"How does Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle create suspense in 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band.'

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                  English Essay on “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

“How does Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle create suspense in ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band.’

In the gripping crime mystery ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’ we see how the well-known author Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle has cunningly devised suspense in a variety of different ways. The chronology of the story along with the authors background, the location and era, mannerisms and appearance of the characters are many of the ways in which suspense has been cleverly created in this novel.

The author of ‘The adventure of the Speckled Band’ Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle went to Edinburgh university and he served as a doctor in India. Whilst he was serving in India he gained a lot of experience of exotic animals and medicines. He learnt about medicines and he knew about snakes and poisons and this gave DR. Grimsby Roylott a motive for murder. This all helped Conan-Doyle to successfully create the character of DR. Grimsby Roylott. Roylott was also a doctor and he too spent time in India where he married his wife ‘When Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs stoner…’ this just briefly describes Roylott  

         Joseph Bell tutored Conan-Doyle. This had helped him to create the character of Sherlock Holmes. Like Joseph Bell, Sherlock Holmes is good at detecting. He is able to notice things that weren’t obvious to others around him. Like for instance a good example of this is when he met Helen. He explained to her ‘No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove. You must have started early…’ The left arm of your jacket is spattered in no less than seven places.’ Here we can see that he is very good at spotting people’s mannerisms, appearance and behaviour and from this is able to figure out more about the person, like where they’ve been and what they’ve been doing.    

In the novel ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’ the chronology is particularly important as it helps to add suspense to the story. It is substantial to build up suspense throughout the story because if you had the death at the beginning and a few paragraphs later we were told who the murderer was then we wouldn’t want to read on. An example in the story of where the chronology is important is when Helen Stoner first arrives. She makes a dramatic entrance very early in the morning. The way in which Conan-Doyle doesn’t reveal her name until later on the story shows the need to read on. ‘I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of the bed. He was a late riser… it was only a quarter past seven. This shows it was very unusual for him to awake at this time and so it must have been something very urgent for which he had to be woken at this early hour. Sherlock explains what is so important ‘No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me.  We can see here from the words, which Conan-Doyle uses here to describe the lady shows us that something terrible has happened. He chose such words like excitement and insists. He describes Helen by saying ‘her face all drawn and gray, with restless frightened eyes like those of a hunted animal.’ Here we see that Holmes doesn’t reveal her name at first. The lady (Helen Stoner) seems cold and fearful. ‘It is not cold which makes me shiver… it is fear.’ She explains. This gives the impression that someone may have died.  Later on in the story Helen introduces herself. ‘My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England…western border of Surrey.’ The fact that she doesn’t reveal her name

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when first introduced adds mystery and suspense to her character the story. Another example in the story of where the chronology is important is when Holmes and Watson go

to stoke Morran to investigate the cause of Helen’s sister Julia Stoner’s death. Holmes withholds information from the others while although they don’t realise he was conduction

a conclusion in his head. He notices things in the house but keeps them any ideas he has to himself. Like whilst they were looking around Stoke Morran. He asks ‘There was no slit through which a knife could have ...

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