Lamb to the Slaughter and The speckled Band share some of the characteristics of murder mysteries Essay Example For Students

Lamb to the Slaughter and The speckled Band share some of the characteristics of murder mysteries Essay Lamb to the Slaughter and The speckled Band share some of the characteristics of murder mysteries. Explain the similarities and differences between the two stories and say which you think is the most compelling to read. Roald Dahl wrote the story Lamb to the Slaughter in 1954. Dahl is best known for his short, entertaining childrens stories like James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which are both extremely popular. He wrote Lamb to the Slaughter 1 year after he married Hollywood actress Patricia Neal. Dahl was born in September 1916 in Llandaff, South Wales. His father was a shipbroker and Dahl was the third born of a second marriage. Both of Dahls parents came from Norwegian backgrounds and his love for stories came from the stories his mother told him at bedtime, which were usually Norse myths and legends. Each summer his family would travel, by steamer, to Oslo on a two-day voyage, where they would be treated to a Norwegian feast be Dahls grandparents. The next day they would board a smaller boat and travel to the magic island where they washed away the long summer days bathing and sailing. This childhood is where Dahl got his love for short, exiting stories! He loved the bedtime stories and the trips to Oslo and the magic island, he probably started writing some of his stories in places like this. He usually wrote childrens stories; this background is where this came from. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Speckled Band in 1842. Doyle is more popularly remembered as the creator of the legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes. He wrote this story a year before his alcoholic fathers death. Doyle took up medicine as a career when he left school at the age of 18. This explains his scientific knowledge within the stories. Soon after leaving school, he began to help his mother by becoming her medical assistant. He compressed a whole years study into six months. In August 1881 he received his bachelor of medicine and master of surgery awards, this started his career as he opened his own surgery, at which he created Sherlock Holmes during his wait for customers. This does not really explain his writing style, but it seems as if he was quite interested in detectives and he had a lot of spare time, so this must have been his main influence. The victim in Lamb to the Slaughter is Patrick Maloney. He was married to Mary Maloney in a seemingly loving relationship. He was killed when Mary Maloney hit him over the head with a leg of lamb that she was going to cook for supper. I started to suspect something was wrong when, on the evening of his death Patrick Maloney did an unusual thing. He finished his drink very quickly and then poured himself out another very strong one. Another clue that may suggest that something is wrong is that he takes a  long time to reply to his wife he didnt answer, Her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a little nod, but he made no sign. He had finished the second drink and was staring down into the glass, frowning. In the Speckled Band the victim is Miss Helen Stoner, Dr Grimesby Roylotts daughter. When we first see Helen in the story she was wearing black, veiled and grey haired. She was shivering and terrified we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with a restless frightened eyes, like of those of some hunted animal, the lady gave a violent start, It is fear, Mr Holmes. It is terror. Helen was scared that her father would do the same to her as he did to her sister, kill! In Lamb to the Slaughter the murderer was Mary Maloney. Mary Maloney was pregnant and looked beautiful Her skinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for this was her sixth month with a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft and the eyes, with their placid look, seemed larger, darker than before. Her motive for murdering her husband was a little unknown conversation, where I think he told her he was leaving her for someone else. Mary didnt get caught because the detectives in the story wee gullible, and ate the evidence while looking for it, A Newspaper Article on The Murder of Mrs. Tyler By Lennie Smalls EssayIn Lamb to the Slaughter, the murderer, Mary Maloney gets away with killing Patrick very easily. She wasnt suspected at all. At first she was sad and got over this by going to the shop and coming back, to act surprised that Patrick was dead. This doesnt usually happen in murder mysteries. I think she was clever how she managed to dispose of the evidence. What else is unusual  is that the murderer was a 6-month pregnant woman. In The Speckled Band the murderer, Dr Grimesby Roylott, gets killed by the snake, his secret murder weapon. I think he deserved to get killed because it gave him a taste of his own medicine and he is sick, twisted and does not care for any one apart from himself. I like my murder mysteries to have a twist at the end and that good usually wins. The most exciting part of Lamb to the Slaughter was when Mary Maloney hit her husband over the head with a leg of lamb. At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without and pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb on the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head. The part which made me carry on reading the story was when Patrick Maloney was going to tell Mary the bad news This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, Im afraid he said but Ive thought about it a good deal and Ive decided the only thing to do is to tell you right away. I hope you wont blame me too much. The most exciting part of The Speckled Band was when the snake killed Dr Grimesby Roylott. His chin was cocked upwards, and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful rigid stare at the corner of the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor movement. Another part, which made me want to read on, was when Doctor Roylott followed Helen to Holmes office Dont you dare meddle with my affairs. The Speckled Band is set in Victorian times. We know this because it uses old language, and difficult words. We also know this because dogcarts were around in this time. There is no dog cart which throws up mud in that way. You can tell the Lamb to the Slaughter is set in the 80s because the language used is modern. In the story there is also a car tyres on the gravel outside, and a thermos bucket Fresh ice in the Thermos Bucket. They both show that the story was set in the 1980s. I dont think it is unusual that there are no female detectives because both before and after the 1900s and during half of the 20th centaury women were only thought of as house wives and who only listen to their father who would have no say in anything. Both stories are extremely compelling to read. For the younger reader, Lamb to the Slaughter would be the best as it is very short with easy language. But, I would rather read The Speckled Band as it has some difficult language and I like the way Holmes always gets his  murderer. It is great to see how Holmes puts the clues together to find the killer.