To what extent do The Speckled Band and The Gatewood Caper fulfil my expectations of a Classic Detective Story?

English Coursework 1

Introduction

In this essay I am going to be writing about and comparing each story to our expectations of what a typical classic detective Story should be like. I will be focusing on the following two detective stories; firstly a Victorian melodrama called The Speckled Band written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and then secondly a modern day detective story called The Gatewood Caper written by Dashiell Hammett. I will be analysing these two stories by focusing on plot, character, setting, structure, style of writing and theme.

Arthur Conan Doyle was a legendary writer in the golden age of the Victorian era; he was an exceptional writer of classic detective stories. He was born on the 22nd of May in 1859 and died in 1930; he was the creator of the most famous of all detectives Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and came from a family of artists. Conan Doyle was inspired from boyhood by the art of writing and while he was at Southsea he wrote several novels and many short stories.

Dashiell Hammett effectively modernised the detective story, as we now know it to be. Hammett was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in 1894. Hammett died in 1961. In 1915 he began working on and off as a detective for the Pinkerton Agency. Soon he was to turn these experiences into some of the most popular detective stories of his time. Unlike the intellectualised mysteries of earlier detective novels, Hammett's less than glamorous realism transformed the genre into a serious response to the urban culture of the times. Hammett spent his early twenties working as a detective in San Francisco. In 1923 Hammett began writing short stories in the popular magazine BLACK MASK.

For the next several years Hammett became a storyteller writing short stories for the BLACK MASK. In one of his stories he introduced a nameless character referred to as “the Continental Op." This down to earth operative working for the Continental Detective Agency was the antithesis of the glamorous all knowing investigators that made up much of the detective genre. In 1928 Hammett wrote a full-length novel with the "Op," incorporating much of what he had seen at the Pinkerton Agency. He named this novel The Gatewood Caper, which is coincidentally the same story that I am going to be analysing alongside The Speckled Band.

I have not read many detective stories but from what I have read I have found them to be very interesting. The majority of detective stories that I have read have in fact been Sherlock Holmes novels. All Sherlock Holmes novels are highly complex and intricately structured. These novels are typical of the late Victorian era. It’s highly detailed structure makes the typical detective story one of the most interesting and popular genres in the world. It is also difficult to write high quality, interesting detective stories.

What I enjoy most about any detective story are all the puzzles that are put in the way of the detective and the clues that are foolishly left behind by the criminal. I enjoy reading Sherlock Holmes because of the way he uses his skills of deduction and intuition to solve the mystery, which in turn connects the crime to the criminal. As a reader you feed on the mystery and intrigue that is the basis upon which any detective story is founded on. Its what keeps you captivated in the story; it’s almost like a very powerful form of an addiction that keeps the reader reading to the very last page.

Expectations of Plot

In any classic detective story we expect the plot to be a chilling unsolved mystery where someone has died from highly suspicious circumstances. If there were no suspicions around the death then there would be no mystery and it would be case closed. The death is either the result of a terrible crime or totally accidental. The only person that can solve this mystery and then the crime is the detective. The victim approaches the detective where the victim then asks the detective to investigate the mystery. The detective then listens to the victim’s story. Then the detective questions the victim or victims and then investigates the place of death to find out whether or not foul play was involved. The detective then investigates the murder scene and finds clues, analyses them and them puts them all together with all the information he has obtained from other sources such as the victim, people who knew the dead person, people who had some sort of relationship with both the person that died and the victim. From all this information the detective then deduces what must have happened and if it was a murder who was the villain that committed the crime. The villain is then either arrested or killed and then the great detective; the hero of the story solves the mystery.

Expectations of Characters

In any classic detective story we expect the detective to be a man who is extremely clever, intuitive, observant, inquisitive, deductive and highly instinctive. We also expect the detective to be very strong (powerful), tough, very brave, a good soul and an expert in his field of work. We expect the detective to go into soliloquy each time he delves into ponderous thought. The use of this technique and style of language adopted by the writer is highly effective and portrays Holmes’s innermost thoughts and allows the audience to be in direct link with him.

In any classic detective story we expect the villain to be a man who is also extremely clever, very strong (powerful) and tough but at the same time a man who is evil, devious, very greedy, and deceptive. We also expect the villain to be dangerous and psychotic.

