comparison of 'lamb of the slaughter' and 'the speckled band'

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Comparative Essay on 'Lamb to the Slaughter'

and

`The Speckled Band`

The following essay is going to compare `Lamb to the Slaughter`; a modern murder mystery to a more stereotypical one; `The Speckled Band`. `Lamb to the Slaughter` was written by Rohl Dahl in 1954, this means he has added newer ideas into his short story such as a woman murderer. Whereas Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote `The Speckled Band` in 1892 and has used a more traditional manner by using a callous man as the killer.

`Lamb to the Slaughter` is about a pregnant woman who the reader assumes is innocent and gentle. Later on in the story, the husband announces he wants a divorce. This aggravates the wife, therefore she hits him over the head with a piece of frozen lamb. He dies instantly. Some lazy and poor detectives come to the house to review the case but Mary (the wife) is too cunning for the lousy policeman. In the concluding paragraph of the story, Mary has fed the police officers the lamb so all evidence is erased.

`The Specked Band` has a contrasting story line in many