Discuss the extent to which the characters and setting in Lambs to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band are typical of a horror story.
Discuss the extent to which the characters and setting in Lambs
to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band are typical of a horror story.
In defining horror stories it is possible to suggest that they include elements showing a fear of
some thing or someone. Stereotypically they include victims, murders, detectives, gruesome
scenes and twists in the plot. All of these factors usually add up to a successful horror story
which shall leave the reader on the edge of their seat. However there are many different horror
genres such as comic, gothic, mystical including witches and ghosts and psychological . In this
case we are dealing with only one strand and it can be identified as murder-mystery horror. As we
come up to the times twentieth and twenty-first century films include twists in the plot where
possible for originality. Thus because people in these centuries have literally become immune to
the gory and bloody effects of the horror and therefore want more out of it to interest them
psychologically. The villain in Lambs to the Slaughter , Mary Maloney is very clear right from the
start that she committed the murder. This is more psychological seeing as the reader is given the
chance to think more about her character. However, the villain is not revealed until the end of the
Speckled Band and this may lead the reader into feeling some fear and anticipation as to whom
the villain is throughout the story. As the horror was set in the Victorian era around 1888 when
Jack the Ripper was the main topic of conversation and fear amongst the public, the readers
knowledge of his murders may increase their experiences of fear and terror when they read the
book. In Lambs to the Slaughter there is a rather unnatural twist as the villain is revealed straight-
away and is thought of as an oblivious suspect throughout the story, thus because Mary Maloney
appears emotionally upset over her husbands murder. However the audience already know she
committed the murder. This dramatic irony will be discussed in more detain further on in the
essay.
Whilst comparing victim there appears to be few comparisons between Mr Maloney and Miss
Stoner. It would appear that Miss Stoner in the Speckled Band is a stereotypical victim
dominated by males, thus emphasised by the way her sister and herself were pushed around by
Dr Roylott for so many years in such solemn isolation. The two sisters 'did all the work of the
house ' and 'were little likely to se anyone of their own age or position' (pg.156) The readers
analysis of this will obviously be that Miss Stoner had very little pleasure in her life and therefore,
this may be the reason why she is turning towards the detective for help. Her vulnerability is also
emphasised when she over dramatically pleads to the detective;
'There's no one else I can turn to.'(pg. 153) When analysing the readers response there
judgement would be expected to be that it is a stereotypical response of a vulnerable female
victim in that situation. Her simple desperate phrase such as:
'It is fear, it is terror' (pg.152)
also suggest that she has had to cope with a fearful, traumatic experience which is ongoing. The
desperation of her situation is put across since she lays all her hope and possibly her life into the
hands of a stranger. In this case being the detective. Miss Stoner is described as:
'heavily veiled' and 'dressed in black.' (pg.151)
This type of clothing is commonly worn during a funeral service which is a depressing ...
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victim in that situation. Her simple desperate phrase such as:
'It is fear, it is terror' (pg.152)
also suggest that she has had to cope with a fearful, traumatic experience which is ongoing. The
desperation of her situation is put across since she lays all her hope and possibly her life into the
hands of a stranger. In this case being the detective. Miss Stoner is described as:
'heavily veiled' and 'dressed in black.' (pg.151)
This type of clothing is commonly worn during a funeral service which is a depressing time and
this therefor indicates that she has been mourning all her life. On the advancing page it has a
description of the victims 'grey' and 'haggard' face this will enable the reader to associate her
with having a hard, stressful life. Thus making the reader have sympathy for her which is
stereotypical of a horror story.
However, in Lambs to the Slaughter, the victim, Mr Maloney is initially un-stereotypical of that of
a victim. His occupation is a policeman and he fits more of the role of a detective rather than a
victim since he is associated with the law. However, some small details may be put forward which
reflect upon Mr Maloney as a victim, for example: he continuously tells says to his wife:
'No, I don't want a drink.'
This stern tone of attitude may seem to be irritating his wife and building up her exasperation.
