Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band Essay -- English Literatur

Both love to the walloping and The specked gang Sh are some of the characteristics of murder mysteries. Explain the similarities and differences between the two stories And verbalise which of the two you find to a greater extent compelling.Arthur Conan Doyle, author of The Speckled Band, wrote his story in1892. Roald Dahl, author of Lamb to the Slaughter, wrote his storyin 1954. Straightaway there is a definite difference in the storiesone was create verbally 62 age after the other. This major time gap willobviously furbish up the way they were written. I will take this intoaccount in this essay. The Speckled Band is a typical murdermystery, involving an eccentric doctor and a cunning detective. Lambto the Slaughter is about an impulsive murder of a man by his wife,when he tells her that he is leaving her.Lamb to the Slaughter begins with a happy, heart-warming scene ofMary Maloney sat waiting for her husband to produce from work. Theroom was warm and clean, the curtains dr awn, the two table lampsalight. It tells the reader how in cut she is, and she seemspeaceful and contented as she sews. It appears like domestic bliss. Itseems extremely unbelievable for that home to be the scene of a murder, asit appears to be so tranquil. As the murder is at the beginning of thestory, it leaves the reader in hesitancy - will the detective catchMary? Or will she seduce away with it? It is different to traditionaldetective stories, because they usually do not reveal whom themurderer is until the very end, which also keeps the reader in disbelief but using a different technique.The Speckled Band is written in first-person narrative and in thepast tense. This gives the reader a more realistic impression of thesto... ...ory anyway.The language in The Speckled Band is antediluvian, compared to themodern, colloquial language used by Dahl. Conan Doyle uses oral communication suchas defray and fain, words which are definitely not used today andare not recognised in our vocabulary. The descriptions are long anddrawn out, compared to the brief and to the headland ones Dahl uses.Lamb to the Slaughter is not stereotypical of any position genre,but is different altogether, in a league of its own. The theme of the dapple is also lighter and in places more jovial than Conan Doyles, andthere are a few instances where we can laugh at Dahls ironicsituations.Lamb to the Slaughter is a much more appealing story to me, as it isshorter and easy to understand. Much of the language used by ConanDoyle is too archaic for the younger generation to understand and takean interest in.