The detective Sherlock Holmes is a much more experienced and important character than Jack Noonan and O Malley, it shows how experienced and experienced Sherlock Holmes is with Watson remarking “ In glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Sherlock Holmes” which suggests he is very busy.
Jack Noonan and O Malley only come out at the end of the story where as the Speckled band focuses entirely on Sherlock Holmes.
The victim Julia Stroner is more innocent then Patrick Maloney because she didn’t do anything to Dr Roylotts; Patrick Maloney upsets his wife by saying he didn’t want to be with her even when she was pregnant which lad her to kill Patrick Maloney.
The murderer Dr Grimesby Roylott is a greedy and violent person who would do anything for which you would expect from a murderer and Mrs Maloney is a sweet, loving and caring wife who would do anything for her husband whom you would never expect from a murderer.
In A lamb to the slaughter the location is in the home of Mr Mrs Maloneys home and the only time it aint set at the home is when Mrs Maloney is going to the grocery. In the home of Mr and Ms Maloney it tells you how comfortable it is sofas and curtains suggesting a relaxed contented house. The Speckled band starts Sherlock Holmes house in Baker street and then the rest of the story is mainly at the at the Roylotts house at Stoke moran which is where the murder scene is at, it describes how big the house is and the way it was structured.
The similarities in the two stories of the Speckled band and A lamb to the slaughter are that we know who the killer is in both of the stories. In A lamb to the slaughter it describes how Mary killed Patrick because it says in the story that Mary used a frozen leg of lamb, A Speckled band it doesn’t tell you who killed Julia but you know because of the way it describes Dr Roylotts as violent, greedy; he also had a motive for killing Julia, for money. It wasn’t a question of why he did it but how.
Both of the story is about, in the Speckled band is Helen and in A lamb to the slaughter is Mary. Both of the stories have happy endings because in the Speckled band the murderer is caught and killed which is a great relief because he was so evil and in A lamb to the slaughter you are relieved that Mary doesn’t get caught because she was such a loving and caring person.
In the speckled band our sympathies are with the victim because they were innocent and we only see the bad side of the villain however A lamb to the slaughter our sympathies are with the murderer because she didn’t mean to kill her husband and we only see the good side of the murderer.
In A lamb to the slaughter they don’t treat it as a more serious case and it’s more kind of a humour or comedy but in the Speckled band they treat it as a more serious crime and go through a lot of trouble to find the murderer, suspense is also allowed to build up the story for example it says in the story that they don’t know how Julia died and there was no mark on her which makes the reader wonder how she died.
The language reflects the different times the stories were written because in the Speckled band they use words that they wouldn’t use for example dog cart, defray, would fain, aperture etc….
And instead of using central heating they use fire to keep warm which you could tell from all these that it is a more Victorian detective story but in A lamb to the slaughter they have very modern stuff for examples the lamps, thermos bucket for the ice, freezer etc… which is clearly a more modern detective then the Speckled band.
