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 to give us a further edge or twist to the story, “her face all drawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes like those of some harmed animal.” This sentence enforces fear into the play it is a description of a victim and shoes she is under enormous stress and she has certainly come under an ordeal. The two very different sorts of atmospheres that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have written about in the early stages of his narrative has given us a basis of an extremely tense story which will contain both mysterious and fearful consequences.
When comparing the atmospheres in both the stories I see that in the “Lamb to the slaughter” the atmosphere has begun with a sense of normality and routine and as the story builds up the atmosphere changes to something of more apprehension, where as in the “Speckled band” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has created a forceful atmosphere from the very beginning.
After the main atmosphere of a narrative has been created tension is added to bring the story to a new and more advanced level. When looking for tension in stories I often look for a sentence which adds drama or suspense. In the narrative “lamb to the slaughter” the first time I noticed tension in the story was when Mary begins fussing around her husband and making unnecessary inquiries about what her husband wanted for supper after an outburst from her husband the author writes “she moved uneasily in her chair.” This is an example of tension as it shows us that the husband has performed a piece of unusual behaviour and has shocked his wife with his unfamiliarity. Another example of tension which developed the story was when Mary’s husband was ready to announce something to her the narrative reads “Her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a little nod but he made no sign.” This line shows me that before her husband makes his announcement there is a strong sense of apprehension.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also creates tension in the “Speckled band” to enhance his story. We hear of a women with a traumatic story to tell about her step-father who she believes wants to murder her as she is getting married an example of tension leading up to her explaining her ordeal to Sherlock and Watson is “I shall go mad if it continues. I have no one to turn to-none,” this shows us that she is clearly in despair and the reader must read on to piece together why the women is so traumatised. Another example of tension which shows the women’s worry is when she replies to an analysis by Sherlock by saying “It is not the cold which makes me shiver.” This sentence keeps us on edge and shows us that something quite out the ordinary has possibly taken place. The reader is forced to reading on as we await for further revelations to the narrative.
Throughout a murder mystery narrative we are often given hidden clues to the ending, this is mostly likely done so the reader can begin to piece the narrative together. In “Lamb to the slaughter” Mrs. Maloney’s behaviour gives us clear clues to the ending. The first sign of this was “She began thinking very fast.” This quote shows us that Mary was beginning to think of a plan to get her way out of trouble. Soon after that Roald Dahl shows us how Mary deals with the murder by rejecting the whole thing every happened, we discover how she talks to the mirror to practise her act at pretending nothing had happened. We realise that there is a different side to Mary a cunning one which she used to play her way out of trouble. Before the murder actually took place Roald Dahl describes in a lot of detail the events in which Mary went through to find her murder weapon. He uses pacific detail of Mary going into the cellar and describing a piece of lamb, he made the lamb symbolic within the story, the piece of lamb even features in the title and this gave us a clear clue that a piece of lamb might have a vital role to play in the conclusion of the story. After committing the murder the author gives a brief description of something which Mary does it reads, “She carried the meat into the kitchen, placed it in a pan, turned the oven on high, and shoved it inside.” This brief description is a hidden clue to the ending. When reading the story the first time it wouldn’t have been clear that this quote would have been relevant to the conclusion of the narrative.
Unlike “Lamb to the Slaughter” the clues to the ending in “the speckled band” were easier to find and they were more of them. The main reason for this is because as Sherlock was a world famous detective the stories at which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote had to contain clues to make the story readable and in the correct murder mystery genre. With this story I was able to piece all the clues together and I made a valid conclusion of the story before I got to the end, but like “lamb to the slaughter” the “speckled band” also had hidden clues to the ending which were not obvious to spot the first time in reading the narrative and like “lamb to the slaughter the very first clue of “the speckled band” came about within the title.
