Comparing the Build up of Suspense in Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band Essay Example

curtains were drawn, it does not take a great deal of imagination to think someone is about to do something intended to be kept away from prying eyes.We are told "Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work. ' Is she waiting for his company? Waiting to kill him? We are not told, suspense is steadily increasing. To the reader it is still unclear why Mary Maloney is waiting for her husband.

When the reader is told "She heard the tyres on the gravel outside, the reader is waiting for what will happen next, as the answer may be close. This further builds up tension and suspense. Suspense decreases when Mary Maloney and Mr.Maloney meet and nothing comes of it, our minds relax, until "He lifted his glass and drained it", we are told that this was an unusual thing for Mr.

Maloney to do. The reader's mind now suspects Mr. Maloney, as his actions may be of someone trying to steady their nerves in preparation of saying, doing or even committing something. Suspense now begins to rise sharply. Mr.

Maloney gets another drink but this time with more alcohol content.This justifies the reader's suspicions that Mr. Maloney is about to say, do or even commit something, but the question is what? Suspense now rises sharply. Her eyes waited on him for an answer"; his silence shows a man deep in thought, thinking about 'How might I break the news to Mary? ' Or maybe 'How might I kill Mary? ' the reader is kept guessing, curiosity drives the reader on.

Suspense rises further. When Mr. Maloney said, "Sit down", the

reader assumes Mr. Maloney is about to do what he had been preparing himself to do, the suspense build up has almost reached its climax.

When "He had become absolutely motionless" to the reader this may seem to be something someone would do just before they might say, do or even commit something.The readers chance to replace their assumptions with what eventually takes place keep him or her reading. When Mr. Maloney said, "This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I'm afraid.

" The reader knows how close he or she is to what Mr. Maloney is about to say, suspense built up has now reached its climax. There is a lot of text explaining how Mr. Maloney said what he said, however, the reader is not told what is actually said. Judging on Mary Maloney's reactions, "Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all. " The reader assumes Mr.

Maloney has asked for a divorce.As the event has happened and the aftermath told, the readers mind rests rid of anxiety and worry therefore suspense begins to reduce and carries on doing so until, Mary Maloney with the froze piece of Lamb "Walked up behind him", suspense peaks, easily exceeding the previous climax. When the reader is told "She swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it as hard as she could on the back of his head. " The state of uncertainty has been removed along with the anxiety and worry. The reader knows what has happened therefore the suspense reduces, however, suspense remains at low levels

waiting for the aftermath of the murder.

Doyle uses particular techniques to create suspense in "The Speckled Band", to keep the reader on the edge of their seat and keep them guessing what shall happen next. In the first half of "The Speckled Band", until Holmes tries to find a solution to solving what is happening in the Stoke Moran household, Doyle immediately attracts the reader with the world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. If however Holmes is unknown to the reader, the reader is told about him in the first paragraph. We are told he only takes cases that "tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic.This suggests that the story will be unusual and maybe fantastic. This is emphasised by Dr.

Watson further as he says, "Of all these varied cases however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features. " This creates further interest, as out of the many "unusual" and "fantastic" cases this is one of the most "unusual" and "fantastic". As Helen Stoner's situation is told, the suspense is already limited. This is because we know Helen Stoner is safe (at least for the moment). However suspense is created by the comparison of Julia Stoner's situation before her death and the situation Helen Stoner is in.

Also the main suspect is described as dangerous, we are told, "Dr. Grimsby Roylott is a violent man who has killed in the past: He is a man of immense strength and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. " Suspense is limited, however it is still at quite a high level. Mentioning murder in conjunction with mystery it is enough to send the suspense levels racing, like

dropping a drop of blood in a pool full of piranha, there is the slight taste of flesh but no actual meat, yet the piranha are set on a frenzy.

The mystery is: "How did Julia Stoner die? " The main suspect, Dr. Roylott is a violent character that is capable of murder. However no one was to be seen as Julia Stoner died. Suspense steadily rises throughout the explanation of Helen Stoner's situation, as it was identical of that of Julia Stoner before she died, it as if she was describing the hole she was in, with every sentence she said the deeper the hole became.

Suspense is low during the process where Holmes tries to find a solution to solving what is happening in the Stoke Moran household as this is mainly the analysis of clues such as the ventilation shaft that does not ventilate.However this is where interest from the reader peaks as the reader them self attempts to solve the mystery. In the second section of "Lamb to the Slaughter" suspense is low. When Mary Maloney is in the grocers creating an alibi everything is fine, for her anyway. Suspense increases slightly when doctors and policemen arrive "And the detectives kept asking her a lot of questions", as she may get caught however the detectives "always treated her kindly. " When the detectives believed that the murder weapon was "A heavy blunt instrument" The reader is now certain that Mary Maloney is not going to get caught with the murder of Mr.

