holmes has a very detached and scientific approach to his cases, whereas Ida Arnold is involved for more personal reasons. We see evidence of Holmes' deductive powers as soon a Helen Stoner arrives. Ida Arnold is much more impulsive and unpredictable, so she is the more entertaining. Holmes' methods seem to be more likely to solve a case, but Ida Arnold also manages to do so. I think this is because Sherlock Holmes is a professional detective who solves many cases, so his methods have to be consistent and realistic. Ida Arnold is solving a case only out of personal interest; she does not do this for a living. This means that her methods do not have to be so be believable, as she could just have been lucky.
If the detectives were changed over, I believe that both would fail. Ida Arnold would not be able to solve a case as complex as that which Holmes solves. In 'Brighton Rock' she uses intuition and works on the principle that for every bad action there should be a good action. In 'The Speckled Band' there is no immediately obvious suspect and no apparent motive, so I don't think Ida would get very far. Holmes needs exact facts and evidence; he works on the principals of logic and deductions and not on intuition and instinct. However, there were very few facts for Holmes to deduce from in 'Brighton Rock', and no one could succeed without guesses and hunches. This is why I think neither would succeed if their situations were reversed.
In 'The Speckled Band', the villain of the story turns out to be Dr Grimesby Roylott, the stepfather of Helen stoner. Conan Doyle makes it obvious from the beginning of the story that it is the stepfather committed the crime. This is intentional, because if the reader knows who did the crime, then they will read on to find out how the crime was done. The main villain in 'Brighton Rock' is the leader of the mob, Pinkie. We are given the impression that he is the real power in the mob, and that the other members are more innocent. Greene tries to show how evil Pinkie really is by his brutality towards the other members of his gang and Rose, and his dismissal of his faith. As the book progresses, we get the notion that Pinkie is gradually losing his sanity. In comparison, Dr Roylott seems to be a very calculating and devious man, as the way he kills Julia is cunning and evidently well thought out.
In both stories the villain eventually dies. Dr Roylott becomes a victim of his own plan to kill Helen Stoner, and Pinkie eventually becomes a victim of his own madness, which had its foundations in the crime he committed. In both books the innocent people, Rose and Helen Stoner, are saved from what would have been a fate of death.
Both books are classic examples of good against evil, although it is more recognisable in 'Brighton Rock', Pinkie is obviously evil and Ida Arnold is good. In 'The Speckled Band', Holmes and, to a lesser extent Watson, are good and Dr. Roylott and his snake are evil. In both books there are also innocent people that are caught in the conflict between good and evil more through chance than decision. Graham Greene suggests through his writing that in 'Brighton Rock' these people are Pinkie's mob and Rose. In 'The Speckled Band' these people are Helen and Julia Stoner.
I consider 'Brighton Rock' to be the more successful story. This is partially because it has a modern writing style, so it is more easily read. However, I also came to my decision because Graham Greene doesn't explain everything; more is left to the readers' imagination. This means that people who read the novel are able to come to their own conclusion about certain events within the book. 'The Speckled Band' leaves the murder itself a mystery until the very end, when Holmes explains how the murder was done and how he arrived at his conclusions. This story is at its best when read with the other Holmes stories, so that the reader gets more used to Holmes' methods and the writing style of Arthur Conan Doyle. With the two stories compared on their own, I feel that 'Brighton Rock' is the better story, as it is less predictable, more distinctive and unique for whoever's reading it.