Compare Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band Essay -- English L

Murder mysteries - Compare Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band. Murder mysteries all have a similar plot consisting of a body, a motive, a weapon, a suspect, an alibi, and detectives. Viewers and readers expect this in the text, Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band are no exception. The structures of the two stories are very different, with The Speckled Band story unfolding in chronological order, finding out the murderer right at the end, however in the Lamb to the Slaughter, the murderer is known at the beginning of the story. The two stories are seen from two different points of view, first-person narrator in The Speckled Band as Dr Watson character within the story and therefore limited in understanding and the all-knowing third-person narrator or omniscient in Lamb to the Slaughter as the narrator stands outside the story itself and guide the reader's understanding of characters and the significance of their story. Most murder mysteries have the typical victims, murderers, and detectives; this is especially true in the older murder mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Speckled Band has a typical detective, the famous detective being Sherlock Holmes with his deer stalker hat and pipe always deep in thought about the investigation "his arms folded, his hat pulled down over his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought". But in the Lamb to the Slaughter the detectives are so foolish and naives, a complete contrast to Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes comes across as a typical fictional detective. In addition Miss Stoner, in The Speckled Band is a typical victim, vulnerable, anxious, weak and scared. She say's " It is not cold which makes me shive... ...ir Arthur Conan Doyle story is set in a period of over 100 years ago. Both of the murders are set in the family home. In the Lamb to the Slaughter, "The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight." "The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the building," describes the house of Dr Roylott in The Speckled Band. From my perspective I think that the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story, The Speckled Band is the most successful out of the two, as the author made the main character, Sherlock Holmes such an intriguing and interesting character, which draws the audience in. He leaves the reader in suspense until the end of the story until the murderer is revealed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are so well-know due to the stories being turned into films and shown on the television.