In “The Red Headed League”, Conan Doyle describes the area of Saxe-Coburg Square. He shows how unpleasant and muddled the area is.
“It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere.” The words that are used here show the messiness and unpleasantness of the area. The words “pokey”, “little”, “shabby-genteel”, “dingy” and “smoke-laden” all give a pretty good idea that the area was quite chaotic.
In “The Speckled Band” Conan Doyle created a thrilling and frightening atmosphere, as if it was a horror story. “The Speckled Band” was set at “Stoke Moran” in “Surrey”, which is where Julia Stoner was killed. At the beginning of the story when Helen Stoner is talking to Sherlock Holmes about her problems she describes how the night was when Julia was killed.
“It was a wild night”, this shows that that night was unlike any ordinary night. “The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows.” This describes a lot of the atmosphere; it shows that the weather was quite stormy. This also explains why Helen couldn’t sleep. “Suddenly, amidst all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman.” Conan Doyle’s intended effect was to thrill the reader; Conan Doyle has achieved this by using the words “wild”, “howling” and “beating”. Here the writer’s effect was to try and scare or thrill the reader.
Whereas in “The Blue Carbuncle” the atmosphere was a little different. “It was a bitter night”. Here, Conan Doyle is trying to show the reader that it is cold outside. He achieves this by describing the night as “bitter”. The reader will also know that it is cold because Holmes and Watson both put on their “ulsters” and “cravats”.
“Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky”, here Conan Doyle is trying to show the reader that the area is very calm and peaceful, unlike in “The Red Headed League” where the area is busy and unpleasant.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used different ways to show that these stories take place in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Most of the time he mentions “carriages”, which were used in that time. Nowadays carriages are not used because they have been replaced by cars. In “The Red Headed League” when Sherlock Holmes is memorising all the shops at Saxe-Coburg Square he comes across a shop that makes carriages. “McFarlane’s carriage-building depot”. Here the writer intended to show the reader that this was a time where carriages were used as a form of transport. The effect on the reader is that the reader knows this story is set in the 1890’s.
Conan Doyle also uses dates and newspapers to show that these stories are set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In “The Speckled Band” and “The Red Headed league” Conan Doyle mentions the date, but he does not mention the date in “The Blue Carbuncle”.
In “The Speckled Band”, right at the beginning of the story while Dr. Watson is narrating, he says “It was early in April, in the year ‘83”; hear the writer is showing the reader that this story is taking place in the year 1883.
In “The Red Headed League”, the note that Jabez Wilson shows to Sherlock Holmes had a date on it. The note said, “THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October 9, 1890.” Also when Mr. Wilson is showing Sherlock Holmes the advertisement he mentions the date on the newspaper. “It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago.” By saying that the newspaper was from two months ago, Conan Doyle is telling the reader that this story was set in 1890.
Conan Doyle did not always use the same techniques, to show that each story was set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Unlike “The Speckled Band” and “The Red Headed League”, in “The Blue Carbuncle” there are no dates to show that the story is set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Conan Doyle uses different techniques to show that this story is also set in that time. In “The Blue Carbuncle” and “The Red Headed” Conan Doyle refers to gas-lit lamps, as gas lamps were used in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In “The Blue Carbuncle” when Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were jus about to leave the Breckenridge stall, Watson narrates “Turning round we saw a little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp.” He also says, “He sprang round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of colour had been driven from his face.” Also in “The Red Headed League” Watson says, “We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.” These references to gas lamps show that the stories were set in the 1880’s and 1890’s.
Conan Doyle also referred to matches in “The Speckled Band”. Even though we use matches nowadays, we do not use them for the same purposes as in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In those times they were used to see in the dark or to light lanterns. When Helen stoner is talking about what happened to her sister Julia she mentions a match. “In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." This shows that when Julia woke up she struck a match to see what was going on.
The value of money in the 1880’s and the 1890’s was much different than the value for money now. At that time people were paid around £4 a week, which was considered quite a lot of money. Whereas, people now are paid much more and with £4 you cant really buy much.
