The villains in the two stories are very different; in the speckled band the villain is Dr Grimsby Roylott. We know this very early on in the story as we are told of his death and of the motives he has for killing his stepsisters. Dr Roylott is a very big and tall character that wears smart black cloths and has a very hot temper. He is also shown as a man that is always quick to revert to physical violence. Dr Rowlett’s motive is that when his step-daughters get married they automatically inherit £250 each out of Dr Roylott’s remaining £750, where as if they were to be dead then they can not get the money and it stays with him. From the moment when Dr Roylott followed Helen to Holmes you can immediately see that the Dr would be capable of murder and has all of the attributes a successful Murderer should have but he is unsuccessful in his task as Holmes thwarts his plans by scaring his snake back to him and biting him in anger. In Lamb to the Slaughter we find at the start that Mary Malone is known as weak, well organised, devoted to her husband and that she pays a lot of attention to detail. We find that Mary Malone has the motive that she has just found out that her husband is going to leave her for another woman. She is not a woman that would be associated with such a crime. Dr Roylott is a more stereotypical Villain then Mary Malone. I don’t think that Conan Doyle’s audience would of reacted much with the idea with the fact that a woman could be capable of such a thing as in those times it was still very sexist and women would not of had the power to do something like that.
‘The Speckled Band’ is set in the late 1800’s and in the countryside in England. This is a classic setting for traditional detective stories. Whilst ‘The Lamb to the slaughter is set in the mid 1900’s and is also set in England. The clues as to when ‘The speckled band’ was set come where they describe the transportation, horse and carts. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ the setting in the sitting room of the house show that it is a warm and cosy environment and how well organised Mary Malone is. This also makes the house an unexpected place for a murder to happen. This atmosphere then helps Mary Malone to get away with the murder, as this is an unexpected thing to happen. ‘The Speckled Band’ gives a cold environment and makes it a classic scene for a murder to take place.
‘The Speckled band’ is a classic ‘whodunit’ format because it does not let you know who did the murder but gives you clues as to who it was, whereas ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ not only tells you who did it but shows you as well. The key points in ‘The Speckled Band’ the ventilation shaft, the bell ringer, the exotic animals he keeps, the milk by the safe and Dr Roylotts reason for the murder. The only one of the two stories that gives clues as to the murder and that is the traditional detective story, ‘The Speckled Band’. In ‘the speckled band’, there is a red herring and that is the gypsies that were allowed to live on the land. This originally eludes Sherlock Holmes as to who committed the murder but when Holmes checks the shutters on the windows he realises that they have nothing to do with it. In ‘The Speckled Band’ doctor Watson is narrating the story, and Watson as the narrator knows everything that happens. In ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ the narrator is unnamed and is not a character in the story. The fact that in ‘The Speckled Band’ at one point the narration switches from Watson, to Helen, and back to Watson, doesn’t affect the story that much. In ‘The Speckled Band’, requires the reader to think back to things that have happened whilst ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ doesn’t require you to think back as much.
The Title ‘The Speckled Band’ is brought from the snake at the end, which was yellow with brown sports. The Title ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is used because Mary Malone uses a lamb chop to kill her husband. This is conveniently used as a lamb to the slaughter actually means a lamb that is being taken to be killed. ‘The Speckled Band’ ends with Sherlock Holmes solving the mystery, and explaining how he came to this conclusion. ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ ends with the detectives eating the lamb chop that Mary Malone killed her husband with.
Personally I feel that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s style of writing is better because I like having clues and trying to figure out endings myself. But as to which story is more compelling it depends on the person who is reading them.
To conclude the two stories have several differences. These are that in the 1800’s the detectives were almost superhuman and could figure out almost anything whilst the 1900’s detectives shown humanistic flaws. Also the way that the people talk is very different and the fact that the woman was the woman who killed her husband would not be a possible story at those times as women were not thought of being capable of doing things like that at that time. These make both of the stories compelling to read in their own ways.
