Discuss the social and historical context of each text reflected in
The Speckled Ban by Arthur Conan Doyle and Lamb to the Slaughter
by Roald Dahl.
In this essay, I intend to compare and contrast the two short stories
"The Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, and "Lamb to the
Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, picking out techniques used which make it
exactly, or exactly the opposite of a typical detective story/murder
mystery.
Both "The Speckled Band" and "Lamb to the Slaughter" have ingredients
for a detective story, i.e. they both have a cold murderer who is just
a little mad. On the other hand, they are presented to us very
differently, making one story very formulaic, and making the other
very untypical of the murder mystery genre.
Both Conan-Doyle and Dahl use various techniques to make their stories
more interesting; for example, in Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter" the
story revolves around the character of Mrs Mary Maloney, loving
housewife and psychopathic killer. Normally, many stories concentrate
on the detective or the victim, this story concentrates on the
character of the murderer. This perspective helps with the telling of
the murder, making it more unexpected. The story includes two major
plot twists; the first being the murder itself, made unexpected by
what we have seen of Mary Maloney's character, the second plot twist
is at the end, where the detectives eat the murder weapon.
Conan-Doyle used techniques in writing "The Speckled Band" also. His
story revolves around the character of the detective, Sherlock Holmes.
The story is told as seen through the eyes of his companion, Dr
Watson, providing a good example of writing in the first person.
Unlike Dahl's story, "The Speckled Band" is...
... middle of paper ...
...loney goes from loving
housewife and potential victim to possible psychopathic murderer.
Patrick Maloney develops from potential psychopathic murderer to dead
victim, and the detectives well the detectives are pretty dim to
begin with anyway.
While Dahl's characters are flexible, Conan-Doyle's stay rigid and
static. Dr Roylott stays violent, Helen Stoner stays terrified, and
Holmes stays as vigilant and observant as ever.
The main ingredient of a detective story is that the villain is caught
and justice is achieved. This happens in 'The Speckled Band', with the
poetic justice of Dr Roylott's death, but in 'Lamb to the Slaughter'
it doesn't, and the villain gets off "scot-free". Even if they had
found her out, they wouldn't have any evidence. The main ingredient is
missing in 'Lamb to the Slaughter', but even so, that doesn't make the
story any worse.
The first example of mystery elements in “Lamb to the Slaughter” is dramatic irony. Housewife Mary Maloney is startled by her husband’s bad mood and shocking news, so she turns into a murderer by killing her husband with a frozen lamb leg. She begins cooking the weapon, goes to the store to buy vegetables which creates an alibi. She comes home to call the police who bombard her with questions as she pleads her innocence. Later, at the end of the story, Mary Maloney served the lamb leg she used to kill Patrick to the police officers and they are personally disposing of the weapon and simultaneously trying to find it. This adds suspense because the reader knows that the lamb is the murder weapon but the police do not, leaving the reader unsure if the police will discover the truth about the meal they are eating. The second mystery element that adds suspense in “Lamb to the Slaughter” is inference gaps. At this point in the story, Patrick just returned home from work and is about to explain why he cannot go out to dinner and his depressed mood. After much confusing behavior from Patrick, “And he told her. It didn’t take long, four or five minutes at most, and she sat very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror”(Dahl 113). This adds suspense because the reader is not directly told what the news is and so their mind is left spinning,
The chaos and destruction that the Nazi’s are causing are not changing the lives of only Jews, but also the lives of citizens in other countries. Between Night by Elie Wiesel and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, comradeship, faith, strength, and people of visions are crucial to the survival of principle characters. Ironically, in both stories there is a foreseen future, that both seemed to be ignored.
Having to take your anger out on someone isn’t fair or good, especially if you’re being killed with frozen lamb. Based on everyone’s understanding, when you kill someone you’ll have to pay the price and consequences. Apparently this lady didn’t. But are we sure she’s going to marry another man and kill him too? In “Lamb to the slaughter”, I’m going to be talking about Mary Maloney and how madly crazy she is.
Of all the qualities in a hero, the ones that make helping a heroic act are honesty, wisdom, dedication and conviction, which John from Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher and Clarisse from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury portray. John and Clarisse are both honest about everything no matter what anyone says or thinks. They also take the wisdom they gain from their experiences, and use it to create a positive impact on those that they are helping. The level of dedication that John shows is one side of a pole while Clarisse’s level of dedication is on the other. Clarisse puts more conviction into changing perspective, since she does this just by staying true to her opinion. John and Clarisse both show honesty and wisdom in their actions when they are helping people, but they differ in the level of dedication that makes them heroes and heroines.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated literary authors of all time, known for writing very suspenseful, dramatic short stories and a poet; is considered as being a part of the American Romantic Movement, and a lesser known opinion is he is regarded as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Most recognized for his mystery and macabre, a journey into the dark, ghastly stories of death, deception and revenge is what makes up his reputation. The short story under analysis is a part of his latter works; “The Cask of Amontillado”, a story of revenge takes readers into the mind of the murderer.
