[FUN WITH READING 2018-20205A] The Speckled Band

20205林欣璇 (LIN, XIN-XUAN)

BOOK PROFILE

TITLE OF THE BOOK: The Speckled Band

NAME OF THE AUTHOR: Sir Arthur Sonan Doyle

YEAR OF THE BOOK: 2008

PRESS: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 9780194790710

The Speckled Band

“The Speckled Band” is a story about a lady, Helen Stoner, who was worried sick about herself. She thought there was someone wanting to kill her for the large fortune which she would inherit from her mom, so she recruited Sherlock Holmes to find out the person. I think the writer may once be framed by his close relatives for the heritage so he wanted to warn people that we should always be aware of our surroundings, just like Helen Stoner, so she could prevent herself from getting into trouble or danger.

One night, a young lady knocked the door of Sherlock Holmes’s door. She was shaking with fear and said, “Help me!” Then, the lady told a scary story to Holmes. The woman who was named Helen lived with her stepfather, Roylott, and her sister, Julia. One day, when hearing the whistle, Julia ran into her bedroom hastily and said, “I’m afraid, afraid of the speckled band!” Then, Julia died immediately. Two days ago, Helen heard the whistle again. She thought somebody wanted to kill her, because she would be married soon and had the control of the heritage, so the person needed to kill her to get the money. After listening to Helen’s story, Holmes decided to stay at Julia’s bedroom to wait for the criminal who had murdered Julia and attempted to kill Helen. In the middle of the night, Holmes saw a poisonous snake and attacked it, so the snake went back to Roylotty’s room through the air-vent and bit Roylott by accident. Finally, Holmes knew the answer. It was clear that the snake belonged to her stepfather. The criminal was actually Roylott, because he didn't want to give the money to Helen and Julia after they got married. He tried to kill them with the snake.

In this story, Sherlock Holmes impressed me so much. He was not only an intelligent detective but also a brave man. When Holmes saw a snake which tried to bite him and knew the criminal must be around the house, he didn't run away immediately, but wanted to find out the criminal to save Helen's life. I think I could never be such a courageous person like Holmes, and I would respect him all the time, even though Holmes was an imaginary character.