In any classic detective story we expect the victim to be a woman (who at the time were seen as being very weak), innocent, helpless, afraid, a good soul and someone who is extremely grateful to anyone who will help them.

In any classic detective story the detective is always portrayed as the saviour of all that is good and innocent whereas the villain is always stereotypically portrayed as the evil mastermind behind the terrible crime. The victim is always who he or she seems to be. The victim is always portrayed as being extremely weak and helpless, being totally reliant on the help of the hero-like detective to solve the crime committed by the villain.

Expectations of Setting

In any classic detective story we expect the setting to be in a dark, lonely and scary place filled with mystery and danger. We expect the place were the crime took place to be especially like this. We expect the setting in a classic detective story to be a very old place from the Victorian era. In the case of the Speckled Band the mysterious death takes place in Stoke Moran an old Victorian mansion, which is a perfect example of a building where a murder might take place in a classic detective story. If you can imagine walking through the wide and long corridors of such and old and lonely house at night time then you can imagine the sense of fear that would arise because of you being all alone. This is why a place like or similar to Stoke Moran from the Speckled Band would be perfect for a classic detective store as the atmosphere it would create through the whole story would captivate the readers mind and imagination.

Expectations of Theme

Only one person in a classic detective story can solve the mystery and then the crime, that person is the detective. The detective encounters danger throughout the story, which he always overcomes through intelligence and great bravery. The theme of a classic detective story is always full of clues. Each and every clue in a detective story increases the chance of the detective solving the mystery. Some clues often turn out to be nothing but some offer vital insight into the mystery helping to solve the crime. Some clues might be very incriminating whereas some might be totally useless. Clues are put into classic detective stories to build up tension and intrigue within the reader so that they keep on reading. Clues are designed to aid the detective so that he can get a bigger picture as to what really happened. We also expect that in any detective story the detective to always solve the mystery and to identify the criminals before anyone else. In any classic detective story the detective is always a man, the villain is always a man and the victim is usually a woman. The villain is always identified and is always brought to justice in a classic detective story. In any classic detective another expectation of theme is that the character we expect to be the villain and the victim are always put right in front of our faces to make it plainly obvious to us who the villain and the victim are. It is always made clear right from the beginning in any detective story who the detective is in both classic and modern detective stories.

Expectations of Style of Writing

In any classic detective story the style of writing is highly detailed and complex. Sentences are long and detailed. We expect the style of writing to be slowly paced because of the classic detective stories complex and detailed plot. We expect the style of writing to be fairly old fashioned in terms of language that dates back to the Victorian era as many classic detective stories where written in that period. The style of writing should be highly informative and a lot of it in any classic detective story is usually very implicit so as to make the reader work their mind more to understand what is happening. The style of writing should also be in 1st person perspective in any classic detective story.

