In this essay I will be writing about how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle builds up suspense in the story “The Speckled Band”. The dictionary explains suspense as ‘a state or feeling of anxious uncertainty while awaiting news or event.’
In a story there are five different elements which can be used to build up suspense; these elements are: The Creation Of An Environment Of Danger, this is where the writer place characters from his story in dangerous situations, for example the character maybe placed in a dark creepy mansion with only the flashes of lightning from the storm to find there way around.
The second element is The Unknown, this is when someone or something is unexplainable or can’t be seen. When someone or thing cannot be seen it is more frightening that if you were to see it, also if you cannot get a full picture of something It gets you imagination going. The third element is Information Which Is Supplied To The Reader In Pieces, this is when the reader only gets pieces of information and therefore can not see the whole picture. Then the reader has to piece the pieces of information he has got to come to a conclusion which may even be wrong. The fourth element is Shock And Horrific Events, this is when a sudden, unexpected event occurs startling the reader. The final element is The Suspension Of Time In The Telling Of The Story, this is when the writer makes the reader wait and wait for events to climax.
In the story ‘The Speckled Band’ an environment of danger Is achieved when the writer explain how Helen Stoner has no-one to turn to; we find out that she lives a lonely isolated life with most of the time only her step dad as company, “ ..my life has been….lonelier than ever..” We also find out that her fiancé doesn’t believe her when she tells him about her step dad. Another thing which increases the environment of danger is when she has been forced to sleep in her old sister’s room but only because her step dad has knocked a hole in her bedroom wall. Now not only do I feel that the old decaying mansion with “windows broken and blocked” and “the roof partly caved in,” is scary and creepy but now the mansion is scary creepy and easy entered by ANYONE!! There is a further increase in the environment of danger when we find out that Helen is only 30 years old but already has grey hair, “her hair is…premature grey.” Also when Helen speaks to Holmes, she seems in a lot of distress and is very scared, “she is shivering not from fear but from…terror.” The Environment of danger is extreme when we find out about Royletts uncontrollable temper and terrible violence, “in a fit of anger…he beat his native butler to death,” this violence is further more proved when Holmes spots Helen has be man handled, “five little livid spots, the marks of four finger and a thumb were imprinted on the white wrist.”
The unknown is achieved mainly by the death of Julia Stoner, we find out that Julia’s death was a closed room mystery; all the door and windows in her room were shut and locked and there were no trapdoors. Another thing that increases the suspense in this element is when Helen Describes to Holmes that her sister’s last words were ‘speckled band,’ at that point in the story these last word were unexplainable and didn’t make and sense but later in the story they become important. The unknown was further increased when we find out that there is no reasonable explanation for Julia’s death, the one and only explanation is from Helen and she said “she died of pure fear and nervous shock.” Lastly we find out that Roylett had a safe in his room which Helen has only ever seen inside once and all she saw were papers, but the stranger thing was the safe had a saucer of milk rested on the top. If I was in Helens situation I would feel very scared for she is not sure how she was going to be killed or even what was going to kill her.
In this story ‘The speckled band’ there is a lot of information given to the reader in pieces. The first couple pieces of information given to the reader are about Julia’s death; firstly she is found in the corridor by her sister near dead and her last words; which were to her sister just before she drop dead were ‘the speckled band,’ she also ended up pointing towards Royletts room. The next couple pieces of information given to the reader are about Julia’s old room. When Holmes inspected her room he came across a miss sited vent which was placed near Julia’s bed. The vent was placed between the wall which separates her and her step dad room, and Holmes also realised that the bell rope which was stationed also by Julia’s bed was fake and was attached to the ceiling with a pin. Another thing that Holmes found peculiar in Julia’s room was that her bed was fixed to the floor. We are also given some pieces of information about Roylett’s room, when Holmes inspects Roylett’s room he finds; what would have been an ordinary dog lash but for the loop in the end also he spots a safe with strangely had a saucer of milk resting in the top of it.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle builds up suspense by using horrific events and shocks some examples of this are: when we find that Julia died in what seemed to be in tremendous agony and fear, “the wild fear scream of a terrified woman.” Another example of this when Roylett bursts into Baker Street and threaten Holmes and bends a dense object with his hands, “he seized the poker and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.” Also when Roylett is bitten by the snake he sent through the vent to kill Helen and he gives off a loud penetrating scream of agony. Finally when Conan Doyle inserts a false shock, this is when Holmes and Watson are walking through the garden to the window of Julia’s room and from the darkness out jumped a baboon which Roylett had ship over from Abroad.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates suspense of time throughout the story, but this element is particularly shown when Holmes comes to a conclusion as to what happened to Julia and what was going to happen to Helen but holds back from telling Helen. Also when Holmes and Watson are sat in Julia’s room in total darkness and silence waiting for the attack, and then further more when Roylett awakes and they must wait half an hour until the attack. This element and especially Conan Doyle’s use of this element often builds up suspense the most, and in this story I feel that this element definitely built up the most suspense.
MaRk AnDrEwS