2011 Two Different Mice and Two Different Men To the average reader, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck may initially look very similar, but after carefully critiquing and comparing their abundance of differences, their opinion will change. Steinbeck found his inspiration for writing the novel after reading that poem. His novel is set in Salinas, CA during the 1900s and is about migrant farm workers while the poem is about the guilt felt by one man after he inadvertently ruins the “home” of a field mouse with his plow. Even though they are two different genres of literature, they share a similar intent. The poem is written in first person, while the novel is written in third person.
Laidlaw is set in the urban city of Glasgow in the 90's and delivers a cutting insight to big industries and crime in society. McIlvanney creates a stunning atmosphere and examines the fascinating issues of why people commit murder and the devastating results of violence. One of the reasons I selected this novel wasn't just because of the quality and origin of the author and the setting , it was because of the infuriating character of Cheif Detective Inspector Jack Laidlaw , he is the main character and the most memorable one. He is the spearhead of the investigations into the murder of a teenage girl , he has to do this in a city of hard men, villains and fat cat businessmen. To look more deeper into the mysterious character of Laidlaw and his personality , we need to look at his interests and prejudices , Laidlaw is the main focus , in this novel and he captures everyone’s imagination and thoughts . He is an unorthodox detective who is always wondering about the nature of society , threading his way through pubs and clubs trying to find the murderer of an apparently innocent girl. Laidlaw is such a memorable character who requires to be looked at and examined closely.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek to find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Woolrich reinforced the detective fictions of yesterday, introducing to the American audience new detectives, who not only wheels a gun but also uses their knowledge of psychoanalysis to catch the perpetrator and solve the crime. Though Woolrich extends his knowledge of the human mind, he, just like MacDonald, Chandler and Hammett gives reference to 18th-century authors which include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe.
In the short stories "The Story of an Hour," by Chopin and "A Rose for
In the short stories A Rose for Emily and The Story of an Hour, Emily Grierson and Louise Mallard are both similar women, in similar time periods but they both are in entirely different situations. This essay will take these two specific characters and compare and contrast them in multiple, detailed ways.
The short story of “A Scandal in Bohemia” by Conan Doyle relates to the BBC crime drama series Sherlock episode “A Scandal in Belgravia”. BBC crime drama was filmed based on the short story that Conan Doyle wrote. The film and the text is based on a similar concept, but contains different details of information. There are three comparisons that is easily identified such as theme, characters and setting. These differences make the text and the film different.
‘Upon the flesh’ is a story about a murder committed in an alleyway by a group of teenagers up to no good. John Franklin provided appropriate detail and used techniques that engaged the audience in a correct manner. The other story listed, ‘Fresh bait’ also fits well into the crime fiction. This story is about a man/woman who is trying to solve a murder while hitchhiking. During his/her investigation he/she is picked up by a man driving along the road who almost suits the picture of the suspect. Several times the victim becomes odd and the driver starts to get suspicious but before anything else happens, he/she arrives at their destination and all of a sudden the investigation stops. The technique that Sherryl Clark used really engaged the audience because the story was never giving answers to the investigation, each scene just became more suspicious and
Imagine for a moment it is your big sister's 17th birthday. She is out with her friends celebrating, and your parents are at the mall with your little brother doing some last minute birthday shopping, leaving you home alone. You then hear a knock on the front door. When you getthere, nobody is there, just an anonymous note taped to the door that says Happy Birthday, along with a hundred dollar bill. You've been dying to get that new video game, and your sister will never know. You are faced with a tough decision, but not a very uncommon one. In both Fences, by August Wilson, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansbury, tough decisions have to be made about getting money from someone else's misfortune. But money's that important right?
Abrams and Greenblatt (2006) explain that during the Victorian Era, women did not have the same rights as men. Women were not granted the right to vote until 1918, and married women were not permitted to own or handle their own property until the passage of the Married Women’s Property Acts (1870 – 1918). Men could divorce unfaithful wives, but wives could only divorce husbands committing adultery if their behavior included cruelty, bigamy, incest, or bestiality.