How does Conan Doyle create a sense of anticipation and suspense in
the Adventure of the Speckled Band?
The Adventure of the Speckled Band is a classic mystery novel. It is
so in the way that it uses several writing techniques to create a
sense of ambiguity and vagueness. Conan Doyle makes sure to leave the
reader with as little information as possible and to make it hard to
foresee what will happen next. This is all to have them anticipate the
ending and the solving of the mystery, to keep them gripped. Even the
very title of the novel is unclear and does well to conjure up ideas
inside the readers mind. It is only until the whole story is took in
and the ending is unveiled that the reader can fully appreciate and
understand what exactly the 'Speckled Band' is.
Conan Doyle starts by introducing the character of Sherlock Holmes by
using Watson as a first person narrator to tell the story. Watson can
be seen as a means of understanding Sherlock Holmes' thoughts. By
using Watson as someone Sherlock can talk to, we can get a better
perception of what goes on in his mind. He also uses Watson as a sort
of ordinary person, who, like the reader, also attempts to solve the
mystery alongside Sherlock Holmes. What seems completely perplexing to
Watson seems 'elementary' to Holmes. This provides a means to
highlight Sherlock's superiority. Conan starts by putting importance
on Holmes' experience as a detective by using phrases like
'Seventy-odd cases' and emphasis on the fact that Sherlock Holmes does
not accept cases that seem commonplace, for he works as more of an
artist in his field than for the attainment of wealth and fortune. In
the first paragraph, Conan starts to build the atmosphere by using
phrases to...
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...ter what is a long time for the pair, the creepy mood is
broken by rudiments of the clues that the reader has been struggling
to piece together. There is a momentary gleam of light from the false
ventilation shaft and a smell of burning oil wafts through. After a
further 30 minutes, a hissing noise is then heard when Holmes jumps
into action, swishing his cane at the bell-rope. Then, the whistle
that both women had commented on and a blood-curdling scream are heard
from Roylott's room. After going to investigate, Holmes and Watson
find that the speckled band is actually a swamp adder, the deadliest
snake in India. Finally, the mystery is revealed, and the last page is
dedicated to explaining in further detail how exactly Sherlock Holmes
pieced together all the clues. All these things successfully create a
feeling of anticipation and suspense in the reader.
Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.
Chalmers has an extensive background in consciousness, issues in the philosophy of the mind and language, metaphysics and epistemology, and
which he uses to see into the minds of others. He gets into their heads and
is not plugged into his Experience Machine and he chooses his fate to be aware and a
probably as it has the dense part of the film in it. The audience are
He explains how he observed different types of blue- collar and service workers in action and that concludes that each of them has a skill that takes a lot of mind power to master. “To gain a sense of how knowledge and skill develop, I observed experts as well as novices… I tried to fashion what I called ‘cognitive biographies’ of blue-collar workers” (Rose, 278). For example, verbal and math skills are valued. As a blue-collar worker, when carpenter builds a cabinet he uses those skills for measuring but these skills are not recognized. " “To acknowledge a broader range of intellectual capacity is to take seriously the concept of cognitive variability to appreciate in all the Rosies and Joes the thought that drives their accomplishments and defines who they are. This is a model of the mind that is worthy of
For instances, in one study, volunteers were required to stare at a computer screen as different phrases quickly appeared and disappeared without their knowledge. These phrases such as “violent” and “elderly” influenced their minds when they complete different types of tasks, such as writing or walking. Their behaviors changed according to the flashing words because the unconscious mind was affected by it, even though they were unaware of these influences. Since their conscious minds were not able to pick up the words on the screen, they created reasoning with the knowledge they did have. As Daniel Gilbert stated, “ their brains quickly considered the facts they are aware and draw out the same kinds of plausible but mistaken inferences about themselves that an observer would probably draw about them” (131). Daniel Gilbert proves that the unconscious mind takes the knowledge one is aware of and creates a logical reasoning behind it, even if it is not true. When Daniel Gilbert says "mistaken inferences" he means that the person is unaware of the factors that influence one's behavior, thus creating a false sense of understanding. The volunteers believed their false reasoning, thus affecting the truth behind their
process of explaining the entities of human life no matter if anyone believes him or not.
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.
Searle, J. (1980), "Minds, brains, and programs", The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3, p. 423.
I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.” “I have at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me,” (Doyle, 1) In the first line Watson is amazed by the fact that Holmes was able to figure out what was in Watson’s hand even though his body was turned. But then makes the snarky remark that he just has a well-polished pot which points out some of his personality. He will not admit something that he is not capable of. By doing this he is showing that he cannot do everything that he is still human. Thus turning him into a mortal being from the very beginning even with his remarkable and nearly impossible observational
When introducing Watson to the new client, Count Von Kramm, Holmes admits of Watson’s usefulness stating: “This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my case.” (Conan Doyle)
the existence of a physical or external world. Despite that he has an idea of things in the
...o enhance the personality and behaviors of another. By describing Sherlock as a cold, calculative, crime solving machine leading us to outwardly see an icy exterior, but to expand upon that with the use of introducing a dynamic that reflects the internal operations of his mind. Be that he had no real emotional attachment to the people he interacted with, other than Watson it seems, he developed a perceived relationship through his adoration of specific traits through conan doyles use of the subcharacters. Showing that Sherlock not only seemed a complicated cold man, but one who has the ability to admire people for their intellectual capabilities, not their crimes. Conan Doyles use of sub characters to expand upon and make the readers infer their own thoughts about who the character that they are reading about truly is. Not just the descriptions given by the author.
...o a science fiction character. People like Dr. Bell and Preston were each part of an important part of Doyles like, and know because of them we have the series of Sherlock Holmes and his unconditional friend Watson.