Comparison of "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band"
Comparison of "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band"
The two stories, "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band" are both of the same genre, as they are both murder mysteries. They both deal with difficult cases, but the murder in "The Speckled Band" appears to be difficult to comprehend, and is reasonably astute as it uses Eastern ideas and animals to fulfil the plot, creating a mystical cloud around the murder and everything related to it. Because of this, the case seems to be quite complex compared to "Lamb To The Slaughter" - therefore, the reader can get the idea that the case is almost impossible to solve. "Lamb to the Slaughter" has a very simple plot to it, but in this case the murder is so good the murderer gets off. It is ironic that in "The Speckled Band", the murder has a more complicated plot and plan behind it, but fails when the murderer gets found out. However, in "The Speckled Band", the murder is a snap reaction that didn't require any planning - and she gets away with it. In "The Speckled Band" we want the detective to solve the murder to tell us how it was done, while in "Lamb to the Slaughter" we know how the murder was committed and we read on to see if she gets away with it. We also have two different writing styles as one of them was written in the nineteenth century (The Speckled Band) and the other in the twentieth century (Lamb to the Slaughter), however this will be explored later in my essay. One thing to note about "Lamb to the Slaughter" is that although it has been written in the twentieth century, the style in witch it is written is still different to how authors write today.
The first difference between the two stories is the way the writers actually begin them. In "Lamb to the Slaughter" it sets the scene for the reader and you feel as if you are actually in the room with Mary Maloney (the murderer). The writer of the story, describes Mary Maloney in the second paragraph of the text,
"Her skin - for this was her sixth month with child - had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger, darker than before."
We are told that Mary Maloney is six months pregnant and because of this fact, she seems to be an unlikely murderer. The reason I think that she appears to be an unlikely murderer is because usually, when a woman is about to have a child, the last thing she wants to do is put herself into a situation where there's a risk that the child won't be hers/taken away from her. These are basic facts that could make the reader slightly 'smitten' with her to start off, but as the story is unravelled - she doesn't appear ...
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We are told that Mary Maloney is six months pregnant and because of this fact, she seems to be an unlikely murderer. The reason I think that she appears to be an unlikely murderer is because usually, when a woman is about to have a child, the last thing she wants to do is put herself into a situation where there's a risk that the child won't be hers/taken away from her. These are basic facts that could make the reader slightly 'smitten' with her to start off, but as the story is unravelled - she doesn't appear to be the same character, as we perceived her to be at the start.
However, in "The Speckled Band" we are introduced to Holmes after a descriptive page about his background and what he is doing in the story. We get the feeling that Holmes is a very successful detective, because we are introduced to his maid, that were very expensive and regarded as being something people of the upper class have. He also drinks coffee, and in the time period he is in, it was considered as a recent import and only for people of the upper classes. Also, it should be noted that Sherlock Holmes had appeared in other detective stories, so people reading the book might have a slight knowledge about him, and that he usually solves a murder. Something that is slightly different at the beginning of this story to "Lamb To The Slaughter", is that the reader doesn't spend anytime alone with Holmes, therefore we don't feel that we know him as well as we could. We see him interacting with other characters. It is always a good thing to get to know the main character in a story, and although the time-difference is vast between when the two stories were written, they have followed the style of introducing the reader to the main character so that we can grasp the facts and their personality, that in a lot of cases will take us throughout the story. However, "Lamb To The Slaughter" did it in this style, and in a way - this tricked the reader because they introduced Mary Maloney to be such a nice and gentle person - by describing her skin and what she was doing. She came across as an innocent woman, but this proofed to be wrong as the story was unravelled.
The start of "The Speckled Band" is written in retrospect,
"It was early in April, in the year '83, that I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed."