The expectations of plot that are fulfilled in the Speckled Band

This is a preview of the whole essay

The expectations of plot that are fulfilled in the Speckled Band

The Speckled Band is indeed a chilling unsolved mystery and so it meets that expectation of what a classic detective story’s plot should be like. The Speckled Band is about the mysterious death of a woman, which is either the result of a terrible crime, or totally accidental, this fulfils my next expectation of a classic detective story. The name of the dead woman is Julia Stoner and it is her twin sister Helen who decides to seek the services of Sherlock Holmes to investigate her death. Sherlock Holmes is the only person who can solve this mystery and he is a private detective so this fulfils my next expectation of a classic detective story. Julia Stoner was found dead in her room where she lived in an old mansion called Stoke Moran in Surrey. The story begins when the victim’s sister Helen Stoner who goes to see Sherlock Holmes to ask him if he can tell her whether or not the death of her sister was an accidental one or whether she was murdered. Here we see another of my expectations being fulfilled whereby the victim approaches the detective to get him to investigate the death. Sherlock Holmes decides to accept the offer to investigate the death of Julia Stoner and he even does it for free. Firstly Helen Stoner tells her entire story to Holmes. She tells him about Stoke Moran where she and Dr. Roylott live. She then tells Holmes that Dr. Grimesby Roylott is her stepfather and explains how he came to marry her mother while he was working in India as a doctor. After Helen has explained who she is and why she has actually come seek Holmes’s help he immediately starts to question Helen Stoner about what she is saying happened the night before her sister Julia died so a mysterious death. This matches another of my expectations of a classic detective story where a detective begins to question the victim immediately after she explains her story. As soon as Helen has explained the situation to Holmes he asks her if it would be possible to pay a visit to Stoke Moran and the rooms in which she and her sister slept in. Soon after Helen Stoner leaves the presences of Holmes and Watson his sidekick they are rudely intruded upon by the huge and stocky figure of a man who introduces himself to Holmes as Dr. Grimesby Roylott. Dr. Roylott tells Holmes that he traced his stepdaughter Helen to his house. He warms off Holmes saying that he doesn’t want him anywhere near Helen again. Dr. Roylott threatens Holmes with a display of his amazing strength when he bends a metal poker into a curve and then he storms off. Holmes then demonstrates his own strength by straightening the poker out again; the only witness is to this amazing show of strength is Dr. Watson Holmes’s sidekick. Holmes and Watson immediately leave for Leatherhead by fortunately catching a train from Waterloo station. Once they arrive at Leatherhead they leave for Stoke Moran in a horse driven cart called a Trap. This matches another expectation of a classic detective story where the detective leaves for the scene of the death to investigate the area. Holmes and Watson then spot Helen Stoner walking along a path to Stoke Moran. She takes Holmes to see the mansion from the inside. Holmes then begins to search and analyse the mansion for any clues that might help more to explain what happened the night Julia Stoner died. Sherlock Holmes always investigates using a process of analysing something and taking the clue from it using his natural ability of deduction. Firstly he analyses and deduces from are the outside of the windows of Helen’s old room and her new room, which was the same room in which Julia was found dead. Holmes then spots something that he probably already suspected from the beginning. He sees that the end wall in Helen’s old room is in very good condition and shows no need for repairs. So why then would Dr. Roylott want to move Helen into the room where Julia mysteriously died from a room which was in perfectly good condition. Holmes then investigates the shutters on the outside of each window and finds that they are impossible to open from the outside when closed from the inside so Holmes deduces from this that no one could have got in from the outside. Holmes then deduces that if no one could have got into Julia’s room through the only the door which was locked and the window which was impossible to get through because of the shutters then it must have been through some other opening in Julia’s room. Any other opening in the room had to be a very small and so from this Holmes would then deduce that if Julia Stoner had been murdered it would not have been by something the size of a human. It had to be something a lot smaller because the only other opening in Julia’s room that communicated with somewhere outside of the room was the ventilation shaft in the ceiling which was directly connected to the ventilation shaft in the ceiling of Dr. Roylott’s room. Holmes also spotted the mysterious bell pull, which turned out to be a dummy. The strange thing about this bell pull was that it was hung from somewhere inside the ventilation shaft and it was positioned directly above the pillow on the bed. Holmes then goes in into a deep state of reverie putting everything that Helen Stoner told him happened together with all the clues that he had found in Stoke Moran. This matches my expectation of a classic detective story where the detective finds clues, analyses them and them puts them all together with all the information he has obtained from other sources such as the victim, people who knew the dead person, people who had some sort of relationship with both the person that died and the victim. In this deep state of meditation he solves the mystery but he has yet to solve the crime. So Holmes tells Helen Stoner to place a lamp outside of her window when Dr. Roylott retires to his chamber at night. Holmes also tells Helen to leave the shutters open in the room so that he and Watson can get in when she signals them. Holmes and Watson wait for the signal at the village inn. Later when Helen signals them with the lamp they head for Stoke Moran. They go into her room through the open shutter and wait for a number of hours before Holmes spots a snake coming through the ventilator. At this point in time Holmes knows who has committed the crime and how for sure. This then matches my next expectation that with all that is happening the detective then deduces what must have happened and if it was a murder who the villain was that committed the crime. He then immediately switches on the light and strikes at the snake causing it to return through the ventilator in a very angry mood. Then they all here the terrible screen of a man’s hoarse voice. They all immediately head for Dr. Roylott’s chamber and find him dead. He is killed by an Indian Swamp adder, which they find wrapped around his head. Holmes then explains how he solved the mystery and then the crime. This all matches my final expectation of a classic detective story, which is that the villain is either arrested or killed.

