“Her faces all drawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal.”
The mood of the Lamb to the Slaughter is completely different to the Speckled Band as at the beginning because Mrs Maloney is relaxing in her living room waiting for her Husband to return home. Mrs Maloney was cheerful and eager for Mr Maloney to return home as it quotes:
“Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come.”
Speckled band at first is set in old London in 1883 on Baker St. but then later moves to a rural environment in an old manor house on the western border of Surrey called Stoke Moran but In Lamb to the slaughter the whole story is basically based in Mr and Mrs Maloney’s living room that is described as warm and clean. This is where the story starts, where the murder takes place and where the story ends so there is a big difference between both stories in there atmospheres there set it.
The Speckled band is a traditional detective story with a twist at the end. This story contains a famous detective called Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr Watson.
It is a story basically about greed because a man called Dr Roylott who wants his daughters dead before they have the chance to marry because while they are unmarried he receives £750 income but once they marry they are able to claim £250 each of this income for themselves which would leave Dr Roylott with a mere pittance of £250. So when one of the daughters decides she was going to get married Dr Roylott plans to kill her.
Lamb to the slaughter has a completely different murder story to the speckled band because its all about Mrs Maloney’s revenge and jealousy on her husband because it is believed that Mr Maloney is having an affair while Mrs Maloney is 6-months pregnant with their baby. This story has also got a twist to it and has an extremely unexpected ending.
In Speckled band there is Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson who are both well know in some of the best mystery stories ever written. Holmes is a very clever, intelligent and detective and Dr Watson, Holmes’s working partner is very trustworthy, loyal and responsible for his actions to Sherlock Holmes.
Helen Stoner is very caring, sensitive and modest but at the beginning of the story was terrified and anxious.
Dr Grimesby Roylott owns Stoke Moran; he is very greedy and ravenous, as he wants to kill his daughters because of what they can claim for an income.
In Lamb to the slaughter there is Mary Maloney who at the beginning is very high-spirited, exhilarated and excited for Mr Maloney to return home but later on in the story her mood completely changes into bloodthirsty, vicious and un-balanced.
“She stepped back a pace, waiting, and the funny thing was that he remained standing there for at least four or five seconds, gently swaying.”
This shows that she had found the murder amusing as it explains in this quote; this obviously has to mean she was relieved he was dead
Sam Maloney is in the police force and he comes across as a very selfish person because he doesn’t speak to his wife much and he doesn’t like being fused
“Darling shall I get your slippers?”
“No”
I also believe that he worries more about his career than his wife and unborn child and this was probably the reason Mrs Maloney killed him, this character reminds me a lot of Dr Roylott because of his greed and selfishness.
Jack Noonan is a sergeant in the police force and he is very kind, caring and responsible. He comforts Mrs Maloney when he finds out that Mr Maloney had been killed, which shows he is very considerate and loyal, he reminds me of Dr Watson because he’s very caring and trustworthy.
“She fell right into Jack Noonan’s arm, weeping hysterically. He put her gently into a chair”
There is lots of description in The Speckled band so you can find it easier to solve the mystery. The advantage with the good description is that you can imagine the house, murder scene and gardens of Stoke Moran. Conan Doyle also uses similes in the story to help the reader visualise scenes, here is an example of the writer trying to help you visualise Stoke Moran:
“With a high central portion, and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side”
This simile is effective, as it sounds aggressive and menacing. The reader instantly sees the house as a forbidding, dangerous place.
Lamb to the Slaughter there is a lot of description to describe the scene, but I don’t think that there is as much description in this story as in the Speckled Band. The best bit of descriptive writing in the Lamb to the slaughter I think is when Mrs Maloney hits Mr Maloney with the leg of lamb.
The Speckled band has a lot of suspense in the story because you don’t know what will happen next and it is hard to solve the mystery, but as you read more and more of the book then there are more clues reviled which makes you want to finish the story and it slowly builds up the suspense.
In Lamb to the slaughter you know that Mr Maloney has told his wife something really serious as she kills him after he has told her. The story is good because you have to try and solve what Mr Maloney had told her and you don’t know whether Mrs Maloney will get away with the murder, this adds a lot to the suspense.
The speckled band has a twist at the end because Dr. Roylott is killed. I think it is good that this happened because it gives you a good understanding on how his daughter was killed by the snake. I found it very surprising when Dr Roylott is killed but I also believe it was a very good way to end the story to astound the reader.
In comparison to Speckled Band, Lamb to the slaughter has also a twist and it is that Mrs Maloney had killed her husband with a leg of lamb then cooked it for the police who were solving the crime. Jack Noonan told Mrs Maloney:
“ It’s the old story. Get the Weapon, and you’ve got the man.”
Here is a conversation that occurred while the police officers were eating the leg of lamb, the murder weapon:
“Personally, I think it is right here on the premises.”
“Probably right under our noses. What you think, Jack?”
As this conversation was taking place Mrs Maloney was in the other room giggling and then the story ends. I think this is a great twist in the story and I liked the way that it was finished. It different style of ending than the ending of Speckled band because Lamb to the slaughter ends in a comedy way.
I enjoyed lamb to the slaughter the most because it was more of a simple and quick murder story. I preferred the twist more at the end and I thought it was good that you didn’t know if Mrs Maloney would get caught for committing the murder. Lamb to the slaughter was a more believable crime and I thought it had a very good ending to a brilliant story.
I found that Speckled Band was over enthusiastic on how the snake reached the daughters bedroom and killed her. Another reason why I didn’t enjoy Speckled Band as much was because of the old English language, at some parts of the story you don’t understand what the people are saying.
