Compare and contrast the two short stories ‘Silver Blaze’ and ‘Fingerman’ in terms of narrative style, plot, character, setting and language.
...ry detective works. This immediately involves the reader and helps them to feel a part of the story, so even if the plot is not of any interest the reader continues with the story. Although Marlow may not tell the reader absolutely everything, he tells them enough, just to wet their appetite, so to speak. This helps the reader to empathise with him. From the way that Watson narrates the story it is clear that he admires Holmes a great deal, because the impression that the reader gets of Holmes is that he is infallible. This fact is obvious as Holmes himself even says “I made a blunder, my dear Watson- which is, I am afraid a more common occurrence than anyone would think who knew me through your memoirs.” As Marlow narrates, the readers can empathise with him. The readers can empathise with Marlow because Marlow’s life is clearly at risk, as the story is ever developing, where as in ‘Silver Blaze’ the crime has already been committed and Holmes in no real danger. For example at the end of the three chapter of ‘Fingerman’ Marlow is “put down with a cosh” and awakes to find that he was “cold and wet and had a headache a wide yard”. Here the reader is exposed to Marlow’s feelings. An occurrence such as this never takes place in ‘Silver Blaze’ and prevents the reader from empathising with Holmes. ‘Silver Blaze’ is set in a rural area of England somewhere in Devon during the 1890s. ‘Fingerman’ is set in an urban area; Los Angles during the late 1930s/ early 1940s. A rural setting already gives the reader the image of placid, quiet country life, meaning it would be difficult for the author to develop the same suspense and tension there is with city life. When a reader is asked to imagine a crime scene in the city they immediately think of high-speed chases and gun fights. Therefore some tension is already created before the plot is really developed. As the crime has already taken place in ‘Silver Blaze’ and the reader is left totally in the dark as to how the detective is solving the crime, leaving very little for the reader to be interested in. Whereas in ‘Fingerman’ the crime is in progress, and Marlow is constantly telling the reader what is going on. Things tend to happen fast in big cities and this enhances the plot. ‘Silver Blaze’ however has a very placid atmosphere, and this reflects in the settings and the plot. Philip Marlow creates suspense by having a ‘mini cliff-hanger’ at the end of each chapter. Suspense is also created by the fact that Marlow is in a very criminalized area and he is always in danger of some sort. Watson creates slight tension, but of a different sort, the tension in ‘Fingerman’ is thrilling. But the suspense in ‘Silver Blaze’ is the suspense of solving the crime. The story resembles an extremely long drum roll; continuous, repetitive, no unexpected events and no sub plots. ‘Fingerman’ is thrilling because it’s always on the move, there are several unexpected events and sub plots. All these factors keep the reader busy until the crime has been solved. The most important character in ‘Silver Blaze’ is Sherlock Holmes, and the reader is not connected to him. However in ‘Fingerman’ Philip Marlow is one of the main characters, (as there is no single main character), and the reader has direct contact with him at all times. Sherlock Holmes is a stereotypical English gentleman, very perceptive, and good at forming theories with very little evidence to hand. A good example to show the perceptiveness of Holmes is where Holmes and Watson are on the train to Devon and Holmes says, “Our present rate is fifty-three and a half miles an hour.” Watson then in response says, “I have not observed the quarter mile posts.” Holmes then replies “Nor have I. But the telegraph poles upon this line are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one.” Here we can see that Holmes is very intellectual as he is able to do mathematical calculations in his head. Marlow is a ‘Hard Boiled’ detective, a risk-taker (where as Holmes is very calculated and takes very few risks), is not shocked very easily and does not always play by the rules (where as Holmes is strictly law abiding). The writers particularly emphasise certain qualities in both characters, it is emphasised that Holmes is risk averse. An example of this is where we find that Holmes received word about the crime on Tuesday but he didn’t take any action until Thursday. The writer of ‘Fingerman’ particular emphasises the fact that Marlow is a ‘tough guy’, that is that he is physically fit and agile. The reader can establish this as Lou Harger came to Marlow to ask him if he could provide him with “some protection” while he was gambling at the casino. This immediately gives the...