The social differences in those times also show that these stories were based in the 1880’s and 1890’s. If you look at Helen Stoner, she was a rich woman that lived in a big house with servants. In those times rich people were considered superior to poorer people. Nowadays you wouldn’t find servants working for rich people, because weather your rich or poor you have rights.
The audience or readers would recognise the places named in the stories, which are all in England. The intended effect of the writer was to make the reader feel as if he or she was in the story itself, which would make it feel more dramatic. Conan Doyle achieves this by using areas in London that most people live in. Places such as “Holborn” and “Harrow”.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used very unusual titles for his stories to intrigue the reader. When a reader sees the title “The Speckled Band”, he or she wouldn’t think of a venomous Indian snake. The reader wouldn’t know what to think, which make them want to read the story to see what “The Speckled Band” is. The same with “The Red Headed League”, which is a very unusual title. The reader wouldn’t think that that “The Red Headed League” was a club for read headed people who were paid £4 a week for copying the “Encyclopaedia Britannica”. Conan Doyle uses these unusual titles to throw the reader off track. In “The Speckled band” Conan Doyle makes the reader think that the gypsies are the ones that killed Julia Stoner. He makes it look like all the evidence points to them. Helen Stoner says, “…perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used."
The effect on the reader was that he or she would be thrown off track to make the story feel more interesting.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses some very interesting openings to grab the reader’s attention. Also, every character that Conan Doyle introduces is different in some way, which makes the story feel more interesting and also to intrigue the reader. In “The Speckled Band” Conan Doyle introduces Helen Stoner, the victim, and she is wearing a thick black veil over her face. This makes her look quite dark and mysterious. In “The Red Headed League”, the victim is also introduced at the beginning of the story. The victim, Jabez Wilson is quite a poor person unlike Helen Stoner who is quite rich. You can tell he is poor because he says he owns a small “pawnbroker’s business”.
However “The Blue Carbuncle” is quite different. The victim gets introduced later on. First, Sherlock Holmes has a hat and a goose which were found by Peterson the commissionaire. These belong to the victim. Holmes deduces all he can from these two objects. Conan Doyle does this to intrigue the reader and to show the reader how clever Sherlock Holmes is, that he can tell how a man looks like and how clever he is, just from looking at a hat.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses a lot of weird and mysterious clues in his stories. His intended effect was to try and lead the reader astray. Also to let the readers try and solve the clues and figure the mystery out themselves, but of course he doesn’t make it easy. The main reason Conan Doyle uses clues is to build tension. The story with the strangest clues was “The Speckled Band”. When Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go to Stoke Moran to analyse the bedrooms, Sherlock Holmes finds a vent that leads into another room, a bell pull that doesn’t work and a bed that’s clamped to the ground. The clues that Conan Doyle used here would confuse any reader whether they were clever or not.
Conan Doyle often used flashbacks in his stories to give the history of his characters. At the beginning of the story “The Speckled Band” Helen Stoner gives a flashback about family. Also in “The Blue Carbuncle” Sherlock Holmes gives a flashback about Henry Baker, from what he deduced from his hat. The writer effect is to give the reader a detailed history of his main character.
The endings Conan Doyle creates for his stories are quite dramatic in different ways. “The Speckled Band” ended with danger, “The Red Headed League” ended with punishment and “The Blue Carbuncle” ended with justice. In “The Speckled Band”, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson both spend a night at Stoke Moran they get into a lot of danger. Watson didn’t really know the danger they were in because he didn’t fear what Holmes feared. At the end when Holmes and Watson go into Dr. Roylott’s bedroom Holmes says, “The band! the speckled band!", "It is a swamp adder!”, “the deadliest snake in
India.” This is when the reader finds out about the danger they were in, especially after the snake had killed Dr. Roylott. At the end of “The Read Headed League” Sherlock Holmes had captured the criminal, John Clay. "Well, would you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry your Highness to the police-station?” This quote shows that the criminal was punished, most probably imprisonment. In “The Blue Carbuncle” after Sherlock Holmes had made the criminal, James Ryder confess to all that he had done. Using his deductive reasoning, he let him go free or in other words put him to justice. Sherlock Holmes did this because he knew that James Ryder wouldn’t commit another crime again.
