After reading the ‘Speckled Band’ it wasn’t too hard to pick up information about the characters of Dr. Watson, and Sherlock Holmes, which are the staple characters in the Sherlock Holmes series. Each story seems to reveal a little more about their personalities, and character traits. This is what, I have deduced from this chapter of the Sherlock Holmes sequence. Firstly, his confidence overwhelms me; he is of course overly certain of his stereotypical views of characters, i.e. the villains. His confidence in his ability is also strong, as this quote shows, “No, But I fancy that I may have Deduced a little more. I imagine you saw all that I did however”. This as I just mentioned shows us that he is confident of his skills, as an amateur detective, but he doesn’t show this in a way that is outlandish or overly manipulating. This quote was directed at Dr. Watson, and this could point to the fact that they have a ‘Teacher, Pupil’ relationship, which suits them well. Consequently, Sherlock does seem to begrudge every detail of the case that he ‘spoon feeds’ to Dr. Watson. I believe this is a technique used by the author, as the audience of this Novel, are similar to Dr. Watson, as Sherlock wants Dr. Watson to work it out for himself, so does the author want the Audience to remain focused, and imaginative whilst placing themselves in Dr. Watsons Shoes.
He also seems to have a specific attention to detail, the quote, “Pray Be Precise As to Details”, allows me to believe and understand why Sherlock Holmes, Does what he does. As he is not a member of the police force, in fact he despises them, nor is he a doctor, yet his knowledge of the anatomy is vast, his methods of deduction seem to be ‘off the wall’, and this is because he enjoys the thrill of discovering a murderer, and the way in which the crime was committed. That is why he smothers himself in the details of the case, in order to see the murder, from the murderer’s perspective. With his intelligence being great, he needs to challenge himself, therefore occupying his time with things of a more complex nature; it’s mysterious and coincidental that Sir Arthur presents Holmes with cases that are not simple, cases that couldn’t be solved by the Metropolitan Polices, so that Sherlock is often wrapped up in the case, and often emotionally lonely. But, this would make for very dull reading, if there was no thrill or passion in the detection of a murderer, hence why the series sold and was enjoyed so very well.
As well as being unnervingly clever, controlling, and intuitive, which probably all stem from his early education, in private educational systems, - but who knows, for he doesn’t mention his family or origin in this book, and as I am aware, nor does he in other books of this series - he also uses sarcasm. The author may have done this, to stop people from ‘working’ out Sherlock, in order to keep them guessing, and therefore more interested etc.. An example of his wit is, ‘Holmes chuckles heartily, “Your Conversation is most entertaining” said he, “When you go out Close the door, for there is a decided draft”. This is in response to Holmes first encounter that of which is a display of violent activity, with the villain of the Speckled Band, Dr. Roylott. It shows that when Sherlock Holmes is presented with undeniable violence, instead of retaliating in the same way, which he shows himself to be capable of; he chooses instead to use his educated wit to fight back with, but perhaps his cockiness presents a weak spot, for he seems arrogant.
To me he also displays the following traits: Lonely and Manipulative Behaviour; An Outsiders Perspective; A life full Secrecy, he seems to ‘Hold the Cards close To His Chest’. These characteristics comply and interlock with Dr. Watsons, The following paragraph explains why and how their relationship has grown. As I have also mentioned in the first few paragraphs, their relationship is integrated. I see Dr. Watson, as a Simple Minded, timid and keen to learn Man; this is probably why He and Sherlock have thrived, and they both have a thirst for facts, and discoveries, and with Watson being so simple, there is no competition of ego’s, only teamwork. Baffled, just like the reader, Dr. Watson has to place trust in his associate, Holmes, in order to remain intact, even when persecuted by villains in the series.
