The speckled band Free Essay Example

Holmes does not let this run with Dr Roylott scare him off the case. He carries on and he goes over to the Roylott place and examines it. They do not have a lot of time because Dr Roylott might come back at any moment and they have already run into each other once before. This adds to the suspense of the story. At the end of the story just before he solves the case they see something on the way over to Stoke Moran.

Dr Watson sees as what he describes as a hideous and distorted child that threw itself on the grass with writhing limbs, it was a baboon.

This is a suspense moment because this abnormal creature what looks like a child jumps out of some bushes and throws itself into the grass. You don’t know what it is and it scares you. Holmes realises that it is a baboon and then remembers that the doctor also keeps a cheetah and they are expecting they are going to get jumped by a cheetah.

This is a very tense moment because again you don’t know what is going to happen and again you asking yourself questions. What is going to happen? Will the cheetah jump on them?

“I have forgotten the strange pets which the Doctor affected. There was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders at any moment.” The cheetah doesn’t jump on them and they get to Stoke Moran. When they are in the room where Julia died they are waiting in total darkness with Watson’s pistol ready on the table next to him.

Holmes then says: “Do not go to sleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it.”

This is a suspense part of the story. The reader knows that something bad is going to happen but you just don’t know what. Holmes and Watson see a light coming through the vent from Dr Roylotts room. They then hear a hissing and suddenly Holmes reacts and strikes something. You don’t know what because Dr Watson is telling the story and when they turn on the light Watson is blinded by the sudden change from dark to light so you don’t know what it is. There is suspense because you don’t know what is going to happen and you don’t even know what has happened. This is the most suspense moment of the story. When they find out what has happened the suspense suddenly drops and it is all calm because Dr Roylott is dead and the case is solved and its all over.

There is also suspense building when Helen Stoner comes to visit Holmes and is telling him about the Julia’s death. There is suspense when she says that it is not the cold which makes her shiver, it is fear. “It is not the cold which makes me shiver,” said the woman in a low voice, changing her seat as requested. “It is fear, Mr Holmes. It is terror.” There is also suspense when she is telling Holmes what Julia’s last word was. It scares the reader because it makes you think that she has just died of pure shock and terror and what ever the speckled band is it must be extremely scary. We then compared the suspense in ‘The speckled band’ to the suspense in ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ and we found that was not as much but still some.

There was suspense when Patrick comes in and says he has something to tell Mrs Maloney. It suddenly comes from all calm when Mrs Maloney can’t wait for Patrick to come back and then it suddenly rises to suspense. This time you know that Patrick has to tell her something bad to tell her because he is having a second whiskey, which is much stronger than his first. He also downed both whiskeys in one. “He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow although there was still half left.”

“When he came back, she noticed that the new drink was dark amber with the quantity of whiskey in it” You can also tell that he is going to tell her bad news because he has a bad temper on him and he keeps lashing out at her, he keeps on telling her to sit down and that he doesn’t ant any tea. “Go on,” he said. “Sit down.” “For God’s sake,” he said, “Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.” Just before he is about to tell her what wrong his eye starts to twitch. This creates suspense because you can see that Patrick is nervous. He is scared about what he is about to tell her.

“She noticed there was a little muscle moving near the corner of his left eye.” The author, Roald Dahl, creates suspense by the way that he describes Patrick’s face being in a shadow beside the lamp. “So that the light from the lamp beside him fell across the upper part of his face, leaving the chin and mouth in shadow.” After Mrs Maloney has murdered Patrick there is always the suspense of whether she is going to get caught or not. Throughout the story the police are constantly asking Mrs Maloney questions, which is creating suspense. The police investigation is always creating suspense, some places more than other. Mrs Maloney knows that she won’t get caught because of her alibi, Sam the grocer.

At the end of the story there is some irony and a twist. The police are saying that they think the murder weapon is right under their nose when they are eating up the lamb, which has actual kill Patrick. This is irony. This irony is quite funny because it make you laugh because Mrs Maloney is in the front room listening to the policemen talk and she hears them say it and she has a little giggle to herself. This makes the reader laugh. Its not just irony its called black irony.

In conclusion there are many differences and similarities between “The speckled band” and “Lamb to the slaughter”. I have compared and contrasted the different ways the detectives acted. What crime the villain committed and why. The clues and red herrings in the two stories, which the villains had shown and had used in the murders. The different type of methods of investigation the detective undertook. Each stories settings, location and social conditions. Finally I have compared the different ways the stories created suspense.

Remember! This is just a sample.

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