The two stories, The Speckled Band and 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 a very cunning one, it uses eastern ideas and animals, creating an almost mystical air around the murder; it seems almost impossible to solve, while the Lamb to the Slaughter murder is brutally simple, but in this case the way she covers up the murder is so good that the murderess is not discovered. 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 who by, but we read on to see if the culprit is captured.
We also have two different styles due to the time gap, as one of them was written in the 19th Century and the other in the 20th Century.
The Speckled Band begins with the reader being introduced to Holmes and Dr Watson and on a customary, regular, routine in their daily lives, the only difference was that Dr. Watson woke him up early when we are told earlier on that Holmes is a late riser. Holmes is then introduced to Miss Helen Stoner...and the case. These cases were not common cases, they were all difficult, abnormal, but none common, so any normal cases were shunned. The first sentence is also very long; taking up eight lines, so the reader can focus on the background all in one sentence, without having to refer back to another point previously in the story. The story is retrospect, as the plot of the story has already been started. Dr Watson, the faithful companion to Holmes, introduces us to the case and Holmes. The entire first paragraph is devoted to describing the case of Dr Grimesby Roylott of Stoke Moran. At the bottom of the next page we get our first glimpse of the indication of the time. These are archaic words or phrases that are now no longer in use, the phrase we get here is 'intimate friend', in this sentence he is referring to Dr Watson, and in this age 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 at least seventy 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 because in 1883 coffee was a recent import and so only upper classes drank it. 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, because when Miss Stoner says she can't pay yet, Holmes lets her pay when she can. He also had a cheetah and a baboon roaming his land, showing that he could not leave India behind. This demonstrates that it was written in the 19th century as in the middle of the 20th century he would not have been allowed to keep animals of this sort under his care, as they are not domesticated. 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 puzzled everyone; which added mystery. This shows that the writer wanted people to appreciate the hard work that Sherlock put into his crime solving, because it shows that it is not as easy and that you have to dig a little deeper sometimes.
Dr Grimesby Roylott then burst through the door and started shouting and threatening Holmes, he was never phased by any of this and responded quietly and politely to the raging shouts directed at him. In this time the police were not a very strong opposition to crime and Sherlock Holmes made them look like a group of clowns in a circus because he seemed to do what the police could not, and he did it with ease. It is obvious though over the next few pages that Holmes begins to understand how the murder was committed. This shows that the story is coming towards a climax and that the exciting explanation of how the murder was committed drew closer. This makes the reader want to read on as they are waiting intensely for the out come of the story and the murder.
The start of the Lamb to the Slaughter differs from the Speckled Band because it is in the past tense. It builds up a picture. It also shows that it is in the 20th century as there is a Thermos bucket and a car. We are then introduced straight away with no description, a character that is Mary Maloney, who is six months with a child and 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 nowhere we are told that Mr. Maloney is a policeman with no build up to him at all. We also read that the couple has a conversation that lasts only four or five minutes. We are not told what happened in this conversation, so we are forced to form our own opinion of what he said to her, while in the Speckled Band we are given every detail. Most people associate the 20th century with fast moving and not waiting for anything so this style of writing seems to compliment the time. The stories also differ because in the next part of the story, we are told how the murder happened and where, however in The Speckled Band we are told what happened leading up to the murder. We have a basic and brutal 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, even though he is obviously not in the mood. We then learn what type of person Mr. Maloney is; we learn he is not 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 walked across the room, she couldn't even feel her feet touching the floor'. This shows she is walking on an autopilot, she may have pre-planned 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 then read that Mrs. Maloney can use the excuse that she went to the shop and has a witness as an alibi to the murder. 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 of the moves of the investigation, and the other has a team of people 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, who are in an ironic situation, because they talk about the murder weapon; they are describing the joint that they are eating. Towards the end Mary gets referred to 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, whether it is thought of on the spur of the moment like in Lamb to the Slaughter or thought about deeply like in The Speckled Band, one has a detective where we need to know ‘will he 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 is gripping, shocking, and yet the story proceeds in such a rational manner that the reader’ s 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 realize that we never really knew her at all. The irony of it all is that the police were puzzled about why they could not find the murder weapon and this was because they were consuming it. This was almost a comical twist to the ending. When she laughs it did not seem funny but more sinister and evil. Comparing The Speckled Band with 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 because it is much more difficult language, but I think for the younger readers Lamb to the Slaughter would be better. The Speckled Band was much more complicated and had many more unexpected twists, and you were not sure what was going to happen next.
By Ryan Sorhaindo
