With reference to 'The Speckled Band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'Lamb To The Slaughter' by Roald Dahl, compare the ways which the writers create atmosphere and tension, give us clues to the endings and suspend our disbelief.
Comparative Coursework
With reference to 'The Speckled Band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'Lamb To The Slaughter' by Roald Dahl, compare the ways which the writers create atmosphere and tension, give us clues to the endings an suspend our disbelief.
The main characters in Lamb To The Slaughter are Mary Maloney and Patrick Maloney. They are husband and wife. The story is about Mary, a woman who loves her husband dearly. She waits on him and gives him everything he asks for. She is six months pregnant with his baby. Patrick is a detective, and when he comes home from work one day he is acting very strangely. Mary is worried about him having something to eat. He tells her that he has some bad news; he tells her that he is leaving her. Mary is in shock, and she carries on down to the cellar to get him something to eat. She gets a leg of lamb for his supper, she comes back up the stairs and sees him standing by the window, he tells her not to bother with supper, and that he is going out.
She walks up to him and hits him over the head with the lamb. He is left standing there for about four or five seconds, he then falls to the floor. The noise of him hitting the floor makes her realise what she has done. She begins thinking and realises that she could go to prison. She takes the lamb and puts it in the oven. She then goes out to the grocery store as normal, saying that she needs vegetables for Patrick's supper. She then goes home as normal, not expecting to find anything. She walks in and breaks down into tears, she then rings the police. Two detectives come over and search the house for any clues to the murder. They never even suspect that Mary could be the murderer. She then persuades the detectives to eat the lamb, them not knowing that they are eating the murder weapon.
The Speckled Band is also a murder mystery type genre. The main characters in the narrative are Sherlock Holmes, his partner Dr Watson, Helen Stoner and Dr Grimesby Roylott.
The Speckled Band is a story about a detective named Sherlock Holmes, and one of the cases that he has solved. This particular case was one about the death of Helen Stoner's sister. It starts with Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson being visited by Helen Stoner. She is terrified, she knows that something is going on in her household, but she is not sure what. She explains that she is living with her stepfather, Dr Roylott. She explains that when her mother died she left some money, which her and her sister Julia will receive when they are married. She also explains what Dr Roylott is like. He keeps himself to himself, buy he starts fights with anyone that crosses his path. He also has a passion for Indian animals. She explains that her sister Julia got engaged, but that she died two weeks before her wedding. She also tells Sherlock that her sister had heard whistling in the night. When her sister died she also mentioned a speckled band.
Sherlock Holmes decides to visit the house to see if there are any clues to the murder, but before they go Dr Roylott barges in and warns them to stay away from his family. They go to the town where the house is and decide to stay the night in the same room that Julia died in and where Helen now stays (Helen is now engaged). That night they hear a whistle and when Sherlock Holmes lights a match to see what it is, he starts swinging at the bell rope in the room.
They then go into Dr Roylotts room and see that he is dead. On his head is a swamp adder - the deadliest snake in India.
Sherlock Holmes comes to the conclusion that Dr Roylott was responsible for the death of Julia; he killed her so that she could not obtain the money she got when she was married and, that he could keep it. Dr Roylott was also going to try and kill Helen so that she could not get the money she deserved.
In Lamb To The Slaughter, the story starts with normal ...
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They then go into Dr Roylotts room and see that he is dead. On his head is a swamp adder - the deadliest snake in India.
Sherlock Holmes comes to the conclusion that Dr Roylott was responsible for the death of Julia; he killed her so that she could not obtain the money she got when she was married and, that he could keep it. Dr Roylott was also going to try and kill Helen so that she could not get the money she deserved.
In Lamb To The Slaughter, the story starts with normal atmosphere, as if there is nothing wrong or different. Roald Dahl makes pt seem as though Mary Maloney is quite happy, he shows this by saying, "there was a slow smiling air about her".
The atmosphere then changes when Patrick Maloney comes home. Dahl gives the impression that the Maloney's have a set routine everyday. The atmosphere changes when he informs us that, "he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow, although there was still half of it left." This shows that he normally drank his drink slowly. Dahl continues to show that the atmosphere has changed by writing that "her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a nod, but he made no sign". This shows that the atmosphere is tense, as he is not responding to her question.
The atmosphere at the beginning of The Speckled Band is of surprise. Conan Doyle writes, "I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing fully dressed by the side of my bed.... I blinked up at him in some surprise." This is a surprise to Watson because he is usually awake before Sherlock. This also makes the reader wonder what it is that has made Holmes wake up so early. So there is also an atmosphere of suspense.
Further along in the narrative Conan Doyle states, " 'it is fear, Mr Holmes. It is terror'.... we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless frightened eyes, like those of some animal". This gives a very mysterious atmosphere. It makes the reader think, what has got this woman so scared? It then makes the reader think, is this a horror story? Because it is very clear that whatever is scaring her is very horrible. Conan Doyle then carries on the narrative with a mysterious atmosphere, he writes, "the very horror of my situation lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions depend so entirely upon small points". This leaves the reader wondering, what is going to come next.
At the beginning of Lamb To The Slaughter all is calm and happy. It is very normal, as it is obvious that both Mr and Mrs Maloney have a routine, which they stick to and are used to.
Tension is first created when Mr Maloney comes home and their routine is disrupted by them not going out for dinner as they usually do. Then Mr Maloney reveals that he has something to tell his wife. Tension is created when Dahl writes that Mr Maloney snaps at his wife so that she will listen, "Sit down,' he said, 'sit down just for a minute". This makes the reader eager to know what Mr Maloney is about to tell his wife. This statement also scares his wife; we know this when Dahl states, "it wasn't till then that she began to get frightened." This makes the reader even more eager to know what he is about to say, as it is obviously bad news.