We see the story from the point of view of Holmes humble assistant and best friend, Watson. Watson will always look at Holmes in a good light, because they have been best friends for many years. Also, because of the past tense at the beginning of the story, we can tell straight away that Watson is still alive to tell the story. This is different to the style of writing we see in "Lamb To The Slaughter", because we see it in a third-person view in the present tense. I feel that this can affect the story - because things can be told to the reader in different circumstances or in a different light. For instance, I feel that "The Speckled Band" would have been more gripping if it was told in a present tense - because we would feel that we are there with Holmes, instead of being told what happened. My preference is to always be the third person in a story, as "Lamb To The Slaughter" does.
Roald Dahl, The writer of "Lamb To The Slaughter" gives us the description of Maloney's movement, this is to make the reader feel more involved with the story - and enhances the fact that we are in the same room as Mary Maloney.
"She took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks"
This also helps us to get a feel for the mood in the house, and the tension between the two characters (Mary and her husband). We also get to know the characters, and their routines. Out of nowhere we are then told that the husband of Mary Maloney is a policeman without any build up to it at all,
"I think it's a shame, she said, that when a policeman gets to be as senior as you, they keep him walking on his feet all day long."
This is different to "The Speckled Band", because it is a fact that Sherlock Holmes is a detective even before we open up the book! But put aside that fact, we also get the gradual build-up of finding out what sort of line of work Holmes and Watson are in. Moving back to "Lamb To The Slaughter", we are also told that the couple have a conversation that lasts four or five minutes. We are not told what has happened in this conversation, so we are forced to make our own opinion of what he said to her, whilst in "The Speckled Band" we are given every last detail. In this particular issue, I give my preference to making my own mind or opinion up. This might be because "Lamb To The Slaughter" is a more recent story, thus is tailored more to reader's want. However, I can see the absolute need for some details to be given to the reader in "The Speckled Band" - but only because of the complicated story is it, and without some details - the reader would be quite lost.
In "Lamb to the Slaughter" we have a basic murder weapon - a leg of lamb whilst in "The Speckled Band" however we have a more complex weapon. Mary Maloney seems to be the perfect wife who will do anything for her husband. She endlessly tries to serve him food when he is obviously not in the mood to eat, and this shows signs of her love and affection for her husband. We then learn what type of person Mr Maloney is; we learn he is not really worried about what happens to Mary as he tells her that the event they just discussed should be kept quiet, so that nothing would happen to his reputation. We are then made to make up our own mind about this and the next part of the story, when she walks "across the room, she couldn't even feel her feet touching the floor". She then goes downstairs to get the leg of lamb. We are told all this in the "Lamb to the slaughter", but in "The Speckled Band" we don't know what the murder weapon is, but we do know that it is planned. In "Lamb To The Slaughter", we are there when the murder takes place and it takes the reader by surprise, however this is different in "The Speckled Band", because we know that it is likely that a murder will take place - and the reader takes a more active role in playing the detective rather than the third person.
Although both stories follow the genre of murder, they have written in different styles, circumstances, tense, and different time periods. These are essential ingredients to a story of any genre, and because the difference between "The Speckled Band" and "Lamb To The Slaughter" is reasonably vast (bearing in mind that they are written with the different 'ingredients'). The stories are quite easy to compare, but not because they are similar, but because they are different - so different that I have been able to go through the opposites.
I think that both stories are good to read, and the authors tailored the stories to make the typical reader of their day enjoy it, using techniques that are true to their day. However, both stories are still good to read at this present day. But, just because the stories were written in different time periods doesn't mean that they have to be different and use different techniques to grab the readers attention - both authors come from different backgrounds. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a highly respected, upper class citizen that was brought up in conditions that led to a good education. Roald Dahl, was brought up in more present surrounding and boasts a middle-class up-bringing. Surely, the experiences a person has, and the up bringing a person has an affect on the way a story is written - and I feel this has a big part to play in the comparison of this two stories.
There is one final key to a story, the ending. Whilst the writer of "The Speckled Band" reveals the murderer and motive at the end of the story, the audience is left in their shocked state to make up their mind on what drove a pregnant woman to kill her own husband within those short few minutes!
