The two stories, ‘The Speckled Band’ and the ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ are both similar as they are both murder mysteries. They both deal with difficult cases but while the murder in the Speckled Band is very cunning one as it uses eastern ideas and animals, creating an almost mystical air around the murder as it almost seems impossible to solve. While the ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ murder is brutally simple, but in this case the murder is so good the murderess gets off. In ‘The Speckled Band’ we want the detective to solve the murder to tell us how it was done, while in the ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ we know how the murder was committed, and we read on to see if she gets away with it. We also have two different styles as one of them was written in the 19th Century and the other in the 20th Century. ‘The Speckled Band’ starts with the reader being introduced to how many cases Dr Holmes and Watson have solved and also what sort of cases these were. These cases were not ordinary cases, they were all difficult; 'strange, but none-commonplace', so any normal cases were shunned. The first sentence is also very long; taking up eight lines, so the reader can get background all in one go, without having to refer back to anywhere. The story is retrospect, as the plot of the story has already been started. We are introduced to the case and Dr Holmes; by Dr Watson, the faithful companion to Holmes. The entire first paragraph is devoted to describing the case of Dr Grimesby Roylott of Stoke Moran The first mention we get of Holmes is when at the beginning of the second paragraph he wakes Watson up, which we find unusual as, we are told he is a late riser. At the bottom of the next page we get our first archaism of the story. These are old style words or phrases that are now no longer in use, the one we get here is 'intimate friend', in this sentence he is referring to Dr Watson, and now most people no longer say male friends are intimate. We also get the feeling that Holmes has collected a considerable amount of money for his efforts on the seventy odd cases he has solved. This is shown by the fact he is only a bachelor; but he still manages to have a maid, and he also drinks coffee, which is an expensive drink; as in 1883 coffee was a recent import and so only for the upper classes. He is also respectful and a gentlemen and cares a lot for people, ' "You must not fear," he said leaning forward and patting her arm'. We then come across defray which is another archaism and means to make good or repay. We also find that Holmes finds his work rewarding, as when Miss Stoner says she can not pay yet, Holmes lets her pay when she can. The narrative then told by Miss Stoner goes on to say she was a stepdaughter to one of the 'oldest Saxon families in England', this family has fallen apart as has the Saxon's. Being old as well would mean they were honourable. The estate had stretched to Berkshire and Hampshire, which are both rich areas. The Dr Grimesby Roylott went to Calcutta, which was the 'jewel in the crown, of the British Empire', and soon got a prison sentence for beating a native butler to death, but as he was white, he did not get a death sentence. This shows us that he had a huge temper and was strong enough to kill someone with a beating. While in the Indies he married Mrs Stoner who had £1000 a year, which would be given to him while her daughters resided with him. So when she died shortly after they returned to England near Crewe in a railway accident, they moved in with Dr Grimesby Roylott back to his roots at Stoke Moran. While they lived with him the £1000 a year saw to all their needs. Until Doctor Grimesby Roylott changed and started throwing fits of anger, and as he was a man of immense strength he often got into brawls. It was said to be part hereditary and part from living in the tropics for so long. He had even thrown the local blacksmith over a bridge, so if he could do that to a blacksmith, normal people had no chance. He also allowed gypsies onto his land, and would disappear off with them for weeks at a time. He also had a cheetah and a baboon roaming his land, showing that he could not leave India behind. Her sister met a half-pay Major of Marines at her aunt's house, and if she were to marry him Dr Grimesby Roylott would have to pay £250 a year of his £1000. A half pay soldier is a from private soldier who already has enough money to live, and does not need paying; he is an amateur soldier. On the day of the murder the weather had been bad and full of forbidding, offering perhaps some pathetic fallacy of the awful deed done that night. Then from the story being quiet and conversational it very quickly turns into a scene of action and murder. The last words of her sister were very confusing, and so puzzled everyone; which added mystery and cynicism. The next main event was when Percy Armitage asks for her hand in marriage. When this happens she is told to move to the room where her sister had died. From this point onwards the reader is very neutral, as they talk of what to do, and in a classic Sherlock Holmes way he talks of what to do and when to do it, but it will all happen because of logic. The next page is just Dr Holmes summing up and analysing all that he has been told.
