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The Speckled Band Symbols

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In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle there are three animals described: A cheetah, a baboon and a snake, the Speckled Band. Neither of the animals is from English descent. Each of the animals has their own role within the story, although it might not seem, like they would be that important.
The cheetah and the baboon have considerably small importance to the story, since they are only mentioned a few times. They are both very uncommon in England and empathize the exotic part of the story. Dr. Roylott and each of the Stoners has lived in India and are familiar with more dangerous or exotic animals. Nevertheless, Helen Stoner and her twin sister are scared of the animals and lock themselves up every night. The cheetah and the baboon represent the unknown and exotic part of the family. Furthermore, the cheetah could be seen as a symbol for …show more content…

The snake kills both Julia Stoner and Dr. Roylott. The snake brings death and the crime into the house and the story but it also brings the poetic justice into the story. The snake does not appear until the very end of the story, besides the one exclamation of Julia right before her death: “Oh, my God! Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!” (page 5). Before that exclamation the snake is not mentioned, and even after this is known to the reader, the snake is not mentioned by anybody until Sherlock Holmes figures the cause of death out: “Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. ‘The band! The speckled band!’ whispered Holmes” (page 17). The snake has the most important role in the story, but is mentioned the least.
Since each of the animals represents something else, the baboon the exotic and unknown, the cheetah the danger of Dr. Roylott and the Speckled Band, the snake, death and justice, they give the story a second

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