This essay will examine both "The Speckled Band" by Conan Doyle and "Visitors" by Brian Moon and will look at how each one conforms to or diverges from the conventions of the detective story and also how each story is representative of the century it was written in by how it presents the woman, the hero and the villain.
The conventions of the detective story were mostly established in the early twentieth century yet "The Speckled Band" was written in the late nineteenth century. However, it still conforms to most of the detective story conventions, therefore I conclude that it deserves to be called a detective story
One of the conventions of the detective story is that the detective if frequently an amateur. In "The Speckled Band" Holmes does not work for any official body, like the police, for example. He is not, however, an amateur in the sense that he solves crimes for a hobby, he says, “as to my reward, my profession is my reward.'; Holmes is an amateur in the root sense of the word “someone who works simply for the love of it'; However the way that Holmes uses the word “profession'; shows that he does not consider himself to be an amateur.
Another convention of the detective story is that the detective will have a confidant through whom he can explain his reasoning to the reader. Holmes has a confidant, Watson, who is the stereotypical gentle doctor who is plain and uninteresting so as not to draw attention away from Holmes. “I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations'; this implies that Watson lead an uninteresting life, without many interesting hobbies or pastimes.
Another convention of the detective story is that the detective is in competition with the police, however, in "The Speckled Band" Holmes is not in competition with the police. Holmes does, however, express his disgust with the official police force “ fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force'; this line shows that Holmes considers the police force to be incompetent and ineffective.
A convention of the detective story is that it has a variety of suspects for the detective to choose between, "The Speckled Band", however, does not have many suspects, only Dr Roylott and the gypsies. Roylott is a suspect for the murder as he is violent “uncontrollable in his anger'; and the local...
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...tray a hero and a criminal, the difference is that in ‘The Speckled Band’ they are different people while in ‘Visitors’ they are arguably the same person. In ‘Visitors’ the police are expected to act the heroic role but don’t look or sound the part, in this way ‘Visitors’ appears not only to fail to comply with the conventions but also to be a paradoxical story.
My essay has shown that both stories conform to a certain extent to the conventions of the detective story. Both show views of the woman, hero and villain, and in ‘The Speckled Band’ this highlights the complacent, satisfied attitude of the Victorians, while ‘Visitors’ shows the less complacent, worried, changing attitude of the late twentieth century, influenced by the social devastation of two world wars.
After looking at ‘Visitors’ and ‘The Speckled Band’ I have come to the conclusion that ‘Visitors’ does not really deserve to be called a detective story as it does not really have a detective in it or even a crime to solve, however I still think that ‘Visitors’ is an exceptional story in its own right and a better story than ‘The Speckled Band’ because of how the important issues it brings up are dealt with.
Schneider L, Mori L, Lambert P, Wong A. The Role of Gender and Ethnicity in Perceptions of Rape and Its Aftereffects. Sex Roles [serial on the Internet]. (2009, Mar), [cited March 16, 2014]; 60(5/6): 410-421. Available from: SocINDEX with Full Text.
Professor’s comment: This student perceptively examines the role of the city as a setting and frame for detective fiction. Focusing on two early examples, Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and Hoffmann’s “Mademoiselle de Scudery,” both set in Paris, his sophisticated essay illuminates the “cityness” or framed constraint that renders the city a backdrop conducive to murder—such as the city’s crowded, constricted nature, promoting vertical rather than outward movement and increasing hostility and the fact that so much urban life occurs at night, a reversal of the natural order and facilitating illicit activity. He compels us to look in new ways both at the city and at detective fiction.
Comparison of Doyle's Presentation of the Crime and the Way It is Solved in The Speckled Band / The Red Headed League
In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
A comparison between Roald Dahl's Lamb to the slaughter and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band
Before the methods of investigation can begin the detective must acquire a case, which is no easy task. Private investigators rely on their own marketing and advertising. The most common cases P.I.’s are presented with are the unsolved and/or forgotten cases left over from the justice system or suspicious wives in pursuit of catching their cheating husbands. Gender importance is prevalent from the very beginning of the book. The mother of the victim, Janice Kepler knocks on the door. “Is this Millhone Investigations?” Millhone replies “We’re closed, is there anyway you could come back tomorrow and I’ll setup an appointment for you once I check my book?” “Are you his secretary?” “I tried not to sound irritated since the mistake is not uncommon, I’m him.” (4).
Cross-cultural research has shown that rape is most common in cultures that are dominated by males and violence. This means cultures in which males dominate the political decisions and cultures adhering to the male ideology of toughness, interpersonal violence and war (Groth 7). In a culture of people with more traditional or sexist gender role, attitudes are more tolerant of rape than are people with more nontraditional attitudes. Traditional men are more likely to report that they would commit rape if they knew they would not be caught; some researchers have found that a traditional man is much more likely to commit a rape than a nontraditional man is. Many attitudes in our culture perpetuate rape, for example: A husband is entitled to have sex with his wife," "A 'real man' never passes up a chance to have sex," and, "A women who 'leads a man on' deserves what she gets (Growth 7). “ Some media depictions may promote rape. Many movies make violence appear attractive and some movies convey myths about rape. Such as slasher films that make violence seem exciting, or movies suggesting that women like to be forced to have sex or that women's only value...
In the story, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author portrayed multiple conflicts between various characters. Some of the characters include the outgoing detective, Sherlock Holmes, the helpful medical doctor, Dr. Watson, the murderous step-father, Dr. Roylott and his timid step-daughter, Helen Stoner. The setting of the story was during April 1883 in England at the Roylott, Stoke Manor. The story began when Helen Stoner met with Sherlock Holmes and his loyal partner, Dr. Watson. She explained the main conflict; she feared for her life and was suspicious about her sister, Julia’s, death on the eve of Julia’s wedding. With the concern of Helen’s
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
To most the detective fiction genre is considered to be “new.” Marking its inception with Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841, classifying Poe as the “undisputed father” of crime fiction (Butler). However, Poe is not the creator of the detective fiction genre, and in fact this type of literature can be seen centuries before in Old Testament writings. These writings include “Susanna and the Elders” and “Bel and the Priests,” as well as Greek writings like “Hercules and Cacus” and “King Rhampsinitus and The Thief”(Scaggs 19). Together, these literary pieces have had an ever-lasting influence on crime fiction, and substantiate the fact that Poe was in no way the originator of this genre.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
Water is an essential nutrient that our body requires every day. Without water human life cannot be sustained. Water deprivation kills faster than lack of any other nutrient. People do not think of water as a nutrient and don’t realize the important role of water in the body functions.