Mystery, Suspense, and Crime in Doyle's 'Speckled Band' Essay

This essay examines the mystery, suspense, and crime fiction conventions employed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his short story, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." The analysis delves into the core elements of the genre, such as suspense, the locked-room mystery, and the portrayal of the antagonist's moral weaknesses, highlighting how these conventions contribute to the story's effectiveness. The essay also discusses the influence of colonialism on the narrative's tension. Furthermore, it compares and contrasts these conventions with their usage and adaptation in other stories from the course and elsewhere, including television and film adaptations like "A Scandal in Bohemia," demonstrating the enduring appeal and adaptability of Doyle's work across different media platforms. The references provided support the analysis of the story, the themes, and its adaptations.

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Title: Identify mystery, suspense, and crime fiction genre conventions used by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” Then, show how the
conventions are used or altered in two (2) other stories from the course or elsewhere
including television, film, etc.
The Adventures of the Spackled Band is one of the best short stories written by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle. The author has portrayed the theme of mystery, crime and suspense
throughout the story, belongs to detective series of Sherlock Homes. This short story falls
under the genre of locked room mystery or it can be regarded as crime fiction as well. There
are certain conventions, which drive mystery and suspense into a successful one. It is
arguably the best short story among the rest of the eleven stories of the book.
According to conventional aspects of a mystery, the story is an action of searching a
solution to resolve the created suspense. In this case, a woman named Helen Stoner comes to
meet Sherlock and his friend Watson with her anxiety related to her twin sister’s unnatural
death. As the plot unfolds, the readers come to know her step dad’s unique capability for
deceit and digs deep into the dark truth of human psychology in the backdrop of colonialism.
The tension of colonialism in India, that rage and tension have been combined with the
tension of the plot. Doyle has created such amazing works throughout his lifetime that satisfy
the quest for good detective fictions of every readers.

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The story begins with the scene where young, would be bride Helen approaches
Sherlock and his friend Watson to investigate on her fear of being murdered at late hours of
night. She has enough reason to believe in her mind that her step father Sir Grimesby Roylott
who has anger issues is guilty for these misdeeds. The woman clarifies the details of her
sister’s sudden death and the detective duo decided to investigate on the demise of her sister
and potential death threats on their client.
Towards the end of the story, it has been revealed that her stepfather with the purpose
of maintaining his inheritance over his wife’s property has killed one of the sisters by poising
him through his pet snake, The Speckled Band, in her sleep and has been planning to do the
same with her as well. Common elements of thriller such as suspense, tension and raising
stakes are recurrent as Sherlock decided to investigate the case of Helen Stoner. Another
theme, which has become prominent while dealing with the suspense, is the treatment of
Karma. It occurs as climax in the story. Although, Sherlock discovers the actual case yet Sir
Roylott’s fate leads him towards death when the snake turns against him and he is killed. This
proves if not my legal code of justice evil deeds always be punished according to Karma.
Apart from suspense, from a reading of Palmer, Jennifer : 175 it has been observed,
terror and detectives single motive of searching for the culprit one of the major convention is
crime stories presents moral weakness of the antagonist most of the time. As the motive of
murder; rage, temptation and a revengeful mentality have always been highlighted. Being the
colonist at that point of time British society became highly materialistic. Therefore, the
author has aligned his character folly with contemporary social structure as well.
According to the study of Chopra, Sameer, this crime thriller has been adopted several
times in stage, television and films. Similarly, as described in Hewett, Richard: 198, a
scandal in Bohemia was full of tension and terror as Sherlock investigates on a case of

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mysterious blackmail. It was first released as a silent movie in 1921 after that it appeared o
several television adaptations as well.
Hence, it can be said although the treatment of crime, suspense, terror and mystery are
conventional yet the style of presentation and unique narration has made the literary pieces of
Arthur Conan Doyle very much contemporary and acceptable for adaption in various media
channels. Not only The Adventures of Speckled Band but also other literary works like A
scandal in Bohemia has received immense appreciation in terms of presenting the
conventional components of mystery so neatly.

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References
Chopra, Sameer. "Sherlock Holmes on Screen: the Aesthetics and Politics of Adapting the
“Great Detective” in a Hyper-mediatised Age." (2016).
Hewett, Richard. "Canon Doyle?: Getting Holmes right (and getting the rights) for
television." Adaptation 8.2 (2015): 192-206.
Palmer, Jennifer S. "Arthur Conan Doyle’s Appearances as a Detective in Historical Crime
Fiction." Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2013.
169-183.