The villainous character in the speckled band is Dr. Roylott. His improper entrance, after being described as man of supposed murderous capability, does nothing to try and prove his innocence, it merely makes him seem to un-intelligent too of committed such a crime, as the one in the Speckled Band. His improper entrance also shows that he is controlling, and does not like to be betrayed, but this oath like behaviour, when not responded to as desired, leads him to be calculative when forced, by his inescapable greed, to kill off his step-daughters for their small fortune. He succeeds in killing one, but Helen, the remaining step-daughter notifies Sherlock Holmes, just as a whistle arouses suspicion that she may meet the same fate as her sister.
This introductive description of Miss. Helen Stoner, “A Lady dressed in Black, and Heavily Veiled”, leads me to believe that she is in a period of mourning, due to the recent events that have torn her family apart, which of course led to her hurried arrival in London, at Sherlock’s Door. It also shows that she does not want to be recognized, as I think she feels she is betraying her stepfather, Dr. Roylott, for she has doubts regarding his sanity. When describing the nature of her Stepfather, she also tells of how his behavior is somewhat confusing, for he is away for long periods of time travelling, with the gypsies that ‘have set up a camp’ on the land. In Victorian times, people of his and their family’s caliber were not often comfortably associated with ‘vagabonds’. However, she is putting emphasize on the gypsies, this could be an attempt to mask her own guilt, and push Sherlock onto the wrong path of enquiries. But what motive does Helen have? She described how her sister and she were very close, and how her older sister Julie, was engaged to be married shortly, and consequently marriage means having to leave the family home, and herself, alone with the psychotic step-father. This could provide enough motives to substantiate Helen being a possible murderer, for she could be framing her step-father, who she knew would be the perfect candidate for her to pin the blame upon. Another quote to describe Helen, “Her face all drawn and gray”, shows how her and her sister, were under a lot of physical stress, so she could easily be envious of her sister, finding love and leaving her to cope with running the household. However this theory is contradictive, when she tries hard to protect her father to begin with, when she attempts to hide her step-fathers abuse. Consequently to all of this, she could simply not desire to want to suffer the consequences for bearing a secret suspicion that he had something to do with her sister’s untimely death, for as she also says, she explains his brawls with the locals, and how he can ended up in court as a result, as she feels going to Holmes is a betrayal of her family, and as I mentioned in my description of the Victorian era, family values are very important. She, all in all, is the perfect Victorian Damsel in Distress.
After describing the characters, it is about time to try and explain how these characters fit together, and how the author uses them and their behaviour, through particular use of language to create tension, and add mystery. So how did the characters in the Speckled Band test the pair’s friendship? And why would the author use these interlocked personalities in order to capture the reader’s imagination? The rather eerie Holmes’s behaviour can sometimes, seem to be un thought out, and dangerous to all involved, for example, when bating Dr. Roylott, he did not tell his companion what to expect, so he could of easily been caught in the midst of a snake Vs cane fight to the death. Because of the un-stuck characters behaviour the reader gels better with the loyal Dr. Holmes. This is the same for Helen Stoner, and Dr. Roylott, for she is calm, where as he acts like a brute, and is “uncontrollable in his anger”; so naturally the audience become to trust her, as she tries to conform to most Victorian morals. As, I just stated, his is depicted as “uncontrollable in his anger”, and as Helen describes, he has a rather tuned fascination for large, wild, and vicious animals, maybe he replicates these behavioural traits. For he appears a brute, with a problem communicating, as the baboon and cheetah do, as they thrive on death, but underneath it all, in a wild environment only the cunning and sly survive, and as we find out, when Dr. Roylott is found to be the murderer, we see that this was his persona after all.
