In both stories, we do not know a lot about the victim. In LTTS Mr. Maloney is murdered a very short way through the story. In the SB, the story is set a long time after the murder of Julia Stoner, so we do not meet her at all. Although we do not meet her, she can be seen as the more vulnerable of the two victims. This is because she had lived with a dangerous seeming character unlike Mr. Maloney who seemed potentially unthreatened by Mary Maloney. ‘ She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man’. This quote shows how much he was loved and admired by his wife.
Both Stories feature detectives, but their roles in the two stories are very different. In LTTS the detectives investigating the murder are convinced to eat the leg of lamb that killed Mr Maloney. They are seen as foolish characters and do not feature heavily in the story. This could be seen as an example of satire, as Dahl may be seeking to mock the police force. In comparison, the detectives in the SB are responsible for telling the story and solving the murder. They are portrayed to be intelligent, respectable, professional characters unlike the detectives in LTTS.
The two stories are very different in terms of language; both in the content and the way it is used. Generally, the language in the SB is more descriptive with longer words and a more intricate manner. The language used in LTTS is, comparatively, simpler and less detailed. This is typical of Dahl’s style, who remains famous for his children’s stories.
One main difference in the language of these two stories comes from the angle that they are told. The LTTS is written from the point of ‘the third person’. This means the story is being told from the outside. This is different to the SB, which is being told by one of the characters in the story, Dr Watson. This gives the SB a more anecdotal touch. ‘The events in question occurred in the early days of my association with Holmes’. This is an example of some of the more reflective language used in the SB.
In reading the two stories it is very noticeable that the average length of sentences and paragraphs in the SB is considerably greater. In LTTS the text is broken up at frequent intervals by dialogue. This dialogue is usually quite short, no more than a couple of sentences unlike some of the dialogue in the SB which can be more ‘speech – like’. Especially at the beginning of the story, when the case is being explained and at the end when it has been solved. ‘He was a late riser as a rule, and, as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits’. This is an example of one of the lengthy sentences featured in the SB. Both stories feature similes as a descriptive technique. In LTTS ‘almost as a sunbather feels the sun’ is a simile used to describe the radiance emitted from Mr Maloney and felt by his wife. In SB a simile is used to describe the terror in Helen Stoner’s face as she talks of the murder of her sister. ‘Her face all drawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal’. The difference between these two similes reflects the difference between language throughout the entirety of both stories, in that the language in SB is slightly more advanced.
The SB has a much more fragmented non-linear storyline. This truly sets it apart from LTTS’s tightly structured linear storyline.
LTTS, as opposed to the SB, has a colloquial almost warm tone to the text considering the topic. Although this does not hinder Dahl at all as he is still able of building up suspense and surprise. ‘At that point Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head’. To the reader this is a shock as Mary Maloney has been portrayed as a calm, gentle character.
In comparison, the SB has a much more formal approach which suits the situation within the story.
As both these stories are about murder, they naturally have a dark atmosphere at some points. These are created in different ways in each story. At the beginning of LTTS, Mary Maloney is carrying out tasks as she does each day in what seems an almost rehearsed fashion. This sense of routine that has been created allows actions that seem only slightly out of the ordinary to heighten the tension of the atmosphere.
In this case, something as trivial as Mr Maloney not wanting any supper creates unease and a change to the atmosphere. ‘”I don’t want it,” he said. She moved uneasily in her chair, the large eyes still watching his face.’ Here the tension is heightening.
During LTTS, as it is a short story, the atmosphere does not change dramatically many times, unlike during the SB. Events throughout this story cause the atmosphere to develop and change in different ways. One example is when Dr. Grimesby Roylott enters Sherlock’s home. Sherlock and Watson are talking of the mystery that has just been told to them when he enters. ‘But what in the name of the devil’ exclaimed Holmes. The atmosphere changes to a more sinister and tense tone.
The endings of the stories have a strong contrast. In the SB, the murder is solved, with the murderer being foiled and the detectives seeming to be the victors. This is unlike the ending of LTTS, where the mystery has not been solved and the murderer is the ‘seeming victor’. Both endings contain an element of surprise. In the SB the irregularity of the details the murder supply the surprise and in LTTS Mary Maloney’s laughter leads us to believe she is not as incorrupt as she seems.
