‘Controlled by a mysterious influence, which deprived him of the capability of either thinking or acting for himself, he obeyed in silence.’ This paragraph is also laid out to create more dramatic tension by only being one line. There is a build up of tension between these two paragraphs as the Emperor has lost control to the Spectre. This paragraph is also ironic because the Emperor is meant to be a man of great power and yet he is powerless to the Spectre.
The writer uses a simile ‘a noise like thunder’ to create an eerie feeling and also an echoing sound in the mind of the reader of the place where the story leads to next as ‘the solid wall of the apartment fell open’.
The writer then describes the darkness of the halls they travel through and how the ‘dim light which shone around the ghost’ showed them the damp passage way.
The writer then changes the scene of the story as the reader is given the image of a masquerade ball. The scene is now rich and splendid, in contrast to the scene which the Emperor has just come from.
‘Which a bright light might be seen burning with dazzling lustre.’
The ladies at the party show the biggest contrast. For one hand they are very beautiful.
‘A row of fine female figures, richly attired, stood before this screen.’
They have striking garlands of flowers upon their heads which add to their beauty, but on the other hand they have grotesque masks on which secrete their faces.
‘They wore on their heads garlands of the most beautiful flowers, but their faces were concealed by ghastly masks representing death’s-heads.’
This contrast is shown throughout the whole story, of how something of great beauty can turn into something hideous. Examples of this would be, at the very beginning of the story, the Emperor’s bedroom is very luxurious but he is then taken out into cold, dusty streets of Paris. Another example would be that the Emperor is a very powerful person but he is controlled by a spirit that has no titles. The story is very surreal.
The Emperor confused and scared, the writer uses good description of how the Emperor is controlled by the Spectre, using shackles as a metaphor to show the control which the Spectre has over the Emperor.
‘Making an effort to shake off the mental shackles by which he was willingly restrained, “Where am I, and why have I been brought here?”
The writer uses a little comedy as she calls the Spectre ‘the guide’, suggesting he is not a spectre but actually showing the Emperor around.
‘Silence’, said the guide’.
In the next line the writer uses alliteration to give us another horrifying image of the Spectre.
‘Lolling out still further his black and bloody tongue’.
The writer finishes the paragraph with a very tension building line; he threatens to kill the Emperor if he does not be quiet with instant death.
‘Silence, if thou wouldst escape instant death.’
In the seventh paragraph the writer then changes the sensory, it has now become the sense of smell. The Emperor now smells a mixture of humans and eastern odours. This creates a new scene for the readers, the hall of the women with the deathly masks is now letting out strange odours. The story takes a twist.
‘At the same moment an over-powering mixture of the scents of mortal corruption, blent with the richest Eastern odours, stole through the haunted hall.
On the final page of the story, there is a dramatic change in the story, the Emperor returns back to reality, he sees the party where there are women but without deathly masks, where there is music and happiness surrounding him. The Emperor sees nothing negative; everything around him is very beautiful.
‘Throngs of ladies, richly dressed, but without death’s-head masks, stood round, and a due proportion of gay cavaliers was mingled with them. Music was still sounding, but it was seen to proceed from a band of mortal musicians stationed in an orchestra near at hand. The air as yet redolent of incense, but it was incense unblended with stench.
The ending of this story is very ironic. The Emperor had dreamt the whole experience; there was no Spectre, walls opening, deathly masks. The Emperor had sleep walked to the Empress’s occasion, he then goes back to his room and falls into a deep sleep for the rest of the night.
‘The Emperor immediately fell into a fit of catalepsy, in which he continued during the whole of that night and the greater part of the next day.’
In conclusion, my opinion of this story was that it had a lot of climaxing then anti-climaxing which got a little irritating at some points but it did keep you hooked on the story. I find that the ending is too weak, it seems like the author had got bored of writing the story and decided to end it quickly by saying it was all a dream which is a very immature ending. However the ending could reflect what the author felt what interested the audience of the 19th century and how she felt she should end it reinforces the story as a whole and could be a metaphor for what life was like then for her as well as the average person in the 19th century. As well as this reading habits have changed since then and modern day making different techniques of story writing differ.
The Stolen Bacillus
The Stolen Bacillus was written by H.G Wells in 1894. H.G Wells was known for writing science fiction stories such as ‘The war of the worlds’, ‘The invisible man’ and ‘The time machine’. The Stolen Bacillus was story which combined both H.G Wells interest of science fiction and politics. There are many touches of this story which are relevant to issues today.
The story is about a Bacteriologist who is visited by an Anarchist disguised as a scientist. The reason for the visit is because the Bacteriologist claims he has the deadly germ Cholera.
The first line of the story is quite similar to the first line of ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’. Both stories start in a middle of a conversation about something, though the difference between the sentences is that in ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ the writer was carrying on the conversation like she had been interrupted. In ‘The Stolen Bacillus’ the writer has made the first line an explanation of a bacteria ‘This again’, said the Bacteriologist, slipping a glass slide under the miscroscope, ‘is a preparation of the celebrated Bacillus of cholera- the cholera germ’. Unlike ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ the writer is not talking directly to the reader but to another character in the book.
