Atmosphere and Tension in The Speckled Band by Air Arthur Conan Doyle and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

Vinco Wu Ms Taylor ENG1D1-08 April 4th 2014 Character Analysis Essay: Mary Maloney What happens when a woman is spurned by her husband? In the short story " Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, we are introduced to Mary Maloney who is seemingly a caring, submissive and dutiful housewife. However when her husband tells her he intends to leave her, this dynamic character transforms instantaneously from a doting housewife to a cunning, calculating and cold blooded killer who's manipulative, devious and deceitful actions provide suspense to the story At the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney is depicted as a innocent, caring and meek house wife. Every day, Mary Maloney would perform leisure activities to kill time until her husband `returned home from work. She loved him so much that when her husband came home, to her " [it] was always a blissful time of day" (Dahl 1) Mary Maloney loved him and cared for him so much that she looked forward to spending time with her husband.

In the story, Mrs. Maloney was a very loving and caring person before she killed her husband and she was also pregnant, which makes it more of a mystery for the detectives, because they would never think twice that the suspect was Mrs. Maloney. Mrs. Maloney kills her husband and then quickly goes to the shops, so that the shop keepers could be her alibis. She comes home again and calls the police, claiming that she came home from the shops and found her husband dead on the floor. There is a part in the story which is very ironic because Mrs. Malony cooked the lamb, she offered some to the detectives to eat and while they were eating, they were talking and one of the detectives mentioned that the murder weapon could be right under their noses. In this story we, the readers, know who the killer is but wait in

Mary Maloney entered this state for she did not want him to leave her. When it was entered, “she did everything without thinking” feeling only coldness (Dahl 2). While in this phase, she kills her husband Patrick which ultimately leads to the realization of the possible repercussions. This realization guides her into composing and preparing herself to escape punishment for her crime. She turns to feeling oddly calm as she plans her alibi by going to the grocer and cooks the leg of lamb (that she hit her husband with to kill him).

Mary becomes very shocked and confused and kills Mr. Mahoney with a Leg of Lamb. Mary produces an act to hide herself from the murder. The police do not realise this and she gets away. The story ‘The Speckled Band’ is not very different to ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ but it has some differences. The story is about a Detective who finds himself and his partner trying to work out a case of murder.

Johannes Cabal: The Necromancer by Johnathan L. Howard is a tale splendidly spun with roots in macabre and dark humour. But is it great literature? In a way, it may be. Howard’s writing is witty and eye-opening. His characterization is interesting and really makes the reader question the moralities of not just the character and realize just how close to human nature Howard has managed to reach.

(117) A different aspect of writing that made Fahrenheit 451 a good story was the way he kept the book well paced. There were few dead spots in the story and few spots that pushed the storyline along too quickly. Another aspect of the story that made it enjoyable was the characters and their relations to each other. Each character brought a special part to the story that effected the plot and other characters.

This play on time was carefully constructed so that it built suspense and anticipation in a way that a chronological story could not, (Xroads, 2005). I also enjoyed the story because of its gothic undertones. The author’s use of dark images such as the decaying mansion, dead bodies, and the morbid attraction of Emily to dead bodies was only part of the carefully crafted multi-layered story line that used descriptive language, characterization, and chronology to keep you on the edge of your seat, (Xroads, 2005). I also liked the way the author portrayed the characters in the story, especially Emily. One example is Emily’s characterization when she purchases the arsenic, looking through her “cold, haughty black eyes” which peer from a “face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eye-sockets”, (Xroads, 2005).

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's wife Mary who is 6 months pregnant hassles Patrick and insists on eating his dinner. Patrick refuses and confesses something shocking, but Mary is still willing to cook dinner. Mary goes to the kitchen and pulls out a piece of lamb from the freezer. She goes b... ... middle of paper ... ... clues and Sherlock Holmes also gives his conclusion during which he explains how he arrived at the mystery's solution. In addition to the 'Speckled band', it has more suspense and tension.

I enjoyed this short story because of Conan Doyle’s writing methods. I was kept enthralled by his technique of using suspense and ‘red herrings’. I think this is a good way of keeping your audience interested in the story as “The Speckled Band” is a complicated tale and needs explaining as well as enjoying. The author kept me interested as well as clarifying the parts I was unsure of by subtly describing events in depth and referring to things previously read in the story. All in all I enjoyed “The Speckled band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.