The first clue which is relevant to “the speckled band” is a description of Dr. Roylett when he first enters Sherlock’s office it reads “A large face seared with a thousand wrinkles burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion and the high thin fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce bird of prey.” This thorough description of Dr. Roylett gives us an image of an extremely intimidating figure who would be quite capable of committing cold, heartless murders. Soon after we hear Dr. Roylett use threatening behaviour towards Sherlock he says, “Don’t you dare to meddle with my affairs, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here.” This outburst is further evidence that the Dr. has a short temper and a small issue would force him to take abrupt action. When Helen Stoner is describing the death of her sister she speaks of a suspicious whistling sound which her sister was worried about in the nights leading up to her sudden death, she then explains since moving into her sisters room she can now hear the whistling sounds and strongly believes that the sound is related to the murder. When Sherlock visits the home and in particular the room in which Helen’s sister died in the writer then hands us with a few clues which could help to piece the story together, we first hear of a bell rope of which Helen explained went to call a maid but earlier in the story Helen explained that her and her sister never used the maids. The story then reads, “Finally he took the bell rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.” When Sherlock pulled the bell rope it was discovered that the bell rope was a dummy, this was suspicious. The second clue found in the bedroom was a ventilator but the ventilator was only connected to the next room and not outside. Helens response to this was “This is also quite modern, done about the same time as the bell rope.” These two objects in the bedroom bring up unanswered questions. After this Sherlock, Helen and Watson began scrutinising Dr. Royletts room, in this room the writer has incorporated several other clues which present new questions. Firstly Sherlock discovered a saucer of milk and the narrative has not mentioned Dr. Roylett keeping a cat as a pet, the next clue in this room was a dog lead described in the narrative as a “small dog lash” neither did the narrative mention the Dr. keeping a dog. A third clue to the ending in doctor Roylett’s room which was more hidden read, “He squatted down in front of the wooden chair, and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.” This statement didn’t tell us exactly what was wrong with the chair but the author has given us a good indication that there is something intriguing about the chair.
During a narrative a writer may decide to suspend a readers disbelief, this is basically making a reader belief something that has no relevance to what is actually going to happen. This works especially well with murder mysteries as authors like to throw the reader of the track to keep the suspense and drama to the narrative, they can achieve this by making the actions, reactions and responses of the characters realistic.
In lamb to the slaughter Roald Dahl has used several different aspects to suspend our disbelief. The main character in this narrative is Mary Malone, she is a caring wife and her husband is a police detective. At the beginning of the narrative we hear of her caring nature the narrative reads, “For her this was a blissful time of day and she, on her side, was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company.” When Mary’s husband reveals something to her we see a personality change within Mary. She is no longer a caring wife and only feels cold and numbness towards her husband so the author has made us belief that Mary would do anything for her husband and is besotted over him but when her Husband reveals that he wants to leave her she kills him, so if Mary had really loved her husband as much as what was described at the beginning of the narrative she wouldn’t have brutally killed him. Roald Dahl has also made the point of showing us that the police officers who investigated the death of Mary’s husband trusted her totally and didn’t associate her with the crime whatsoever so near the end of the narrative we are not quite sure if Mary would get away with the murder or not. An example of the police’s trust of Mary was, “and the detectives kept asking her a lot of questions. But they always treated her kindly.”
The way in which “Speckled band” makes the reader suspend disbelief is the author all the way through the narrative has given us clues to why the step father would want to kill his daughters. The author has given us a couple of possible reasons, firstly Dr. Roylett has a short temper, secondly he may have been mourning his wife’s death and thirdly and most likely Dr Roylett wanted to murder his daughters for a money incentive. The narrative reads “a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the vent of marriage.” This is a good and just statement why Dr. Roylett would have wanted to get rid of his daughters.
The ways in which the two authors have decided to suspend our disbelief are very different. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has told us that Dr. Roylett has something to do with the murder but has left the case open to find out his incentive. With Roald Dahl he has shown us how somebody can put on a act and makes us believe something is true but in an instant can turn their emotions.
Conclusion
No though the two stories are both murder mysteries they differ, the main reason for this is probably the time periods in which they were written. Lamb to the slaughter was written in 1954 by Roald Dahl and the speckled band was written in 1892 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lamb to the slaughter is a relatively modern narrative and this reflects in the style of language that the author has chosen to use. In the speckled band the language is some what more formal, we know this story is older as we hear of Helen Stoner travelling by horse and carriage where as in Roald Dahl’s narrative he talks of Mary’s husband coming home in a car. Also through reading the speckled band we hear of the Roylett’s family living in a large stately home with maids. This was a very popular pre 20th century style of living and you would find that in the mid 20th century this style of living was mostly done by the top end of society.
The two narratives do have a similarity. The writing styles in which the two authors have undertaken are similar. Atmosphere, tension, clues to the ending and suspending disbelief are prominent features in both narratives. This is the case as those four aspects are the best way of making a narrative fit into the murder mystery genre.
Overall I found the Speckled band a more interesting narrative, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was brilliant in the way he gave us clues to the ending and used intelligent styles to keep us on edge throughout. I also enjoyed the way the author made me believe things that didn’t quite fit within the context of the narrative.