One of the most important points of the story is the deadliness of this germ, Cholera, and how the writer portrays it. When the writer describes the germ he uses personification, examples of this would be treating death like it was a human. The writer gives a distinct image of death lurking around the village, being powerful and saying the destruction it causes.
“death – mysterious, untraceable death, death swift and terrible, death full of pain and indignity – would be released upon this city, go hither and thither seeking his victims. Here he would take the husband from the wife, here the child from the mother.”
“Picking out and punishing a house here and a house there.”
The writer also uses repetition of the word death to create a horrible vision of death, making sure Cholera is given a terrible image. This whole section uses the sense of sight, giving the reader dreadful images of Cholera.
In the next paragraph the writer though uses a lot of speech and less imagery. The Bacteriologist makes the fatal mistake of telling the Anarchist that they should use this kind of germ instead of bombs, of course the Bacteriologist did not know he was telling the anarchist this he believed he was talking to a fellow scientist.
The Bacteriologist hears a knock at the door and leaves to go get it. The anarchist follows saying he has an appointment at four and most go. It is at this point that the Bacteriologist realises his Cholera germ has been stolen by the Anarchist. There is a feeling of panic and alarm as he talks to his wife, Minnie about the missing germ.
“Minnie!’ he shouted hoarsely in the hall.
‘Yes, dear,’ came a remote voice.
‘Had I anything in my hand when I spoke to you, dear, just now?’
Pause.
‘Nothing, dear, because I remember –‘
‘Blue ruin!’”
The bacteriologist runs down the street trying to catch the Anarchist wearing no hat and slippers, which was not acceptable in this era. This is the beginning of the funniest section of the story because Minnie then runs after her husband with his hat, and catches a cab. The reader is then entertained by the dialogue between the cabmen concerning the anarchist in one cab getting chased by the bacteriologist in another followed by Minnie with her husband’s hat. The cabmen also make a bet on who will win the race at the end of the dialogue.
The whole passage is done is cockney dialect.
“Go it George! It’s a race! You’ll ketch ‘em! Whip up!
‘She’s a goer, she is!’ said the ostler boy.
‘Strike me giddy!’ cried Old Tootles. ‘Here! I’m a-goin’ to begin in a minute. Here’s another comin’. If all the kebs in Hampstead ain’t gone mad this morning!’
‘It’s a female this time,’ said the ostler boy.
‘She’s a-following him,’ said Old Tootles. Usually the other way about.’
‘What’s she got in her ‘and?’
‘Looks like a ’igh ‘at.’
‘What a bloomin’ lark it is! Three to one on old George,’ said the ostler boy.”
This passage is very strange since it is a comedy scene in a very serious situation. It is in contrast to the rest of the story and may have been used to give light relief to the reader following the tense episodes before.
Towards the end of the story, the writer takes us inside the mind of anarchist. Showing us how he feels triumphant and more powerful than any anarchist before, how he has now become infamous.
“How brilliantly he had planned it, forged the letter of introduction, and got into the laboratory, and how brilliantly he had seized his opportunity! The world should hear of him at last. All those people who had sneered at him, neglected him, preferred other people to him, found his company undesirable, should consider him at last.
This is ironic because, as he is getting more and more confident about being famous, the tube containing Cholera breaks on him. The anarchist knows that he will now be the first to die and that he now cannot kill anyone else as he had hoped. The mood changes as the anarchist is no longer feeling triumphant but depressed until he realises that if he drinks the tiny drops left that he will be the first to die but will also be a martyr to his cause. He jumps out of his cab and begins to brush himself against on as many people as he can, hoping to spread the disease.
The end of the story is very ironic and has a twist which we also saw in ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’. The germ that the Anarchist stole was not a germ at all, he had stole the bacteriologist’s formula to turn monkey, kittens and puppies blue. He only told the anarchist it was Cholera to impress him. The bacteriologist yelled ‘blue ruin’ when the anarchist had taken it because that was the name of the formula, and he chased after him because it would have been too much trouble to make another batch.
In conclusion, I thought this story was good; it had sudden mood changes which made it interesting and a twist at the end of the story, which kept the intrigue going to the end.
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 and died in 1930. He created the world famous character Sherlock Holmes in a story called A Study in Scarlet published in 1887. He based the character on Joseph Bell, who was a surgeon he had trained with and was particularly struck by his powers of observation and logic. The Adventure of the Speckled Band was widely admired as one of the best written, most exciting Sherlock Holmes stories, it was written in 1892.
The story begins with Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes assistant, explaining about Holmes and how he solves cases ‘I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a logical basis, with which he unravelled the problems which were submitted to him’ From this we not only learn Holmes’ method of work but also that his companion Watson, holds him in high regard. The character Watson is a little dim, which emphasises Sherlock’s cleverness and intuitiveness. This shows that there is contrast between the characters.
Holmes is approached by Miss Helen Stoner who is desperate for his help concerning her sisters mysterious death. On meeting Holmes he comments on her shivering ‘it is not cold which makes me shiver.’ ‘It is fear Mr Holmes. It is terror’ This captures the readers interest and they are eager to find out what this young lady is so afraid of.