All of Conan Doyle’s stories follow most of the ten “Knox’s rules” written by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox in 1929. Each story introduces the criminal early, but in a way that reader wouldn’t know that it was the criminal. None of the stories have anything supernatural or preternatural. No undiscovered poisons are used, or anything which will need a long scientific explanation at the end. In all the stories, the mystery was solved by Sherlock Holmes himself. He did not get any help and he did not solve anything with the help of coincidence or an accident. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did break one of the rules, rule number 9. “The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.” Watson, in these stories is a doctor. It takes quite a lot of hard work to become a doctor, no one that has the intelligence below the average reader can become one. “Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours?” This shows that Watson is quite a successful doctor and he has his own practice. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing."
Most of the language used in the three stories “The Speckled Band”, “The Red Headed League” and “The Blue Carbuncle” is old fashioned. That is because these stories were written in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Nowadays language is much different than of how it was in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In the three stories, the old fashioned word that was used the most was “pray”. Pray was another way of saying please.
You can tell that the language is old fashioned by looking at the dialogue.
“It is to him that this trophy belongs.”
“It is his hat.”
“No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual problem…”
The old fashioned language is quite efficient for detective stories; I think that if they were written with today’s language, the stories wouldn’t be as good.
All of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s descriptions are quite detailed; he uses a lot of similes. In “The Speckled Band” one simile is, “Then suddenly another sound became audible -- a very gentle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping continually from a kettle.” The writer is comparing the sound of the whistle to the sound of a kettle letting out steam. Here is one simile from “The Red Headed League”, “with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird.” Here the writer is comparing Sherlock Holmes to a bird. A simile from “The Blue Carbuncle is, “Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star…”. Here the writer is comparing the diamond to a star. The writers intended effect is to give the reader a detailed description of what is going on.
Sherlock Holmes was a character based on a man named Dr. Bell who was a professor of medicine at Edinburgh. Sherlock Holmes is a very calm and precise gentleman. He is not the type of man that just wants to get rich. Detection is his hobby; he does it to help people and to bring criminals to justice.
Sherlock Holmes is a man that cannot be provoked easily; we can see this by taking a look at “The Speckled Band”. When Dr. Grimesby Roylott charges in and starts threatening Sherlock Holmes, he doesn’t really care. He acts as if nothing is happening, which shows that he is very good at controlling his temper. While Dr. Roylott is calling him names, he just sits there and smiles.
You are Holmes, the meddler."
My friend smiled.
"Holmes, the busybody!"
His smile broadened.
"Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!"
Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for there is a decided draught."
Sherlock Holmes’s power of deduction is very amazing indeed. If we look at “The Blue Carbuncle” Sherlock Holmes deducts what a man looks like, how clever he is and that his wife doesn’t love him that much by just looking at his hat, which is quite remarkable.
Watson is the narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Everything in the stories is told from Watson’s point of view. Watson and Holmes are very dear friends and Holmes is always relying on Watson. This shows that Watson is a very reliable person. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City first, and we can have some lunch on the way.” This shows that Sherlock Holmes is always relying on Watson to travel with him and he always asks him to carry his gun. “Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it.”
Watson is a doctor, we can tell this straight away because in the story he is called Dr. Watson. And also Sherlock Holmes talks about his patients. “Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours?”
After reading and analysing the three Sherlock Holmes stories “The Speckled Band”, “The Red Headed League” and “The Blue Carbuncle”, I think I have learned a lot about detective writing in the 1880’s and 1890’s. I really liked reading about Sherlock Holmes; I think it is very clever how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created him with his unique abilities. I especially like Sherlock Holmes’s deducting abilities. I now no why detective writing was so popular at the end of the nineteenth century. The mysteries that Conan Doyle created were very interesting, especially the mystery of “The Speckled Band”. I thought this because in the speckled band story Conan Doyle created a lot of tension which keeps building up, this made me want to read on in a faster way to find out what happened. This is how it affected me as the reader.
Out of the three stories I prefer “The Speckled Band”. This is because the story is much more interesting and intriguing than the other two. I like the clues that Conan Doyle created, which were really very puzzling at first. Once I got to the end of the story I understood the whole thing. The other two stories were interesting, but not as much as “The Speckled Band”.