Many of her husbands small rude comments may be building up his wife's angry and violent
emotions and the final push may be him telling his loving six months pregnant wife that he is
leaving her. These build up the idea that she is going to lash out and hurt or murder her husband
since he has crushed her heart in such a painful way. In a way he is seen as a victim from the start.
An unfortunate man who is at the receiving end of a women's scorn and is his lack of respect
towards his wife literally tells the readers that she is going to react in a vicious way. Overall even
though he is not necessarily a mournful, stereotypical victim who the reader has sympathy for he
still has some factors of being a victim.
The two villains comparisons initially have few similarities between them. Dr Roylott the
stereotypical villain is described as wearing black clothes, moody and isolated from the rest of the
world. The way he is said to have a pet tiger and baboon which are 'feared by the villagers almost
as much as their master' (pg. 156) are two very vicious animals which are possibly shown to
resemble himself. All of these factors resemble evil and since you never actually get to know Dr
Roylott sympathy for him is lacking as everything about him sums up the readers opinion that he
committed the murder in cold blood. 'uncontrollable anger' and evil ways are especially
emphasised when his step-niece Miss Stoner talks about how he:
'beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence' (pg.154)
This puts forward the idea that as he has killed before in a fit of anger, then possibly he could do
it again once his imprisonment sentence had expired. This previous bad temper and the fact that
he used to be a doctor suggest that he is very clever and very ruthless. Which is a bad
combination. Both of these combined factors fit the description of a stereotypical villain.
Mary Maloney the villain in Lambs to the Slaughter is 'sewing' as she waits for her husband to
arrive home from work. These domestic movements involving 'glancing up at the clock' and
waiting to hear her husbands 'car tyres on the gravel outside' and then her leaning forward to
'kiss him as he came in' (pg.137) all add up to give the reader the impression that she is the
opposite of sinister and more of a loving housewife. The description of her being 'placid', 'soft'
and 'tranquil' and when it says:
'Her skin......wonderful translucent quality....mouth was soft....eyes...darker ..'(pg.137)
also suggest that she is more of a stereotypical victim rather than a villain. The use of the word
'love' described as her feelings for her husband may also suggest this point and that she is a very
calm, family loving women.
However, her submissive behaviour to her husband and obsessive time keeping of his
whereabouts indicate that maybe her love for him is more than pure innocent. After all a wife who
repeatedly everyday goes through a schedule of listening for her husbands 'car tyres', 'footsteps'
and 'the key turning in the lock' maybe indicates that she has some suspicions about him and is
always wanting to know where he is. This gives the reader the idea that she is very possessive.
Another point to be made id the way she:
'loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man' (pg.138)
and the way she was excessively possessive of her husband gives the reader the impression that if
she can't have him then no one else can. This extreme possession in a way gives her a scary edge
as its as if she willing to do 'anything' to not let him be with anyone else but herself. So once the
bad news had been broken to her and she made an effort to ignore it and carry on as normal, it
was obvious that she was almost going to mentally breakdown and hurt him in a way that he had
hurt her emotionally. Despite the bad news she carried on with her normal domestic actions of
going downstairs to get the dinner. This in a way in her attempts of blocking out of her system
because she couldn't handle the truth. He told he was leaving her when she was six months
pregnant and she just couldn't and wouldn't accept it. So following her normal schedule she
deviated a plan. These kind of factors are what make her resemble a villain.
Page 141 describes Mary as clever and how she knows what to do and:
'how clear her mind.....'
Roylott has already been revealed as clever and so this is described as stereotypical. The way in
which:
'Mary began to giggle'(pg.149)
and Dr Roylotts actions show that neither of them have any remorse. The final similarity
discussed in the essay is the villains unstable personality. Mary Maloney is seen as just snapping
and Dr Roylotts history of violence is revealed on page 154 when he 'beat his native butler to
death'. His uncontrollable anger and her attempts of trying to ignore distressing news show that
they both are possibly able to act in an inhumane way because they can't deal calmly with
situations.
However they are still nothing alike as Dr Roylott planned the murder and killed for money,
where as Mary had no intention of murdering her husband. Roylott was also found out and then
accidentally killed by his own murderous weapon, the snake, which is an unnatural twist, whereas
Mary had sufficient knowledge to trick the police.
