Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band

Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band Comparative Essay

The main thing Lamb to the slaughter and the speckled Band have in

common is the genre 'murder mystery' Lamb to the Slaughter is a simple

short story written by Roald Dahl in the mid 19th century. Where as

"The speckled band was written earlier Pre 19th century it was written

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes a famous

fictional detective with Watson as his side kick.

The most obvious difference between the two stories is the way the

story was set out. With Lamb to the slaughter you know how the murder

was committed and by who as soon as it happens. The story is about how

the killer got away with the crime whereas with the speckled band it

is a mystery you are left to unravel by your self. There is still a

certain aspect of wander to lamb to the Slaughter we know the woman

killed her husband because of something he said but we are left to

think what could he have said to make her do something so drastic also

we wander wither she will get away with the murder.

The stories are set in different places and therefor have a lot of

differences. The Roald Dahl story is set in America and features

Police where as the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story is set in England

and featured detectives this shows that there may be a deeper

investigation into the murder. In "Lamb to The Slaughter" the police

show a certain amount of unprofessional behaviour this is shown in

several ways for instance the policemen drink on the job also they

don't look at the possibilities they just stick to one idea and they

don't really consider that Mary Maloney could have been the killer.

Whereas Sherlock Holmes the detective in the Speckled Band reviews

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...laughter was written in the mid 20th

century and had more modern language I find it a lot easier to read

because of the way is was written it is a lot more informal e.g.

wouldn't instead of would not. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses phraseology

that is quite complicated and has word that I do not understand e.g. I

have really some scruples as to taking you tonight.

I think The Speckled Band will be more heard of and be around longer

than Lamb to The Slaughter because the story has perhaps more depth

and detail also the Stories of Sherlock Holmes are world famous

although Roald Dahl has written allot of popular books and stories

this is not really one of them. The characters are very strong in the

speckled band and you feel more compelled to read on with this story.

When looking closely they are both very different from each other

although in the same genre.