The expectations of plot that are fulfilled in the Gatewood Caper

The Gatewood Caper begins with a private detective being sent to help a man called Harvey Gatewood get his kidnapped daughter Audrey back. The detective is known only as the “the continental Op”. In this essay I will refer to him from now on as “the Op”. The Op is sent by the Continental Detective Agency to solve the kidnap of Harvey Gatewood’s daughter Audrey and to find out where she is being held then rescue her. In the Gatewood Caper the mystery surrounds the kidnap of Harvey Gatewood’s daughter Audrey, so my first expectation of a classic detective story’s plot and how it should involve some sort of mystery is fulfilled. In the Gatewood Caper it is the detective that comes to offer help to the victim and not the other way around like in the Speckled Band where the victim asks the detective to investigate something for them. So my next expectation that the victim approaches the detective to get his help is not fulfilled. No one has died and my expectation of a classic detective story that a there is a death and that it is either the result of a terrible crime or accidental is not fulfilled. This all makes the Gatewood Caper even less like a classic detective story. The only person that can solve the crime in this story is the Op and so that matches my next expectation of a classic detective story that the only person who can solve the crime is the detective. The Op then listens to Gatewood’s story and this fulfils my next expectation of a classic detective story where the detective listens to the victim’s story. Harvey Gatewood tells the Op what happened before he last saw Audrey. He tells to the Op about everything that he saw Audrey do before he last saw her. He tells the Op that the last time he saw Audrey was the day before at around seven in the evening. The next morning Gatewood receives a letter from the kidnappers demanding a ransom of $50,000 in $100 bills (American for notes) for her release. In the Gatewood Caper the detective doesn’t really ask many questions to Gatewood because he is so uncooperative. It’s more like the reverse of my expectation that the detective questions the victim is fulfilled. It’s almost like Gatewood has been described so much like a villain that it’s almost impossible to think of him as a victim. My next expectation that the detective investigates the scene of the death is not fulfilled because there is no scene of death in the Gatewood Caper as the crime is a kidnap. Instead in the Gatewood Caper the detective investigates Audrey’s rooms to find any clues or anything that will point to anyone who would want to kidnap Audrey. He finds nothing. Then the next day at 2:30 Harvey Gatewood gets a call from the kidnappers saying that they want him to the deliver the money straight away to someone he will spot when they signal him by holding a handkerchief to their face and then dropping it. They tell Gatewood that he will have to deliver the money to the person somewhere between his house and the waterfront along Clay Street. A woman signals Gatewood using the handkerchief he gives her the money and a couple of the other Ops follow the woman. They loose the woman in an alleyway where they find her clothes discarded all over the floor. They quickly realise that this must have been a woman disguised as a man. The trail of clothes leads to a backdoor of an apartment, which they find was occupied by a man called Leyton. The Op investigates this apartment and finds nothing but this fulfils are expectation that the detective investigates the scene to find any clues but again the Op finds nothing. The only clue that the Op has now has to work on is Leyton’s description. So he starts to investigate all the clothes shops in the Oakland area asking them whether or not they have seen anyone matching Leyton’s description buying woman’s clothes and if they have any records or names. The Op gets lucky with the first shop he investigates because they have a record of a man who bought woman’s clothes matching Leyton’s description. This mans name is Mr. Offord and the Op also gets the address. The Op goes to see Mr. Offord and then finds out that he is not living alone but with a young woman possibly Audrey. The Op recognises Mr. Offord as being a conman. The Op goes up to his room but is then shot at but the bullets miss. The Op then kicks the door down and finds Audrey. He then explains how he solved the mystery of Audrey’s kidnap to “penny” Quayle the conman and Audrey. This fulfils are expectation of a classic detective story’s plot whereby from all the information the detective gathers he puts it all together to deduce what really happened. The villain in the story actually turns out to be the victim and in the end does not get punished because she blackmails her father with the threat of going to the papers with incriminating information that she has about him about his previous illegal activities. My expectation that the villain is either arrested or killed is not fulfilled making this story even less like a classic detective story.

The Speckled Band is a perfect example of what a classic detective story should be like because it matches all my expectations in every way. The Gatewood Caper is completely different and is nothing like a classic detective story. Although it does match some of my expectations of how the plot of a classic detective story should be like it is a very modern story with a very modern plot. The main difference between the plot in the Speckled Band which is a classic detective story and the plot in the Gatewood Caper which is a modern detective story is that in a classic detective story the plot goes along a straight line and everything that happens we might expect to happen, happens whereas in the plot of a modern detective story everything we might expect to happen doesn’t always happen.

