Conan Doyle Essay

In the â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery of a stolen diamond. The criminal in this story is a man named James Ryder. After James Ryder had stolen â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† he stuck it down a goose’s throat. The goose that had the diamond was distributed the Breckenridge Stall, then sold to a goose club at the Alpha Inn. Sherlock Holmes bumps into James Ryder outside the Breckenridge Stall. Sherlock Holmes makes the criminal confess to what he had done. Sherlock Holmes then lets him go free because he thinks that he will not commit any more crimes, because of how fearful he was. It was quite important for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create a strange atmosphere because it adds to the tension. All three stories have strange and unusual atmospheres, but each story’s atmosphere is different. In â€Å"The Red Headed League†, Conan Doyle describes the area of Saxe-Coburg Square. He shows how unpleasant and muddled the area is. â€Å"It was a pokey, little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and uncongenial atmosphere. † The words that are used here show the messiness and unpleasantness of the area. The words â€Å"pokey†, â€Å"little†, â€Å"shabby-genteel†, â€Å"dingy† and â€Å"smoke-laden† all give a pretty good idea that the area was quite chaotic. In â€Å"The Speckled Band† Conan Doyle created a thrilling and frightening atmosphere, as if it was a horror story. â€Å"The Speckled Band† was set at â€Å"Stoke Moran† in â€Å"Surrey†, which is where Julia Stoner was killed. At the beginning of the story when Helen Stoner is talking to Sherlock Holmes about her problems she describes how the night was when Julia was killed. â€Å"It was a wild night†, this shows that that night was unlike any ordinary night. â€Å"The wind was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. † This describes a lot of the atmosphere; it shows that the weather was quite stormy. This also explains why Helen couldn’t sleep. â€Å"Suddenly, amidst all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. † Conan Doyle’s intended effect was to thrill the reader; Conan Doyle has achieved this by using the words â€Å"wild†, â€Å"howling† and â€Å"beating†. Here the writer’s effect was to try and scare or thrill the reader. Whereas in â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† the atmosphere was a little different. â€Å"It was a bitter night†. Here, Conan Doyle is trying to show the reader that it is cold outside. He achieves this by describing the night as â€Å"bitter†. The reader will also know that it is cold because Holmes and Watson both put on their â€Å"ulsters† and â€Å"cravats†. â€Å"Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky†, here Conan Doyle is trying to show the reader that the area is very calm and peaceful, unlike in â€Å"The Red Headed League† where the area is busy and unpleasant. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used different ways to show that these stories take place in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Most of the time he mentions â€Å"carriages†, which were used in that time. Nowadays carriages are not used because they have been replaced by cars. In â€Å"The Red Headed League† when Sherlock Holmes is memorising all the shops at Saxe-Coburg Square he comes across a shop that makes carriages. â€Å"McFarlane’s carriage-building depot†. Here the writer intended to show the reader that this was a time where carriages were used as a form of transport. The effect on the reader is that the reader knows this story is set in the 1890’s. Conan Doyle also uses dates and newspapers to show that these stories are set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In â€Å"The Speckled Band† and â€Å"The Red Headed league† Conan Doyle mentions the date, but he does not mention the date in â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle†. In â€Å"The Speckled Band†, right at the beginning of the story while Dr. Watson is narrating, he says â€Å"It was early in April, in the year ’83†; hear the writer is showing the reader that this story is taking place in the year 1883. In â€Å"The Red Headed League†, the note that Jabez Wilson shows to Sherlock Holmes had a date on it. The note said, â€Å"THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October 9, 1890. † Also when Mr. Wilson is showing Sherlock Holmes the advertisement he mentions the date on the newspaper. â€Å"It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months ago. † By saying that the newspaper was from two months ago, Conan Doyle is telling the reader that this story was set in 1890. Conan Doyle did not always use the same techniques, to show that each story was set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Unlike â€Å"The Speckled Band† and â€Å"The Red Headed League†, in â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† there are no dates to show that the story is set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Conan Doyle uses different techniques to show that this story is also set in that time. In â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† and â€Å"The Red Headed† Conan Doyle refers to gas-lit lamps, as gas lamps were used in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In â€Å"The Blue Carbuncle† when Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were jus about to leave the Breckenridge stall, Watson narrates â€Å"Turning round we saw a little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp. † He also says, â€Å"He sprang round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of colour had been driven from his face. † Also in â€Å"The Red Headed League† Watson says, â€Å"We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. † These references to gas lamps show that the stories were set in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Conan Doyle also referred to matches in â€Å"The Speckled Band†. Even though we use matches nowadays, we do not use them for the same purposes as in the 1880’s and 1890’s. In those times they were used to see in the dark or to light lanterns. When Helen stoner is talking about what happened to her sister Julia she mentions a match. â€Å"In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box. † This shows that when Julia woke up she struck a match to see what was going on. The value of money in the 1880’s and the 1890’s was much different than the value for money now. At that time people were paid around i 4 a week, which was considered quite a lot of money. Whereas, people now are paid much more and with i 4 you cant really buy much. The social differences in those times also show that these stories were based in the 1880’s and 1890’s. If you look at Helen Stoner, she was a rich woman that lived in a big house with servants. In those times rich people were considered superior to poorer people. Nowadays you wouldn’t find servants working for rich people, because weather your rich or poor you have rights. The audience or readers would recognise the places named in the stories, which are all in England. The intended effect of the writer was to make the reader feel as if he or she was in the story itself, which would make it feel more dramatic. Conan Doyle achieves this by using areas in London that most people live in. Places such as â€Å"Holborn† and â€Å"Harrow†. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used very unusual titles for his stories to intrigue the reader. When a reader sees the title â€Å"The Speckled Band†, he or she wouldn’t think of a venomous Indian snake. The reader wouldn’t know what to think, which make them want to read the story to see what â€Å"The Speckled Band† is. The same with â€Å"The Red Headed League†, which is a very unusual title. The reader wouldn’t think that that â€Å"The Red Headed League† was a club for read headed people who were paid i 4 a week for copying the â€Å"Encyclopaedia Britannica†. Conan Doyle uses these unusual titles to throw the reader off track. In â€Å"The Speckled band† Conan Doyle makes the reader think that the gypsies are the ones that killed Julia Stoner. He makes it look like all the evidence points to them. Helen Stoner says, â€Å"†¦ perhaps to these very gypsies in the plantation. I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used. † The effect on the reader was that he or she would be thrown off track to make the story feel more interesting. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses some very interesting openings to grab the reader’s attention. Also, every character that Conan Doyle introduces is different in some way, which makes the story feel more interesting and also to intrigue the reader.