Maloney. There was a touch of irony towards the end as after Mary Maloney persuaded the detectives and policeman to unknowingly

eat the murder weapon one of them belched "Personally I think it's right here on the premises. " "Probably right under our very noses. " And it was. In the second half of "The Speckled Band" as Holmes' finds a solution to his problem suspense levels begin to rise sharply.

The solution includes Holmes and Watson, to face the danger head on. Holmes and Watson confront the danger by staying in Helen's room where the predicted murder weapon took place.When we are told, "There is a distinct element of danger. " Suspense steadily increases and continues to do so until we are told "Do not go to sleep; you're very life may depend on it.

" Suspense now shoots up like a rocket. To create further suspense Doyle uses the technique of extensive fast paced text, steadily gaining speed until a climax is reached. This technique is used from P178 "Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of light up in the direction of the ventilator..

. " to "... and filled with horror and loathing. " Where suspense levels reach a climax.

Suspense usually fades completely after a climax, in this case where Holmes' "Lashed" the serpent, however it does not. Although substantially reduced, due to the removal of danger, a "horrible cry" was given out, followed by "silence" the reader presumes this as a death. However death was assumed and when Holmes' asked Watson to take his "pistol" an element of danger still remains, when the element of danger, the serpent, was completely removed all anxiety was removed therefore suspense was no more. There are particular techniques to build up suspense.

One technique, used by Dahl was

the withholding of information. An example of when it was used is when "Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work. " The reader is not told why she is waiting, human nature causes the reader to think of the worst possible outcome could come out from that situation. As the reader's thoughts upon the situation are just assumptions, the reader's mind is not at ease so their curiosity and anxiety causes them to read on. Another technique, used by Doyle is the use of extensive fast paced text, steadily gaining speed until a climax is reached.

This technique is used from P178 "Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of light up in the direction of the ventilator... " to "...

and filled with horror and loathing. " The structure of "Lamb to the Slaughter" can be separated into two sections. The first being the build up to, and the murder of Mr. Maloney and the second being the aftermath of the murder of Mr.

Maloney. In comparison, the structure "The Speckled Band" can be broken down into four sections, "Introduction", "Situation", "Solution" and "Outcome".The introduction being Watson introducing the story, the situation being that of Helen Stoker's, The Problem being that of Holmes' to explain the strange happenings in the Stoke Roylott's household, The Solution, for Holmes' and Watson to stay in the household under cover. The Outcome is the death of Dr. Grimsby.

Another contrast is the narration, where as "Lamb to the Slaughter" has third person narration, where the narration is from the 'He/She' point of view, "The Speckled Band" has first person narration; this becomes a suspense-limiting factor

for "The Speckled Band".Although suspense may have been high this factor severely restricted it. The element of murder was removed; the risk of Holmes' and Watson's death was gone. This is because we know they couldn't have died as the story was written in the past tense and Watson was narrating it. Interest rather than suspense drove me to carry on reading. It is said that a person is the creation from two things.

The physical body, which has been inherited from the parents, and the mind, which is the creation of the person's surroundings in his/her upbringing. Without exception, both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Roald Dahl have been influenced by their surroundings.The influence, in which they were under, was the philosophy of the times in which they lived. Their influences are broadly shown by their writings. In the late 19th century, in which Doyle wrote 'The Speckled Band', there were scientific breakthroughs, common belief was that science could solve any problem.

This was reflected by Doyle in 'The Speckled Band', in which, Sherlock Holmes used 'elementary' and scientific knowledge to solve crimes. By the mid 20th century, in which Dahl wrote 'Lamb to the Slaughter', women's equality was being firmly established and there was belief that it was plausible to commit crime without being caught.This was reflected by Dahl in 'The Lamb to the Slaughter', in which, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth Mary Maloney, a female character, committed murder, perverted the course of justice and was not prosecuted. A fundamental difference between the two, perhaps influenced by their times, is how the stories captivate the audience into, in 'The Speckled Band', wanting

the resolution of the mystery and capture of the culprit, and in 'The Lamb to the Slaughter', we wish for Mary Maloney, murderer, to evade justice and not get caught.In conclusion, I believe that suspense is not created by the writer, but in fact by the reader's mind. Readers assume the worst possible outcome of a situation, as this is just an assumption and the reader is unsure what actually happens, anxiety and a chance to put their minds at ease drives them to read on.

Suspense is merely a tool for writers to get their book read. As a carpenter would be without his tools, an author of this genre would be without suspense. Could this mentality be as a result of influences given from society, or perhaps just our fucked up nature?