Sherlock Holmes and his apprentice in the Speckled Band are both stereotypical detectives. The
reader is under the impression that the detective is experienced seeing as he has dealt with
'seventy odd cases' and obviously he is intelligent as he is described as:
'swift intuitions', 'observant' and 'professional'.
This informs the reader that the detective Sherlock Holmes is stereotypical. Page 152 describes
him observant by the way he:
'observes the second half of a return ticket ' and solves how Miss Stoner arrived there by saying:
'jacket is spattered with mud...'
This shows he is willing to work and be observant in order to find out information and that he is
highly intelligent. Even whilst investigating into the mystery he is able to put the pieces together
and successfully solve the crime, revealing Dr Roylott as the villain. His description of how the
murder took place and every detail of what happens in this case ,structures the story, and it gives
answers to all the questions the reader may have wondered about at the beginning..
In Lambs to the Slaughter the spongy detectives are dopey and unaware of any clues. Even
though the murder weapon in right under their noses. Their simple-mindedness is shown off even
more to the reader when all of them are munching away at the leg of lamb, which in this case is the
murder weapon and one of them says:
'I bet the murder weapon is right under our noses.'(pg.149)
The reader may analyse this by imaging them as a group of boisterous, dense, large pig like men
who are more bothered about munching away on food rather than solving the murder mystery.
The fact that they accepted a drink of whisky on the job makes them appear even more
ridiculous. The detective says
'it's not strictly allowed' (pg.147)
Yet still he himself accepts the drink which will make the reader believe that he is irresponsible and
does not do his job properly.
This is a pathetic description of a detective and what makes them less likely as one is how there:
'voices were thick and sloppy because their mouths were full of meat' (pg.148)
Moving on to the settings. In the Speckled Band the setting includes a more stereotypical
mansion described as 'old', 'dark' and 'solitary'. The detailed description on page 167 describes
connotations of 'big grey smoke curling up the chimney' which reminds you of a spooky,
haunted, horror setting houses. The long corridors appear to remind you of 'The Shining' a scary
film in that era and this gives the reader the impression that these are connotations of the idea that
they are enclosed with only one way in and one way out. The sense of isolation comes from the
fact that the mansion is far away from the village where normal domestic life is. This will put the
reader under the impression that death has an air about the house. The role in which this plays in
the murder is that the reader will immediately sense something murderous and spooky about to
happen since the mansion fits a good description of stereotypical murder places. If it didn't and it
was more of a homely place then the story might not have as much edge and be as intense as it is.
In Lambs to the Slaughter, however, the house is the complete opposite of anything remotely
scary. Described as 'pleasant', 'upper class', with 'whisky glasses' and set in a traditional high
street, it fits the description of a romantic setting rather than a murder scene. This homely, cosy
house where the people inside even know the grocer's by name seems far from the murder setting
that it is, especially since it is situated in a domestic community. This romantic setting , however,
may increase the excitement and surprise in the readers mind when they discover that Mary
Maloney is a murderer, thus because the story will be made less predictable.
In conclusion after doing careful comparisons and looking at individual quotations it is obvious
that the Speckled Band is more stereotypical than Lambs to the Slaughter. After all the characters
all fit the descriptions of stereotypical people in murder mysteries. The detective is intelligent and
highly observant, the victim is an over dramatic, desperate, fearful female and the villain is a
clever, ruthless money seeking man. The structures of both stories are able to engage the reader
but in different ways. More stereotypically in the Speckled Band the reader is engaged by the
mystery and is interested in finding out all the clues and answers to the murder mystery, however,
in Lambs to the Slaughter the reader is interested in finding more about Mary's character and
whether or not she gets away with it. Whereas the Speckled Band is more of a conventional
murder mystery Lambs to the Slaughter has more originality to it seeing a s the loving house wife
is the murderer. Overall the Speckled Band is the usual murder mystery and Lambs to the
Slaughter is a more emotional, original, exciting and different kind of murder story.
