In The Dancing Men Holmes finds out Watson is not going to invest in property by looking at the chalk mark between his thumb and finger. These incidents also show us how good Holmes’s powers of deduction and observation are.
Another similarity I notified in the exposition of all three stories was that the stories always begin in the same place, which is at Holmes office. There is no actual evidence showing this studying these stories the way they begin we can imagine where they are set. This is mainly duo to the information we are given at the beginning.
I have also notified in the opening of all three stories Dr John Watson is talking about Holmes. In the Speckled Band he talks about the cases he has completed with Holmes but he finds the one they are doing at the present time is the most “extraordinary” he can remember. In A Scandal In Bohemia Watson talks about a woman who is very important to Holmes. In The Dancing Men Watson tells us they are sitting in their flat, Holmes specifically had been sitting for some hours in silence with a chemical container in which he was brewing a particularly smelly product.
What I have notified about the opening of these stories are that in The Speckled band and in A Scandal In Bohemia Holmes is not actually present it is only Watson talking about the past but in The Dancing Men Holmes is present and Watson is talking about the present time in the opening. This portraying a difference.
In the first paragraph there is a hint of what happens, a very brief but precise point is given. For example in A Scandal In Bohemia “ And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory”(remembered as being someone who did not behave particularly well). In The Speckled Band “of all these varied cases however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular (extraordinary) features than that which was associated the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stroke Moran”. Although in two of the stories there is a hint given but in the third story (The Dancing Men) there is no hint given. This emphasizing a difference in the three stories.
The main differences are that they’re completely different plots, character and situations. There is also a difference in the way the story is structured the exposition for example in The Dancing Men it goes straight into the story but in The Speckled Band Watson start’s off with the review of the case he was working on.
The complication in all three stories has many similarities and differences. There are many similarities I have notified in the complication of these stories, one of which was Holmes is always approached by the client for example in The Speckled Band –Helen Stoner approaches Holmes about the sudden death of her sister. A Scandal In Bohemia “the king of Bohemia is being blackmailed and so he approaches Holmes for help. The Dancing Men- Hilton Cubitt approaches Holmes for help because he is being sent childish drawings of dancing men. In all three stories the clients seem to be scared and frightened.
Another similarity I notified is that in two of the stories Holmes is sent letters The Dancing Men-childish drawings, A Scandal In Bohemia – the king sends Holmes a letter for help. The clients later approach Holmes. However, in The Speckled Band the client has telephoned Holmes, no letter has been sent. This emphasizes a difference.
In all three stories the client explains the history behind their current problem with brief interjections usually in question form from Holmes. This emphasizing that Holmes is a good listener. Although Watson is relating the stories to us the problems are conveyed by the client through explanatory dialogue.
Another similarity is that all the clients seem to be wealthy, landed or well known. For example in The Speckled Band Helen’s stepfather is well –known by the local people and he also owns a lot of land. In A Scandal In Bohemia the king is obviously well known and rich. Payment for Holmes is also mentioned. A Scandal In Bohemia ‘the king took a heavy bag from under his cloak and laid it on the table-“There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in notes”.
In The Dancing Men there is no payment mentioned, this portraying a difference.
In some stories Holmes is recommended by someone to the client. The client mentions he has heard of Holmes. This emphasizing that Holmes is very popular and is well respected especially for his work. In The Speckled Band a friend recommends Holmes as being somebody who can help her-this is portraying that Holmes has been checked out. The Dancing Men-“they told me that you were fond of queer mysteries and I don’t think you can find a queerer one than that”-this is emphasizing that Holmes has been checked out. Although in two of the stories Holmes has been checked out but there is no indication of Holmes being checked out in A Scandal In Bohemia.
The three clients tell us totally different stories and have very different problems and backgrounds they are all unique. After the clients have told Holmes the problem he gives them different advice. In The Speckled Band he tells Helen that he will stay a night at her house. But in the Dancing Men he tells Hilton Cubitt to return to Norfolk and keep a look out and to get a copy of any new dancing men.
In all three stories Holmes goes the wrong way of solving the problem, he makes mistakes just like any human being. But Holmes realises his mistakes and learns from them and as a result he is able to solve the problem.
The exploration in all three stories has many similarities and differences. There are many similarities I notified in the exploration of these stories, one of which is how Holmes picks up minor clues to help him solve the problem, for example, The Speckled Band the murder of Helen’s sister the clue’s lead to this were, spots around the wrist, spots on forehead (headband) and the gypsies. A Scandal In Bohemia when Holmes throws a smoke bomb in Irene’s house she runs to see if something is still there –from this he realises she still has the photograph and he knows where she has put it. The Dancing Men Holmes does some research finds out what the childish drawings of the dancing men represent finally he figures out what the messages say and sends a message back from where they come from saying to come to the Cubitts house.
The methods uses in all three stories are very smart. In the Speckled Band and The Dancing Men Holmes uses the same problem he is sent to solve the problem. For example Helen’s stepfather is killed by the same snake her sister was killed by (through the ventilator) and in The Dancing Men Holmes figures out the code to the dancing and sends a letter back to whom he thinks is sending them using the dancing men code.
Also in all the detective stories Watson is always alongside Holmes and is informed of what Holmes has found out. Holmes’s methods of problem solving are very similar. Minor things such as scratches, sounds, clues and logic all tell him a lot.
In all three stories there is always tension towards the point of solving the problem. For example In The Speckled Band the tension that is created is when the lights go out in Helen’s house, also when Holmes and Watson make their way through the ground and climb into the bedroom through the shutters. The created here is what if Dr Roylott woke up duo to the noise made by Watson and Holmes. Also when Watson sees Holmes hitting something on the bell with his cane. This creates tension because the reader becomes anxious to know what will happen next.
The tension, which is created in the dancing men, is when Holmes sends a letter back asking to meet at the Cubitts house. This creates tension because the readers wants to know whether the guy will actually come or not and what will happen if he does come.
The tension created In A Scandal In Bohemia is when Holmes tells Watson, to throw the smoke bomb into Irene Adler’s house. This creates an atmosphere of tension because we as the readers probably think that Holmes will go and get the photograph or perhaps what if Irene saw Watson throwing the smoke bomb or what if the smoke bomb didn’t go off and the method failed.
In all three stories a lot of tension is created just before the problem is to be solved. However good of a detective Holmes is he takes a lot of risks to solve the problem. This just shows how determined and inspirational Holmes’s detective work is.
Overall after having read and studied these stories, I think that the methods used by Holmes were extraordinary, indeed they were down to earth and very clear. His ideas (methods) were very human but astounding. At the end the cases were all solved. Holmes then tells Watson how he reached his conclusions. Another similarity is that he learns something from each case and realizes his mistakes. For example in A Scandal In Bohemia he learns that sometimes he’s out smarted. In The Dancing Men he finds out that those childish drawings are more than they seem to be and finally The Speckled Band he learns jumping to conclusion is not the right thing. Even though Holmes’s makes mistakes everything seems to fit in at the end. This is shown in The Dancing Men where he is too late and again in The Speckled Band when he first suspects the gipsies but soon realizes that cannot be.
The difference in the resolution is that they end in different ways since they have different plots. Holmes learns a number of different things from each case and he also makes different mistakes.
I have learnt that Arthur Conan Doyle had a certain structure to his stories. The stories had many similarities duo to two main characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson. Because the stories are from a series I think we can expect for there to be similarities. I think Arthur Conan Doyle did try to make every story as unique and different as possible. If the stories were all the same I think they would get really boring but because the stories are different they are very interesting. Because they are detective stories we should expect similarities between them. I really enjoyed reading and studying these stories.
