comparison of two murder mystery stories
Compare and Contrast “Lamb To the Slaughter” with “The Speckled Band” For this piece of course work I have been set the task of comparing the two stories mentioned in the title, “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “The Speckled Band”. ... The author Roald Dahl is a famous author and he is most famous for writing stories such as “James and the giant peach” and “The Twits” but as not a lot of people know that he also writes more adult stories like “Tales of the unexpected”. ... The fact that both of the authors wrote about fictional characters and events is the first similarity between the stories. In the short story “Lamb to the slaughter” there are potentially two victims; it all depends on how the reader looks at the story. ... And the third and final person who could be construed as the victim in this story was the murderous step father of the two daughters, Dr. ... This is quite similar to the other story that I have been reading because in both of these novels there is not just one discernable victim but there are two or sometimes three so is this way the stories are similar. Another similarity is that in both stories the murderers are victims of their own actions. In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” the murder is swift but deadly and it all stems from the husband telling his wife that he was going to leave her. ... In this short story the murder was not premeditated in that she did not plan even for more than a singular minute to kill her husband. ... The murder in the novel “The Speckled Band” is very different to the murder in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. This is because, as I said earlier, the murder in the short story was fast and swift whereas the murder in this tale was one of extreme longevity. ... So the murder was not swift but finely planned and developed. The events of the first murder, Julia Stoner, are the same as the attempts of the murder on Helen Stoner. ... The murder its self is also almost the complete parallel of the first short story in that the murder is extremely complex whereas in “Lamb to the Slaughter” it was a spur of the moment killing. In this narrative the only motive for the murder and attempted murder of the two Stoner sisters was merely to save him money. This is because, as we are told in the story, if any of the two sisters were to get married they would be allotted a share of the family fortune per year, “a certain annual sum should be allowed to each of us in the event of our marriage” and if this were to happen the Doctor would be left with a meager amount of cash. ... The motive for this murder is extremely diverse from the motive in “Lamb to the Slaughter” because in “Lamb to the Slaughter” the misdemeanor is one of passion. ... Another difference in the two stories is that in the first short story you are made to feel some kind of sympathy with her, as I have already said. ... In the short story “Lamb to the slaughter” the setting is mainly the living room of the Maloney House and this is presented as being extremely homely, the words that are used by Roald Dahl are very good at creating a atmosphere that makes the reader feel as if the this is a very blissful home, the exact words used are “The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight – hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky. ... The key things that do this are, the shape of the old house “a high central portion, and two curving wings like the claws of a crab”. The comparison to a crab creates a feeling that the house is alive which is a popular theme in many a horror story also the crab does not have very positive connotations because they are seen as being angry snapping creatures. ... In a “Lamb to the Slaughter” the detectives are obviously not as qualified, experienced or as skillful as the two detectives in “The Speckled Band”, Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes, I believe this because in “Lamb to the Slaughter” the detectives do not do a crucial thing that the very capable detectives do in “The Speckled Band” the key thing that they do not do is actually solve the crime/murder. ... For instance, the foremost thing that the detectives do wrong is to eat the murder weapon, the leg of lamb, “Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven…she wants us to finish it be doing her a favor”. Another thing that the detectives do is to accept a drink off of Mary, which is in a way accepting a drink from the murder. ... One of these moments are when all of the officers are in the kitchen eating the lamb, which was used to kill her husband, and all talking about where the murder weapon could be, “personally, I think that it’s right here on the premises, probably right under our very nose. ... ” and all of this was said at the same time as the detectives where eating the murder weapon! I think that all of the detective’s lack of ability is ultimately what leads to Mary Maloney getting away with murder. On the contrary to a “Lamb to the Slaughter” you have the extremely competent detectives that are in the novel “The Speckled Band” who despite a range of obstacles that stood in the way, Dr Roylott, the wild animals and the difficult clues, manage to solve a complex and perplexing murder and at the same time stop another murder from taking place and killing the murderer.