Even after Mr Maloney tells his wife the bad news, there is still tension as the readers wonder what Mrs Maloney will do next.
Tension is there throughout the narrative The Speckled Band. Conan Doyle has been very clever in his sentence structure. He writes, "I presume that it is something pressing which they have to communicate. Should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset." This makes the reader want to continue reading to find out who the person is, and what their case might be. It could be robbery, adultery or murder.
The tension continues in the narrative, "it is not cold which makes me shiver,' said the woman in a low voice". This makes the reader wonder why she is shivering. It creates suspense, what is she going to say next? She continues to say, "but I have heard, Mr Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk among the dangers which encompass me". This makes the reader read on. What dangers are there? Whom is she talking about when she says, "wickedness of the human heart"?
In Lamb To The Slaughter, Dahl gives three main clues to how the narrative might end. First Dahl gives the impression that Mrs Maloney will turn herself into the police because Dahl states, "as the wife of a detective, she knew quit well what the penalty would be. That was fine. It made no difference. In fact it would be a relief." This tells us that she has accepted responsibility for her crime and is willing to except her punishment of imprisonment.
Then Dahl changes the ending when he writes, "she sat down before the mirror, tided her face. She tried a smile. It came out rather peculiar. She tried again". This gives us the impression that she is going to hide him in the cellar or somewhere nobody would find him, and carry on as if nothing has happened. Carrying on smiling and being her normal cheery self.
The narrative then twists again into another ending. This happens when she is walking home from the grocers, and is talking to herself, "when she entered the house, if she happened to find anything unusual, or tragic, or terrible, then naturally it would be a shock, and she'd be frantic with grief and horror." This tells us that she is going to put on a show and pretend to be grieving. She will act as though the murder was committed while she was out of the house, by someone else. This would mean that she would get away with the murder of Mr Maloney.
In the Speckled Band, there are quite a few clues to what the end of the narrative might be. The obvious clues are when Holmes is investigating the house. This is when he finds the ventilator that doesn't ventilate, and the dummy bell rope. This makes us think that these objects have something to do with the murder. The les obvious clues are when Holmes is talking to Helen Stoner. Conan Doyle writes, "but a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time". This leads us in the direction that the stepfather might have something to do with the murder.
Another clue is given when Conan Doyle writes, "Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low clear whistle". This also indicates that the whistle could be connected to the murder in some way. The whistle could be used to control something that might kill other things or people. This is a clue, because it is something unusual.
Another clue that indicates that the stepfather might be involved is when he turns up at Holmes' house. "My stepdaughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" The stepfather is being very defensive, and it is obvious that he has something to hide, that is why he wants to know what has been said.
There are many incidents in Lamb To The Slaughter, where Roald Dahl has used suspended disbelief to keep the reader interested in the narrative. Dahl writes, "she loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone." This tells the reader how much she truly loves her husband. The way Dahl describes it, is unbelievable that she has so much love for one person, but on the other hand a lot of readers could relate to that feeling.
After writing that it is unbelievable, what Dahl writes next, "Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without a pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down on his head as hard as she could." This is a shock to the reader because we have just read about how much she loves him, and then the next minute she kills him without a doubt.
We are stunned further when we read about how she continues with life as if nothing has happened. Dhal writes, "hullo Sam,' she said smiling brightly at the man behind the counter." This shocks the reader because she shows no remorse for killing a man who she is supposed to be madly in love with.
There are a lot of points in The Speckled Band, where Sir Conan Doyle uses suspended disbelief to keep the reader reading. Conan Doyle writes, "he has a passion for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which wonder freely over his grounds." It is amazing that he has a baboon and a cheetah as his pets. It shows that he is serious about his passion and that he likes to have the things he likes most around him, even though they are dangerous.
It is also unbelievable that the murder has been set-up, even though it does happen in real life. It is obvious that it is a set-up when Conan Doyle states," they seem to have been of the most interesting character - dummy bell ropes, and ventilators that don't ventilate. " So this means that the dummy bell rope and fake ventilator were somehow used to murder the woman.
Another thing that is so unbelievable is how clever Sherlock Holmes is to figure out how, what and who committed the murder. He figured it out within a couple of hours of visiting the rooms. "The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me and when I coupled it with my knowledge that doctor was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I was probably on the right track."
The language in the Lamb To The Slaughter is very easy to understand, it is simple and to the point. The first sentence in the narrative describes the setting clearly, it paints a picture in the reader's head. "The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight - hers and the one by the empty chair opposite." This includes only the relevant detail. It sets the scene.
The narrative contains only simple language, and the detail is only added if it helps understand the actions of the character, and how the character is feeling. "She watched him as he began to sip the yellow drink, and she could see little oily swirls in the liquid, because it was so strong. " this tells us that Mr Maloney is in either an angry, depressed or nervous state, that is why he is having a stronger drink than normal.
The language in this narrative is good because it tells the reader exactly what is happening, so that the reader can get an image of it in their head. After Mrs Maloney hits her husband across the head, we know exactly what happened next. Dahl writes, "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. Then he crashed to the carpet."
The language in The Speckled Band is very hard to understand. It is also quite old fashioned. Conan Doyle writes, "last week he herld the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream." This is the way people spoke in the olden days. The Speckled Band also has a lot of detail, even though it is not really relevant to the narrative.
It also mentions that the narrative is set in "April, in the year 83,"this explains why the language is so old fashioned. Conan Doyle also used words like "aperture" which meant that foot - notes were needed to explain what the words meant. The names of the character also show that it is set in the olden days. "Dr Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran."
There is also a lot of irrelevant information, "Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill - trimmed lawn." The size of the grass has no relevance to the main plot of the narrative.
Manpreet Athwal 11S2 1