Expectations of character that are fulfilled

We expect the character of the detective in any classic detective to be a man who is extremely clever, intuitive, observant, inquisitive, deductive and highly instinctive. The name of the detective in the Speckled Band is Sherlock Holmes. Holmes matches all of my expectations of how the character in a detective story should be and so too does the Op in the Gatewood Caper. The big difference is that the Op is a lot weaker in all of these aspects when you directly compare him to someone of the likes of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes probably the greatest detective of all time whereas the Op is just an ordinary policeman turned detective. We expect the character of a detective in any classic detective story to be something of a superhero but what we see in any modern detective story is the character of a detective has a big sense of realism associated with him which makes it all that little more believable so that we can relate to the detective more. We also expect the character of the detective in any classic detective story to be very strong (powerful), tough, very brave, a good soul and an expert in his field of work. Again Holmes is these things and personifies greatness whereas the Op is also has all these aspects but again is weaker in every department. This is again done on purpose to make it all more realistic and believable. Sherlock Holmes is the more classic detective whereas the Op is the more modern detective. We also expect the detective in any classic detective story to go into soliloquy and Holmes does this a lot whereas the Op never does this and we aren’t able to connect with his thoughts as much as we do with Holmes.

We expect the character of the villain in any classic detective story to be man who is extremely clever, very strong (powerful) and tough but at the same time a man who is evil, devious, very greedy, and deceptive. We also expect the villain to be dangerous and psychotic. In the Speckled Band the villain Dr. Roylott matches all my expectations of how a villain should be like in any classic detective story whereas the surprise villain in the Gatewood Caper is nothing like my expectations of how the character of a villain should be in any detective story. Dr. Roylott is a huge giant of a man who bends pokers to scare people, whereas because Audrey is a woman she is portrayed as being weak in the Gatewood Caper but is still the villain. Audrey Gatewood has parts of the character of the victim mixed in with parts of the character from the villain. She is a woman and that is the main the difference between what a villain could never be in a classic detective story and could possibly be a modern detective story. Although she might be a woman she is certainly not the victim because she is not innocent, helpless, afraid, a good soul or someone who is grateful for anything. In fact she is the exact opposite a spoiled brat. Also although she is not the victim she is certainly the villain because she does in fact have all the qualities of being a villain except that she is not very strong, or tough. Dr. Grimesby Roylott is the more classic villain whereas Audrey Gatewood is the more modern victim.

We expect the character of the victim in any classic detective story to be a woman who is weak, innocent, helpless, afraid, a good soul and someone who is extremely grateful to anyone who will help them. Firstly in the Speckled Band the victim Helen Stoner fulfils all of these expectations whereas in the modern detective story the Gatewood Caper the victim is Harvey Gatewood and he is nothing like the victim but everything the villain is in a classic detective story. He simply does not belong in the role of the victim so he does not fulfil any expectation of the character of the victim in a classic detective story. He has every quality of a villain in a classic detective story and the exact opposite of every quality the character of the victim has in a classic detective story. In fact the way he is described in the story he is almost identical to Dr. Roylott in the Speckled Band. Helen Stoner is the more classic victim whereas Harvey Gatewood is nothing like a classic victim and is the more modern victim.

Setting

The setting in the Speckled Band was very interesting because of how it was described in such high detail from every blade of grass to the huge mansion of Stoke Moran. The setting really did provide an excellent atmosphere because it was so complex and always changing. The story starts off and is set in one the biggest, most highly populated cities in the world, London. It is a bustling metropolis and you can imagine the atmosphere it creates and how strong it is over everything else. While this huge feeling of atmosphere is creating by the setting Helen Stoner is going to see Sherlock Holmes. Then the setting changes once Helen arrives to see Holmes, it suddenly changes from being an extremely busy and chaotic atmosphere to an extremely peaceful, quiet and relaxing environment whilst inside Holmes’s home. I enjoyed the setting when Holmes and Watson leave for Leatherhead from Waterloo station as I have always like trains so I can imagine exactly what it would have been like with all the steam trains and the huge atmosphere created by people getting on and off the trains to get off at London or travel to other places. Then when at Stoke Moran the setting changes to this mansion with a small village nearby. The setting here is a dark, scary and lonely place. You can feel the mystery and danger resonating from every wall, every corridor and every room. We don’t feel safe in this place because we know that it has a very mysterious past and a very mysterious owner. It is a very old building built in the 17th century and is almost crumbling to pieces because of decay in some parts. You can imagine the sense of fear that would be created from a setting like this just by walking through the long dark corridors. With each step moved you would here the echo through the whole building because of the dominating silence. The only light would be of that slipping through the small dirt sprayed windows adding to the feeling of loneliness and fear creating extreme suspense.