The reader sees Sherlock Holmes’ deductive techniques almost at once, when he makes and observation about the sleeves of his client, Miss Helen Stoner.
‘“There is no mystery, my dear madam”, said he, smiling. “The left arm of your jacket is splattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left hand side of the driver.”’ This gives the reader a clear idea of how Sherlock approaches a case and his acute sense of observation.
Miss Stoner is extremely anxious about her sister’s mysterious death. Helen’s sister, Julia, died in a locked room, just before she was due to get married and her death could not be explained ‘But I have heard Mr Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid the dangers which encompass me’ This not only gets the full attention of Holmes but of the audience too. Helen is about to become married and is due to stay in the same room as her sister and is therefore very worried.
When reading her account of what happened, we are introduced to her Step- father Dr Roylott, we learn that he has killed his butler. This gives a dark impression of him from the start. We then learn that he is to give each of his step daughters an ‘annual sum’ in the event of their marriage. Doyle continues to build a negative image of Dr Roylott, referring to his ‘temper approaching mania’ and him becoming ‘the terror of the village and folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger’ The reader now has a very clear image that this is a character to fear and tension is beginning to build in them as to what this man is capable of. They are also given a clue as what is coming when Doyle refers to Roylett’s ‘passion’ for Indian animals.
In contrast to Dr Roylett’s frightening demeanour, Doyle shows Helen Stoner and her sister to be frail, long suffering victims of this man ‘You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I had no great pleasure in our lives’ The reader is made to feel pity for these girls.
Miss Stoner goes on to relate her sisters untimely and mysterious death. We learn that Dr Roylett, Julia and Helen’s bedrooms were all together on the ground floor of the manor house. There is no connection between these rooms and they all open onto the same corridor. We also learn that the sisters lock themselves into their room at night as they don’t feel safe with Dr Roylett’s exotic animals roaming around. Julia has mentioned to her a strange whistling that she has heard during the previous nights ‘have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of night?’ This is an extremely eerie comment and intrigues the reader as to what may be responsible for this sound. We see the same technique used in Napoleon and the Spectre.
It is at this point that the reader is first made aware of the ‘speckled band’ As Helen recounts the events of her sisters death, she refers to a ‘low whistle’ preceded a ‘wild scream of a terrified woman’. She goes on to tell how she found her sister ‘her face blanched with terror’ collapsing in terrible pain and shrieking about ‘It was a band! The speckled band’. Doyle has used a lot of descriptive language to create this scene, to give the reader a clear picture of the horrendous death of this young woman. This builds the tension that is already building in the audience in terms of Dr Roylett.
The next part of the story relays how Helen herself is due to be married and has to stay in the room her sister died in. On the first night there, Helen while laying awake and thinking of her sisters death, hears a ‘low whistle’. It is following this episode that Helen runs from the manor house and goes to Sherlock Holmes for help. The reader is now full of tension and is desperate to see Sherlock protect Helen from this unseen danger. This shows that Doyle has achieved a high level of climatic tension.
He increases the tension further by bringing Holmes and Dr Roylett together. The description of Roylett in detailed and uses metaphors like ‘seared with a thousand wrinkles’ and ‘marked with every evil passion’ he ends his description by comparing Roylett to ‘a fierce bird of prey’ Once again the reader is given a clear and negative picture of Roylett and empasises that Helen may be his object of prey. Holmes however is not in the slightest bit intimidated by Roylett which reassures the reader that Holmes may yet be able to protect Helen from her step father. When Roylett bends the poker with his bare hands and throws the ‘twisted poker into the fireplace’ Holmes laughs at this which reinforces to the reader that Holmes is not intimidated by Roylett and is therefore the hero in the story.
The story then moves to Holmes examining the three bedrooms at the manor house. He discovers that in Helen’s room, which was previously Julia’s room, that there is a dummy bell rope ‘ This is very interesting. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is’ he also spots that the ventilators do not ventilate. This allows the reader to attempt to solve the puzzles alongside Holmes which keeps them intrigued. Another clue is revealed upon the discovery of a saucer of milk on Dr Roylett’s desk. Doyle has given the reader enough clues to solve the mystery themselves, however he has also littered the case with red herrings. This adds to the intrigue and tension within the story.
Towards the end of the story Doyle uses a conversation between Watson and Holmes to highlight the significant clues. This keeps the clues fresh in the readers mind and again gives them the opportunity to solve the case themselves. This is a clever literary device as it keeps the reader who wants to solve the crime themselves interested but for those who are not keen to do the work they still want to read on as they are aware they are near to the solution becoming evident.
The story concludes with Holmes pulling all the pieces of evidence together and giving a blow by blow description of the events.
This was my favourite of the three stories. I particularly liked the way Doyle gave the reader the opportunity to solve the crime themselves. This keeps the reader actively involved with the story and makes them eager to read on to gather more and more evidence. I enjoyed the manner in which Doyle makes you care for the victim and therefore get behind Holmes in his attempts to solve the crime, even though all along you know he will. This style of writing would encourage readers to want to read more Doyle stories as you would develop an affection for Watson and Holmes. Almost as though they were personal friends.