English essay part one Essay

In this essay I am going to explain how Conan Doyle adds tension and suspense to â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band† I will be discussing descriptions of the setting and characters also the language he uses, I will also look into the time period it was written. Sherlock Holmes was written during the Victorian era. This was a time in London when there was much crime and poverty, London was a vile and dangerous place. Victorian people greatly feared crime with Jack the Ripper on the loose, the police couldn’t catch him because their methods were inefficient and many officers were corrupt. Victorians resented the police in London because they did not appear to be protecting the public. In 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle created, Sherlock Holmes, Victorians immediately fell for the fictional character. They liked him because he cracked every case and always got the bad guy. He was seen as the perfect detective. When Doyle tried to kill off his famous character, in 1893, he received death threats warning him to keep Holmes alive! Even know over 100 years on from Holmes birth in 1887 he is still popular. The story is called â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band. † it starts with a frightened Helen stoner telling the story of her sister Julia stoner, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death and her concerns for her own life. Sherlock Holmes investigates and finds that Julia had been murdered by Dr. Roylott who was trying to kill Helen as well, but before Holmes could catch Dr. Roylott, the snake that he was using to try and kill the two girls, turns on him and he gets bitten and killed by it. The setting adds tension to the story because they create a spooky atmosphere, it does this in many ways, like in the description that Helen Stoner gives of Stoke Moran Manor, she says â€Å"Indian animals wonder freely over his grounds and are feared by the villagers† this gives the impression that he doesn’t want anyone on his property. When the reader learns that â€Å"‘Vagabonds†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. encamp’ in the grounds† this causes tension because they are another suspect and it makes the reader wonder why he does not want others on the grounds. The reader feels intrigued when Helen Stoner says â€Å"we had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked† because, for most people, their home is the safest place in the world but Helen needs her door locked to feel safe. When the night is described as being â€Å"A wild night. The wind was howling out side and the rain was beating† this creates anticipation because something always happens during a storm, this is called pathetic fallacy. The description â€Å"windows blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars. † makes it sound as if Helen is a prisoner and Dr. Roylott is like a guard, and a prison is designed so, no one can get in or more importantly no one can get out. The description of Stoke Moran as a â€Å"building of grey†¦.. stone†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ with†¦.. two curving wings link the claws of a crab â€Å"uses a simile create the feeling that the house is alive and closing in on its occupants. The words â€Å"gathering darkness† makes it sound as if the darkness is alive and trying to consume everything How does Conan Doyle create tension and suspense in â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band†?