The setting in the in the Gatewood Caper is my favourite personally. I enjoyed the very beginning of the story because of the deep sense of tension that is created by the description of Harvey Gatewood’s Lumber Corporation HQ. I can imagine a it as a huge building full of people working for this one Scrooge like tyrant of a businessman who absolutely loves to quash all opposition and dominate his industry. This setting provides a huge sense of excitement and liveliness. You rarely get a sense of fear or loneliness in the Gatewood Caper because of the setting and how there are always people wherever the Op goes and so there is always someone to talk to. This is another big difference between classic and modern detective story’s where in a classic detective story there are less characters but they are more detailed and you get to know them better whereas in a modern detective story there are more characters who are less detailed which often makes it very confusing. You can then imagine all the cars speeding through the city and past Gatewood’s empire, all the people coming in and out of the building, all the noises caused by the people and machinery creates an immense feeling of power and prosperity which makes me feel good as I can really relate to this kind of setting having being born and raised in modern day London. I loved the setting between Gatewood’s house and the waterfront walking along clay Street. I can just imagine the sense of excitement that I would get if a were just an innocent bystander walking along Clay Street and I saw the mysterious drop off of $50,000 and then saw someone dressed like a woman in black but with the figure of a being followed by so many private detectives. I also enjoyed the setting of the police station at the end with all the detectives in the station drinking coffee and eating donuts. Between the two stories I enjoyed the setting in the Gatewood Caper the most because it was more modern and a lot more like I was used to seeing in life. I definitely expected the setting in the Speckled Band to be old and lonely. I also expected the setting in the Gatewood Caper to be so modern and lively.

Structure

The structure in the Speckled Band is very different from the structure of the Gatewood Caper. In both stories at the very start of the story we find out what it’s all about and whom everyone is as is the case with the beginning of any detective story. What is very different about the beginning periods of both stories is that one is a complete mystery and it is uncertain what has happened whereas the other is not a mystery at all as the crime is known. In any classic detective story the crime is not known until somewhere in the middle or at the end of the story whereas in a modern detective story the crime is usually known and made clear right at the very beginning. This is a key difference in structure because in any classic detective story the mystery is of great importance because it draws suspense and tension into the reader whereas in a modern detective story the crime is usually more important than the mystery is because modern day readers generally have less patience and want what they read to get to the point quickly. In the Speckled Band the period of uncertainty is both in the beginning period and the middle period of the story whereas in the Gatewood Caper it is in the middle period and also the ending period. In both stories the mystery is solved and the crime explained in the end period.

Style of writing

When I read Speckled Band the style of writing created a very slow and dull mood within me but I couldn’t help being captivated by it even if it may have been dull or slow. The writer built up suspense using highly implicit and detailed language. He used very detailed description of setting and characters to create a deep feeling of suspense and tension throughout the story. The writer uses a very strong form of description when he is describing the characters in his story. Conan Doyle always writes from the first person perspective of Dr. Watson who is always with Holmes when they are trying to solve a mystery and so his description of Holmes is always more powerful and positive than it is for Watson himself because he looks up to and almost idolises Holmes because he wants to be like him so much. In his style of writing he picks up on nearly every detail and there is usually little action because of the slow paced writing that Doyle uses. Although the action is not frequent during Sherlock Holmes’s investigations when it does come, it does so at a huge climax where the feeling of suspense and tension is so high and Doyle capitalizes on these moments to make very powerful and terrifying moments of danger and sometimes death. Doyle usually leaves these moments until the end of the story just before Holmes explains how he solved the mystery.