Helen, is the main link, between Holmes, the murderer, and the deceased, therefore she is the one in the ‘spotlight’. She raises concern, and it’s her life that has been affected, and is now threatened. Helen Stoner, however as the story unfolds, and more depth is added to her character regarding the stressed that she has had to bear, is it plain to see that she is not quite the typical emotionally neglected and reserved Victorian women. For she is genuinely distressed by the death of her sister, and it also comes clear that should not of killed her sister, for she did not have enough hatred to do so. She adds tension to her part of the story every well, she adds great emphasize on everything she says, and this is normal for every new victim and Villain, add more to the Holmes and Watson recipe,
The characters profiles are not enough to add and create tension alone; there must be a surrounding atmosphere, and a surrounding setting. Victorian novels were typically set in scenes of a gothic nature, the effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, and it’s an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Doyle’s novel. Melodramatic scenes of terror, took place often, and were frequently thrust into the speckled band, here are some examples. “The building was of gray stone, with two curving wings, like the claws of a crab... The windows were broken”; this quote describes the house in which the murder has taken place, the building is of a grey colour, and the reference to claws, show’s that whatever is in its clutch is being persecuted, this can be resembles to Helen being a prisoner of the house, this is also supported by the use of the word wings, I believe this could mean that her wings are being restrained, so she cannot fight back, and flee. She is a victim of abuse, and has the consequent possession of locked up rage, this could justify the broken windows, for glass is sharp, and so is anger. The significance of saying that the windows were broken adds to an image of a dilapidated typical gothic manor house. Another quote to strengthen this image is, “The windows were blocked by old fashioned shutters with broad iron bars”, and this setting again, carries a good sense of imagery. With the use of words such as ‘blocked’ and ‘iron bars’ support the theory that the house is like a prison, and with quotes like this building up the tension, coupled with some close encounters and twists in the tale such as these, “from a clump of bushes there darted what seems to be a hideous and distorted child”. This cruel vision adds suspicion to the on goings in the house, it adds tension, as the supernatural was very popular in the Victorian era, and this could be trying to suggest things of this nature.
This is an example of a red herring. A red herring is a commonly used phrase to suggest something that is trying to lead you onto the wrong path, or avert your suspicion. So how do they add tension, and what examples of them are in The Speckled Band? There are many examples of a red herring in this story; the Gypsies; the phrase ‘Speckled Band’; the metallic sound that could lead to supernatural activity; Wild animals prowling on the loose; Dr. Roylott’s double Bluff and finally the emphasize on locked doors. These could all lead the reader to imagine and create and believe in possible combinations of killers, methods and motives. These add tension, because then the reader and Dr. Watson alike do not know who to trust. Even as I read it, I placed some suspicion in Holmes capability, for he seems too infatuated with Helen, and this could mean that he placed the blame upon someone else subconsciously in order to save her. With the slow release of information presenting us with a new red herring, may indicate that there sole purpose is to keep tension levels high, in order to maintain ‘edge of your seat’ focus.
The pace and development of the scenes, and new discoveries made by the dynamic duo pay a very important part in the creation of tension in the speckled band, each experience, and use of language infers and exposes a new angle from which the murderer could appear. All in all, uses of sentences such as this one, “Far away we could hear the dark tones of the parish clock.. Which boomed out” certainly add mystery and blur the separation between reality and fiction, for I could imagine, and empathise with someone who was reading this in the dead of night, in inner city London, for it certainly does scare you. Another sentence to enforce this feeling of tension is, “the Gathering darkness”. This also displays a technique called personification, for the author has grouped the darkness, possibly representing what the darkness can hide, and of course only things of an evil nature are associated with the ‘dark’, and the ‘darkness’.
So after studying in depth, the characters, behaviour, context, settings, red herrings, techniques, pace and development, it’s fair to say I’ve looked at all the possible causes for creation of tension. The duo of Sherlock and Holmes only mellow throughout the series, it’s the additional characters and new settings, I feel, that make the largest addition to tension. The possibilities are endless, and then using such a stereotypical villain and heroine in this book, lots of red herrings are needed to interest the reader, this need is met fully, and conclusion is somewhat surprising as it takes a lot of knowledge, such as the remarkable abilities that Holmes posses in order to fit the pieces in this jig-saw puzzle. My analytical opinion is that this book has achieved so much, due to its open planned story line, and ability to allow the reader to input his/her own ideas, and this of course is what made it such a point for arguments, and discussions on the Victorian era.