Reflection Essay On The Speckled Band

The following sample essay on Read ‘The Speckled Band’ by A. Conan. Doyle and ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by W. W. Jacobs. Discuss how the authors create tension and discuss the devices Used to mislead the reader. ‘The Speckled Band’ by A. Conan. Doyle and ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ by W. W. Jacobs are two very different stories; ‘The Speckled Band’ follows the ‘murder mystery’ line whereas ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is based more around horror genre. This means that they will create tension and mislead the reader in completely different ways.

In this essay I am going to explore how the two authors do this, and compare their methods for doing so.

Arthur Conan Doyle creates tension in many ways. At the beginning of ‘The Speckled Band’, he creates tension by showing the effects of this dreadful crime on the characters. We are told Sherlock is usually a ‘late riser’, however, because of this new case, his routine was broken because at a quarter-past seven, Watson awakes to find Sherlock Holmes, fully dressed, standing by the side of his bed.

Helen Stoner, the client who sought Holmes’ services as a detective, when speaking to Sherlock and Watson, was shivering, not from the cold as one would first assume, but from fear. The way she says “It is not cold which makes me shiver. It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror,” creates tension because she first says what does not make her shiver as if holding off telling them, and then, using short sentences, she repeats the two words, ‘it is’.

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These two events evoke tension because these events are directly linked to this one case which at this point, we still do not know about.

The location of this suspicious death, the austere house of Stake Moran which “was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab.” Only three people live in this spooky house. It seems rather odd that in this grand manor house only three people live. Everyone can empathise with the fact that being alone in a large house is incredibly scary, so, you feel scared for these three people, and this then creates tension.

The mysterious Dr. Roylott, having spent a lot of time in India, lets a cheetah and a baboon roam the house. This strange assortment of animals creates tension as it seems strange that such a vicious animal (the cheetah) would be allowed to roam the house. And on top of this all the rooms are barred, “the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples. This creates tension and portrays the rooms as cells, trapping them. It is a sinister thought that these three people are trapped within this house which has a cheetah and a baboon roaming around.

Arthur Doyle creates tension by using scary and sinister adjectives, such as “a long drawn catlike whine” or “there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs. On the night of Julia’s death, the weather was wild, “the wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows”. The adjectives used in this description of the weather creates the most horrific images and evokes tension because you can just imagine how scared they must be, locked up in this macabre house.

In ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ there are only 4 main characters; the mother and father who live in their isolated house with their son, and a sergeant-major. This is a major difference as characters play a huge role in ‘The Speckled Band’. William Jacobs creates tension by using sinister images, and sudden actions. Just like in “The Speckled Band”, the weather plays a huge part in the tone of the particular part of the novel and the tension created. This story starts off with the father and the son playing chess. This in itself evokes tension because we hear of the disastrous weather, “The night was cold and wet. Path’s a bog, and the road’s a torrent,” and yet these two characters are calmly playing chess, ignoring the sombre weather.

He also creates tension by using sudden actions and short sentences. For instance, tension is immediately created when Sergeant Morris came out of the night into the house, his ‘heavy footsteps came toward the door, as the gate banged to loudly’. This gives him a mysterious aura Short sentences also add to the tension of the story, “The paw!” she cried wildly. “The monkey’s paw!”. Not only adding tension, this then reminds us of Julia’s dying words in ‘The Speckled Band’, “It was the band! The speckled band!” It is interesting that in both the stories, the mystery in each is completely based on the title.

The author also uses portent to hint what is going to happen. “[Herbert] sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. His hand grasped the monkey’s paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat”. This could be hinting to the bad things that are going to happen to him. These sinister faces create tension and adds to the mysterious air surrounding the paw. Another possible hint to the bad things ahead is that when the sergeant was describing the paw, he said,“ It had a spell put on it by an old fakir. He wanted to show that fate ruled people’s lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow”. This last sentence was a possible sign for the terrible events ahead.