Extracts from this document...

Introduction

How does The Adventure of the Speckled Band fit into the literary tradition of murder mysteries Murder mysteries have been evolving for decades. The Adventure of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the most fascinating mysteries. This came out in the late 19th century and has turned out to be one the famous mysteries of Sherlock Holmes. The Adventure of The Speckle Band fits into the literary tradition as it is a typical story. It has all the typical 'ingredients' which include: a typical structure, typical characters, typical setting, tension and suspense and also follows the basic rules of a murder mysteries. The villain is usually close to the victim and the victim is usually a woman who is defenseless. On the historical content women have been typically known as the victims but now have a different role in today's society. They are not made out to be the victim but are detectives themselves. The story follows a typical structure of murder mysteries. Firstly, it follows the basic rules of murder mysteries, the first rule being the reader should be given equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. This is shown by Watson giving us clues needed for solving the mystery. Secondly, no tricks should be played on the reader. In this mystery the reader is given equal opportunity and no tricks are played. Thirdly, the detective himself should never turn out to be the culprit. This is proved by the villain being caught in the end. ...read more.

Middle

She is shivering because of fear and terror. "Her face all drawn and grey, with restless frightened eyes like those of a hunted animal." This shows something terrible has happened ans she does not know what to do so she confides in Holmes. To add to that, a puzzling mystery is established, raising questions and suspense. Julia's death was very tragic. Her room was locked due to the wild animals roaming freely, and she was alone in the room at the time of her death. This is a common situation for a victim to be alone when they die. Helen heard the low unidentified whistle that her sister mentioned to her. Also, Julia was trying to give Helen some kind of information but didn't get to finish as she was interrupted by her last convulsion. This raises questions such as: what was she trying to say? Did she see her murderer? Julia was found in her room 'her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard'. This description makes the reader imagine what the scene would be like. For Helen and Holmes this is puzzling as there is no known cause of death and the way that she died is terrifying. Her last words were,"oh, my god! Helen! It was the Speckle Band! The Speckle Band!" This could have been the thing that killed her or a piece of evidence that leads us to the killer. This makes the reader ask questions and try and work out what The Speckle Band is. ...read more.

Conclusion

For example, more women are becoming detectives and men are sometimes found as victims in a murder mystery. The audience does not expect the typical villain or victim but some twist to the mystery that will make them wonder, but fundamentally, the ingredients have not really changed. Holmes has been very popular back in the day, and still is the favorite character for many readers today. This is because Holmes is intelligent and has deductive reasoning. Also, he has fabulous observing skills which help him to solve difficult cases. To add to that, readers treat Holmes as real person and take out facts about them from stories. All these reasons show why he was the most famous fictional detective ever created. I think that this Story was very effective as it created tension and suspense, which made me more eager to reading the story. I thought that the description of Julia's death was very good, as I could image the scene in my head clearly. I thought the way that this story was written, was done in style, as the writer new when to turn it down and when to increase the tension to engage the reader. Although. It thought this story was interesting; there were a few parts that disappointed me. One these parts were when Helen Stoner went to talk to Holmes. I thought there would have been a bit more suspense there and more sense of tension in the atmosphere. At first I didn't really understand what the Speckled Band was, but as I read on I soon began to realize that it was a snake. Overall, I thought that this murder mystery was very descriptive and energetic. It attracted by attention and kept me reeling. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.