Dr Grimesby Roylott then burst through the door and starts shouting and threatening Holmes, he is never phased by any of this and responds quietly and politely to the raging shouts directed at him. We then see the great detective start on his quest; he shows he is also well aquatinted with firearms as he tells Watson to get an Eley's No2. So they then set off on the journey to Stoke Moran, when reached the story tells of the darkness surrounding Stoke Moran, and the Great House and its owner. During this part of the story, Watson asks Holmes questions on behalf of the reader, and so the reader gets all the information that Watson gets. Sherlock Holmes then goes through the whole process of trying to solve the mystery of how the murderer got into the houseroom, but it is without success, so it is still a mystery to Watson, the reader and probably Holmes. It is obvious though over the next few pages that Holmes begins to understand how the murder was committed. It is also shown that he begins to dislike Dr Grimesby Roylott increasingly, as he understands more about the murder and how it was committed. We then get the plan of Sherlock Holmes to show us how the murder was committed. The plan works perfectly, but with one fatal part for Dr Grimesby Roylott. The murder weapon bites the doctor, the evil doctor dies dressed even in death in an eastern style. After this we are brought up to date by Dr Watson as he finishes writing the narrative.
The start of the ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ differs from ‘The Speckled Band’ because it is in the pas-tense. It builds up a picture. It also shows that it is in the 20th century as it has a Thermos bucket. We are then introduced straight away with no description a character who is Mary Maloney, who is six months with a child; and so an unlikely murderer. Where as in ‘The Speckled Band’ we are introduced to Holmes after a page of description of his background; and he is the story. The story style is more immediate and straightforward, and in ‘The Speckled Band’ we have Dr Watson as a filter to help us. We get description of movement over the next paragraphs. This helps us to assess the mood in the house, and the tension between the two people. We also get to know the characters, and their routines, where as in ‘The Speckled Band’ we know who the main characters are and what they do, while out of no where we are told that Mr Maloney is a policeman with no build up to it all. We are also told that the couple have a conversation that lasts only about four or five minutes. We are not told what happened in this conversation, so we are forced to make our own opinion, of what he said to her, while in the Speckled Band we are given every detail. The stories also differ because next instead of what happened to the murderer, we are told how the murder happened and where. We have a basic murder weapon (a frozen leg of lamb), but an eastern and complex murder weapon in ‘The Speckled Band’. Mary Maloney seems to be the perfect wife, who will do anything for her husband. She tries almost endlessly to serve him food, when he is obviously not in the mood to eat. We then learn what type of person Mr Maloney is; we learn he is not really worried about what happens to Mary as he tells her that the divorce should be kept quiet, so that nothing would happen to his reputation. We are then made to make up our own mind about this and the next part of the story, when she walks 'across the room, she could not even feel her feet touching the floor'. This shows she is walking on an autopilot, she may have pre-meditated the murder. She then goes downstairs to get the leg of lamb. We are told all this in the ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, but in ‘The Speckled Band’ we don't know what the murder weapon is, but we do know that it is pre-meditated. We are then told that Mrs Maloney goes out to the shops to get an alibi, that she was pleased and chirpy and not looking or acting like someone who had just committed murder, she puts on the face of a expectant mother and a very happy wife. She does this perfectly and gets the alibi needed for later in the story. So when she gets back to the house she does not need to act to cry or feel sorrow at the death of her husband because she really loved him, and was probably sorry for killing him. The stories do also differ as, one person calls all the moves of the investigation, and the other has a team of people working all working together to try and solve the murder, when the single investigator solves the crime and the group of detectives fail. We then get a long drawn out conversation between the policemen, which are all ironic. As they talk about the murder weapon, they are describing the joint that they are eating. Towards the end Mary gets referred less and less as a person and more as an object; this shows her identity as a murderer is disappearing. Both of the murders are perfectly planned and carried out, but the one has a detective which we need to solve the case, and the other is a case of will the murderer be caught?
’Lamb to the slaughter’ was probably the most well known of Dahl’s short stories, simply because (in my opinion) it is so simple. There is not a single wasted word in it. It’s gripping, shocking, and yet the story proceeds in such a rational manner that the readers’ suspension of disbelief is never broken. We are with Mary Maloney from the first sentence of the story, and only at the end do we realise that we never really knew her at all. The irony of it all is that the police who were puzzled why they could not find the murder weapon we are consuming it. This was almost a sick comical twist to the ending. When she laughs didn’t seem funny but more sinister and evil. Compare ‘The Speckled Band’, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is easy to work out from ‘The Speckled Band’ and more predictable. So if you are looking for a challenge ‘The Speckled Band’ is the one to read but I think for the younger readers ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ would be better. ‘The Speckled Band’ was much more complicated and had much more twists and turns in it, and you weren’t sure what was going to come next.
