Helen Stoner goes on to describe her family and her circumstances, in particularly her Stepfather. Her description of him suggests to the reader that he is monstrous, brutal and feared by everyone.
“In a fit of anger, however, caused by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital sentence.”
“Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure.”
This implies that he is both physically strong and mentally unstable, which is a great danger to anyone. The village blacksmith is typecast as the strongest man in the town, so this line in the story successfully conjures up images of great strength in the reader. In addition, here Helen drops a few clues, which may or may not mean something to the reader. She mentions that he likes exotic animals and brings them back from India to roam free and wild in his garden. She also mentions that his only friends appear to be wandering gypsies, which at the time of writing were victims of prejudice and racial hatred. This is one example of Conan Doyle’s red herrings. He throws these into the story to direct the readers’ attention away from the central issue.
After describing her stepfather, Helen then goes on to talk about her sister’s death and the mystery surrounding it, which she wants Sherlock Holmes to solve. She explains about how she knew her stepfather had gone to bed early, but had not slept. Also, that she had heard a low whistle followed by a metallic clang and, after hearing the scream of her sister, approached her room where she saw the door swinging on it’s hinges after she had heard her lock it. The reader is successfully drawn into the task of trying to solve the mystery and so Conan Doyle manages to keep their interest and attention. They will start to follow the Sherlock Holmes’ method of deduction and try to piece together the clues. When Holmes declares that he plans to personally inspect the rooms at Stoke Moran, the reader will anticipate this chance to discover more clues.
When Roylott makes his entrance to Baker Street, Conan uses this as a means to conclude on the suggestions about him. He is describes as being a huge man, who fills the doorway. This gives the impression that he is both powerful and dangerous. He was swinging around a hunting crop, which could be used as a weapon. This makes him seem threatening. Here, Conan also describes Roylott as resembling a fierce old bird of prey. This links back to the description of Helen Stoner, as having eyes like those of a hunted animal. Here is the first suggestion that Roylott may be the murderer. A cunning reader might become aware of this.
After Sherlock manages to establish a clear motive for murder, the real mystery then is to understand how Roylott managed to kill Helen’s sister. When they are about to leave for Stoke Moran, Holmes asks Watson to bring his revolver. This is a clear signal to the reader that things are about to get dangerous for the pair. This helps to create suspense in the reader, gripping them and maintaining their interest in the unfolding of the story and the mystery.
At Stoke Moran, several more clues are unveiled to the reader and to Holmes. Holmes inspects the room Helen’s sister died in, and discovers that there is a dummy bell rope hanging from the ceiling above the bed, which leads up to a hook on the ceiling, which is right next to a ventilation shaft that connects to Roylott’s bedroom. There are also many smaller details which are mentioned - the effect of this being is to have the reader try to solve the mystery by piecing them together. Conan makes it obvious that these facts are beginning to make sense to Holmes, but we are as much unaware as Watson. This is an additional reason to why the character of Watson is included. Conan could run the risk of making the reader feel ignorant and inferior compared to Holmes, but instead of this, we can securely relate to Watson whilst continuing to admire Holmes.
When Holmes institutes his plan of action, a real sense of danger begins to develop. Sherlock stresses to Helen that she must absolutely follow his advice in every respect, otherwise her life will be in great danger. There is also a distinct impression given by Holmes that he has already solved the mystery, but he does still not reveal it to Helen, Watson or the reader. He only reveals that Helen’s sister did not die of fright.
By this point, the reader is maddeningly anticipating the outcome of the story and the unveiling of the mystery. Again, Conan uses Watson as a means to allow the reader to be privy to Holmes’ thoughts. He explains to Watson about the dangers involved in this case, and how he began to fit the clues together. Furthermore, he reveals another clue – that the bed was clamped to the floor and this meant that the bed would always remain in the same relative position to the bell-pull and ventilator. This was not mentioned earlier as to provide Conan with this opportunity to continue to show Sherlock’s superiority with observation and to allow the reader to now feel that with this final clue in place they are nearing the solution to the mystery.
The walk towards Stoke Moran is very important in building up the atmosphere and creating a distinct sense of danger and horror. It is described as completely dark, only broken by Helen’s signal lamp. Conan uses words and phrases like, “A chill wind”, “gloom” and “our sombre errand” to inject a feeling of terror into the reader. Also, the reader is reminded one last time of the dangers when what appears to be “A hideous and distorted child” appears out of the dark of Roylott’s garden, which then turns out to be only his pet baboon. This is a very powerful and shocking line and ultimately finishes off the structure of the scary atmosphere Conan tries to build.
Holmes and Watson must then sit in total silence and darkness for hours. To emphasize the danger that they are in, Watson has his revolver placed on the table at the ready and Holmes has a cane in his hand. After what is a long time for the pair, the creepy mood is broken by rudiments of the clues that the reader has been struggling to piece together. There is a momentary gleam of light from the false ventilation shaft and a smell of burning oil wafts through. After a further 30 minutes, a hissing noise is then heard when Holmes jumps into action, swishing his cane at the bell-rope. Then, the whistle that both women had commented on and a blood-curdling scream are heard from Roylott’s room. After going to investigate, Holmes and Watson find that the speckled band is actually a swamp adder, the deadliest snake in India. Finally, the mystery is revealed, and the last page is dedicated to explaining in further detail how exactly Sherlock Holmes pieced together all the clues. All these things successfully create a feeling of anticipation and suspense in the reader.
Jack Whitehead Pre-1914 Prose Assignment