When I read the Gatewood Caper the style of writing created a very fast and exciting mood within me and that alone kept me reading. The style of writing in the Gatewood Caper is so much easier to understand because it is so much simpler and very modern compared to the slowly paced style of writing in the Speckled Band from the late Victorian era. The style of writing in the Gatewood Caper is a straight and to the point and so it is possible to read it a lot faster without having to concentrate as much. When Sherlock Holmes stories were first being written and read people read a lot more and had a lot more time to read, but at the time the Gatewood Caper was written everything was getting faster and so Dashiell Hammett when writing stories such as the Gatewood Caper and to think about the kind of people he would be writing for who were modern day Americans. Hammett in contrast to Doyle uses a very low level of detail of characters and an even lower detail of setting in his style of writing in the Gatewood Caper. The reason he uses such a low level of detail is because the average reader who read his story was an ordinary middle class American who saw the streets, roads, and buildings of America everyday and so there is less emphasis placed upon setting in the Gatewood Caper. Hammett builds up tension and suspense in the Gatewood Caper using very short and simple language, which is full of continuous action. In the Gatewood Caper Hammett writes with a style of language that keeps everything moving and never lets anything ever stand still. Overall the Gatewood Caper was a very, very modern and fast paces story compared to the Speckled Band, which was a very old and slow paced classic detective story from the late Victorian era.

Themes

Sherlock Holmes is the only person who can solve the mystery of the Speckled Band and so that matches the first of my expectations of theme in a classic detective story. Sherlock Holmes encounters danger throughout the story early on in the form of Dr. Roylott and near to the end in the form of a deadly Indian Swamp Adder. This matches my next expectation that the detective encounters danger throughout the story, which he always overcomes through great intelligence and bravery. The Speckled Band is full of clues, which Sherlock Holmes discovers, analyses and then deduces from throughout the story. This matches that expectation that the theme of a classic detective story is always full of clues. An example of a clue that Holmes discovers and then deduces from is the ventilator in the ceiling of the room opposite to Dr. Roylott’s which he then connects to the clue he gets from to bell pull. This matches the next expectation that each and every clue in a detective story increases the chance of the detective solving the mystery. These clues help Holmes to build up a picture of how the murder must happened and what could have been responsible, this matches the next expectation of how some clues offer vital insight into the mystery and help solve the crime. When I read the Speckled Band I found myself intrigued each time Sherlock Holmes found a clue, which might help explain the mystery. Every time Holmes finds clues and starts deducing from them, the feeling of suspense and tension build’s up within me, this matches the expectation that clues are put into a classic detective story to build up tension and intrigue within the reader so that they keep on reading. In the Speckled Band Holmes solves the mystery and knows who the villain is before anyone else, this matches the next expectation that the detective always solves the mystery and identifies the criminal before anyone else. In the Speckled Band the detective Sherlock Holmes is a man, the villain Dr. Roylott is a man and the victim Helen Stoner is a woman, this fulfils my expectation that the detective should always be a man, the villain should always be a woman and the victim should usually be a woman. In the Speckled Band Dr. Roylott is identified as being the villain and is later killed by his own means so this fulfils my next expectation that the villain is always identified and brought to justice. In the Speckled Band it is made clear to us who the villain and victim are, this fulfils my next expectation that the characters who look like they are the villain and victim are always what they seem to be.

The Op is the only person in the Gatewood Caper who can solve the mystery and then the crime so this fulfils my first expectation of theme in a classic detective story. The Op encounters danger throughout the story; an example of this is when he nearly shot by Audrey Gatewood when he goes to arrest her but using his intelligence and experience he stands to the side of the door which is shot at, this fulfils my expectation that the detective encounters danger throughout the story, which he always overcomes through great skill and bravery. The Gatewood Caper is another detective story that is full of clues. Examples of clues that the Op discovers are the clothes Quayle wore when he was disguised as a woman to collect the money from Harvey Gatewood. This is a clue because the Op can then use it to ask clothes shops in the area whether or not they have seen a man buying woman’s clothes matching Quayle’s description. These clues all help to give the Op a bigger picture of what is happening in order to solve the mystery of the kidnap fulfilling my next expectation of how some clues offer vital insight into the mystery and help solve the crime. When I read the Gatewood Caper I found that the use of clues in the story was cleverly done. Each clue from start to end was linked to the next, without the first one you wouldn’t be able to find the next. So each time one clue was found and examined by the Op the feeling of tension, suspense and intrigue in my increased because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next and what the next clue was going to be. This matches my next expectation that clues are put into a classic detective story to build up tension and intrigue within the reader so that the keep on reading. In the Gatewood Caper the Op solves the mystery and finds out who the real criminal mastermind is before anyone else, this matches my next expectation that the detective always solves the mystery and identifies the criminal before anyone else. So far up until this point the Gatewood Caper like the Speckled Band is in terms of theme a perfect classic detective story. In the Gatewood Caper the detective the Op is a man, the villain Audrey is a woman and the victim Harvey Gatewood is a man. This twist and unexpected mixture of character means that my next expectation that the villain is man and that the victim is a woman is not fulfilled and so the Gatewood Caper cannot be a classic detective story making it a modern detective story. In the Gatewood Caper because there is a twist right in the heart of the story causing the expected villain to become the victim and the expected victim to become the villain the expectation that the villain is always identified and then brought to justice is only partly fulfilled. The villain Audrey is identified but she is not brought to justice because she bribes her father with the threat of leaking incriminating information about him to the press, this is something that would never happen in a classic detective story because the villain in a classic detective story is always brought to justice. This makes the theme of the Gatewood Caper seem very modern. In the Gatewood Caper it is no make clear who the real villain and victim are until the very end. Up until the end period in the Gatewood Caper we are led to assume because of the descriptions we associate with specific characters in a classic detective story that the villain is Harvey Gatewood and the victim is Audrey but the truth is that it is actually the other way round which makes this a very modern detective story in terms of theme compared to the Speckled Band which is a very classic detective story.

