Discuss how suspense and tension are created in‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ and ‘The Speckled Band’

The build up of suspense in the first half of "Lamb to the Slaughter" starts right from the beginning, when Mary Maloney is waiting for her husband, the reader wants to know why she is waiting and this is want creates suspense. Similarly in "The Speckled Band" suspense is also created when a young lady arrives in " a considerable state of excitement". She is shivering with 'fear' and 'terror'. This creates suspense because the reader knows she has an interesting case for Holmes. In the first half of both stories the suspense doesn't go down. Both writers keep building suspense and tension, for example when the story starts in 'The Speckled Band' we are told Holmes only takes cases that "tend towards the unusual and even the fantastic". This makes the reader know that the case will be just that. The writer carries on creating suspense straight after saying this when Dr Watson, the narrator, says that out of all the varied cases Holmes has done he "cannot recall any which presented more singular features". This tells us that out of all his cases, this is most interesting. The suspense in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' then goes up gradually when Patrick drinks the alcohol in one go. Equally in 'The Speckled Band' the suspense and tension go up when Holmes figures out how the woman travelled to see him. This tells the reader he has an amazing detectives mind.

The suspense goes up quite quickly in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' when Patrick tells Mary to sit down and that he had something to tell her. At this point we don't know what it is he wants to tell her and that causes the suspense and tension to go up. Similarly in 'The Speckled Band' the suspense is high when we care told Dr Grimsby Roylott is a violent man who has killed in the past. "He is a man of immense strength and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger". So the reader is told that the key suspect is an interesting and dangerous character. Following this the reader is informed that Julia stoner's death was a 'terrible event'. Her sister also says, "that terrible time has scared in my memory". The reader gets even more interested because this is a mystery that needs to be solved. Likewise in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the suspense is still being created until Mary hits Patrick with a leg of lamb and kills him. After this the suspense goes right down unlike 'The Speckled Band'. The first half ends with Helen's stepfather Dr Roylott entering. His violence suggests there is more action to come.

In the second half of 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the suspense and tension go down until Mary starts thinking about what the consequences of her action will be and what to do next whereas in 'The Speckled Band', in the second half of the story all the actual action takes place. In 'Lamb to the Slaughter', the suspense and tension carry on building when Mary goes to the grocers and acts really normally and this gives the reader a hint that she might not get caught. Equally with 'The Speckled Band' Holmes investigates the house and asks Helen a lot of questions, this tells the reader that he might solve the mystery. The suspense goes down for a while in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' but it builds up gradually when the police and detectives come because the reader is thinking will Helen get caught or not. Following this the tension goes down again when the police interview the grocer and the reader might get the idea that Mary Maloney won't get caught. Unlike 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the suspense doesn't go down in 'The Speckled Band', it keeps on building as Holmes gradually finds several clues, for example, the dummy bell rope, the ventilator that didn't lead outside, the bed that was clamped to the floor and there was a large safe in Dr RoyLott's room. This creates suspense because as Sherlock Holmes investigates the case and uncovers clues, so does the reader. It is as if the structure of the story allows the reader to become a detective.

The story ends in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' with Mary persuading the officers to eat the leg of lamb, which is the vital evidence. The officer says, "The evidence is in the premises, probably right under our very noses" while eating and Mary doesn't get caught, whereas 'The Speckled Band' ends with Dr Roylott not only getting caught but getting killed and Holmes finding out 'The Speckled Band' was a deadly which killed him.

There are a few techniques used to create suspense. A good suspense writer keeps the reader on edge. S/he makes them feel nervous about what will happen next. What does happen next tends to be bad. The first technique that is used to create suspense is 'Withholding information'. This is when the reader isn't told what a certain character said or did. For example, in 'Lamb to the Slaughter', when Mary Maloney's husband told her what he had done wrong. The writer doesn't tell the reader what he said to Mary. Also the writer doesn't tell us if Mary got caught or not. Similarly in 'The Speckled Band' the reader is not told why Helen is trying to solve the case 2 years after it happened.

Another technique is the use of 'Sudden shocks'. In 'Lamb to the Slaughter', when Mary hits Patrick with the leg of lamb or when the police eat the leg of lamb, are a couple of examples, as with 'The Speckled band' when Dr Roylott not only gets caught but gets killed.

One more technique for creating suspense is 'Slowing and building up the pace of the story'. A good example of when the pace starts building in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is when Mary's husband began to tell her something. The pace slows down when Mary killed her husband, Patrick and starts all over again when she goes to the grocers.

There's also another technique when the writer 'Gradually increases tension'. For example, in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' when Mary is waiting for her husband and tension goes up until she hits him with the leg of lamb. Similarly in 'The Speckled Band' Holmes gradually finds all the clues of the case and the tension also goes up until Dr Roylott dies.

Another particular technique is when the writer 'Offers the threat of discovery'. This happens when the writer tries to show that the suspect will get caught. For example, in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' when Mary kills Patrick and the police come, the reader thinks she'll get caught. Also when the detectives go to the grocer and when the police whisper amongst themselves are other good examples.

The final technique involves the writer 'using language and dialogue carefully'. For instance, in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' when Mary asks politely to get Patrick's slippers but he shouts very rudely 'NO!' In 'The Speckled Band', the writer also uses language and dialogue carefully. For example, when Holmes speaks he is very calm and methodical.

My personal opinion of the suspense and tension on both stories is that it really does keep the reader on edge and interested. In 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the suspense is created especially in the first half of the story. How the writer builds the suspense and tension is very smart and skilful, he builds it up and after a point of an event it goes down and gives the reader time to get over it and builds it up again. Similarly in 'The Speckled Band' it is very well written and it's designed to keep the reader on edge nearly all the time. But the down side is it's too slow compared to 'Lamb to the Slaughter' especially in the second half of the story.

'The Speckled Band' and 'Lamb to the Slaughter each reflect the 19th and 20th century periods in which they take place. For example, in 'The Speckled Band', the crime is solved and it reflects on a 19th century belief in the power of science to solve everything. Whereas in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' the crime is not solved and it reflects a distrust of authority and its ability to solve problems.

So both stories do, as Dr Watson said, "tend towards the unusual and even the fantastic". All in all, they're both very well structured and written with a great deal of suspense.

ABDUL QAHAR KHAN 10Q

ABDUL QAHAR KHAN 10Q