With reference to the speckled band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and lamb to the slaughter by Roald Dahl, compare the ways in which the writers create atmosphere and tension, gives us clues to the ending and suspend our disbelief.

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Comparative Stories Coursework

Comparative Stories

Question: With reference to “the speckled band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and “lamb to the slaughter” by Roald Dahl, compare the ways in which the writers create atmosphere and tension, gives us clues to the ending and suspend our disbelief.

Both the stories I am analysing are murder mysteries and they are set in very different time periods.

Summary of stories “lamb to the slaughter”

The lamb to the slaughter was a murder mystery story based on a troubled couple. Mary Malone is a keen housewife who is deeply in love with her husband and will do nearly anything to please him. Her husband is a police detective and a man of real authority.

The story begins with Mary’s husband coming home from work, she is fussing around her husband but he is unusually quiet. After a while he breaks news to his wife that he is leaving her. Mary tries to ignore the situation and asks her husband what he would like for supper, he doesn’t reply. She gets up and gets some lamb out of the freezer and without thinking runs up and hits her husband over the head.

After this Mary begins to think of a cover up plan, she touches up her make up and makes an appearance at her local grocery acting as natural as possible. On her return home she makes out that she has only just found her husband dead and phones the police, she sobs to make out that it was a brutal murder and to defend her innocence.

The police arrived and began searching the house for clues and a possible murder weapon. (They didn’t suspect Mary was the murderer.) Mary knew she had to get rid of the murder weapon and so offered the investigation team the lamb at which she killed her husband with. The inspectors ate the lamb and the murder weapon had gone.

Summary of stories “The speckled band”

The speckled band was another murder mystery taken from the stories about Watson and Sherlock Holmes. This story delved into one of their investigations.

The story begins with Sherlock waking up Watson and explaining of a women in need of their help. They arrive downstairs to greet a women named Helen Stoner. She begins to explain her worries about her fiery stepfather who she believes murdered her sister. She begins to explain the of her family and talks of her close relationship with her sister, Sherlock arranges a visit to Helen’s home to try to get to the bottom of her sisters murder. She left.

Soon after Sherlock and Watson was disturbed by a man who stormed into their office, it was Dr. Roylott( Helen’s Stepfather). He had followed Helen to Sherlock’s office and had harsh words to say and threatened Sherlock.

Sherlock and Watson arrived at the Roylott’s home and Sherlock began scrutinising the rooms in question for clues to the murder. After carrying out his analysis he stated to Watson and Helen that the only he would get to the bottom of the suspicious murder was to spend a night at the house.

Sherlock and Watson sat and waited in the room where Helen’s sister was murdered and Helen waited anxiously in her normal room. Suddenly Sherlock and Watson heard aloud terrifying scream they, immediately rose to their feet and knocked on Dr Royletts door, they entered the room only to find a serpent which had killed Dr. Roylett. Dr Roylett was a murderer who eventually got his commutance.

Firstly I am going to compare the atmosphere presented in both stories. Authors usually create an atmosphere early on in their play to set a good basis for the rest of the story, it also captures the readers attention straight from the beginning. Right at the beginning of “lamb to the slaughter” Roald Dahl creates an atmosphere which showed normality the quotation reads “ On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket.” This shows us that Mary is always into a routine and is organised it also tells us that there is nothing out of the ordinary. Atmospheres change and we soon see that the mood changes into a sense of anxiety “The mouth was soft and the eyes with their new placid look, seemed larger and darker than before.” This was also a first indication of Mary’s excitement at seeing her husband. The two atmospheres seen in the “lamb to the slaughter” show us that at the beginning of this narrative there is nothing unusual happening and this usually means in a murder mystery narrative that consequences will soon change.

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In the story “The speckled band” the author has also opted to begin to set a strong atmosphere here is a mysterious quote from the opening paragraph of the narrative, it is of Watson explaining what he thinks of Sherlock, “ he refused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual and even fantastic.” By reading this it shows us that the investigation in which we are going to read will most likely be as unusual and fantastic as the others. Later on we see that the atmosphere changes slightly this is ...

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