Conclusion

In conclusion I think that the Speckled Band was a perfect example of how a classic detective story should be like in terms of plot, character, setting, structure, style of writing and theme. The story fulfilled every one of my expectations of a classic detective story in every area.

The Gatewood Caper was a very different kind of detective story from the Speckled Band. Although the plots of both stories were quite similar the aspects of character, setting, structure, style of writing and theme were very different. This makes the Gatewood Caper a very modern detective story and one that I really enjoyed reading.

In terms of plot I preferred reading the Gatewood Caper because was about a kidnapping and then a ransom demand, which I found more interesting to read about then the mysterious death and lonely death of Julia Stoner in the Speckled Band.

In terms of character I preferred reading the Gatewood Caper again because unlike in the Speckled Band where all the characters are so plain and dull, the characters in the Gatewood Caper are so much livelier and are always moving. I can’t even remember one dull moment in the Gatewood Caper because the characters are doing something and providing some sort of action and entertainment value whereas in the Speckled Band there is very little action and movement save the moment where Dr. Roylott bends a poker and when Holmes tries to poke a snake to death with his cane.

In terms of setting I preferred the Gatewood Caper because of the modern day city life where everyone is making lots of money which all creates such a powerful, chaotic and fast atmosphere that I enjoy as a reader. In the Speckled Band you can imagine the peaceful tranquillity of the scenery like the Victorian buildings and the beautiful architecture from which they are built, this creates a very peaceful and slow atmosphere, which I find quite unsurprisingly dull.

In terms of structure I preferred the Gatewood Caper because the mystery of the Audrey’s kidnapping and why she hasn’t returned home yet is only solved at the very end of the story where it meets its huge climax. Also in the Gatewood Caper the end period is where the mystery is solved and explained by the detective but it also contains air of uncertainty left over from the middle period, which makes it a lot more enjoyable than the Speckled Band because in its last period although the mystery is solved and explained by Holmes there is no air of uncertainty because it has been used up all in the middle period which makes it quite dull.

As for Style of writing again I preferred the Gatewood Caper because the writing it was so much more modern and a lot faster than the slow and dull style of writing of the Speckled Band. The style of writing in the Gatewood Caper was also a lot more explosive and to the point which I really like compared to the very implicit style of writing in the Speckled Band.

As for theme I preferred the Gatewood Caper because of its very new and modernised ideas, which I found entertaining. I enjoyed in particular the fact that the villain was a woman and the victim was a man and how no one expected it until the Op found the evil blackmailer Audrey at the end. I also enjoyed the theme in the Gatewood Caper more because there was a sense of injustice and feeling for the character of Audrey, which explained and gave her a reason to be the villain whereas with Harvey Gatewood there was a feeling a hate created over the character as if he somehow didn’t deserve to be the victim and that’s why from the very beginning we are fooled into believing that Audrey is the victim and Harvey Gatewood is the villain.

In conclusion I preferred reading the modern detective story the Gatewood Caper to reading the Speckled Band a classic detective story. I prefer reading modern detective stories now that I have examined the all differences between classic and modern ones.