Helen Stoner

“Looking At Miss. Helen Stoner”
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, by Sir Author Conan Doyle is based on Sherlock Holmes and his meticulous approach to solving a puzzling mystery. The murder of Helen Stoner’s twin sister Julia Stoner is under investigation. Holmes is accompanied by Dr. Watson, “an intimate friend and associate” (Doyle). Dr. Roylott is the stepfather of Helen and possibly the one at fault for the murder of Julia. This scrutiny takes place in the Victorian Countryside of Surrey, England. Helen is a fearful, victimized, lonely, and kind-hearted woman, who desires for others to be responsible for her. Helen Stoner seeks help from the notorious Sherlock Holmes, Sir Author Conan Doyle’s masterpiece character investigator.
Helen is introduced as an extremely frightened woman who merely wants to find the killer of her sister’s mysterious death. In the beginning of the story Holmes catches Helen “shivering” while speaking, it is obvious she is frightened, by which Holmes asks if she would like some hot coffee (Doyle). She then explains to Holmes that” it is not cold which makes me shiver; it is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror” (Doyle). The stress of her sister’s mysterious death has taken a toll on her appearance. Doyle depicts that Stoner’s “features and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot with premature gray” (Doyle). Helen is working so hard to find out the truth that it has physically made her age. Her body is changing drastically. She is worried that she knows who has committed the murder of her sister. Helen is naive to whom the real killer is. Helen Stoner has a premonition that her step father will kill her before her marriage. Helen being a woman who thinks that she cannot do for herself has not tried to stand up for herself against her stepfather. When Doyle describes that the “five livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist” of Helen’s arm from Roylott, which goes to show that she falls at victim (Doyle). It seems that all throughout the story Helen claims victim to everything. In all retrospect Helen is in the right to go and pay Holmes a visit, weather her premonitions are correct or not. She is fearful of her life and Holmes being a man of intelligence and power; Helen seems to be at some ease when speaking to Holmes by her saying “my heart is lightened already since I have confided my troubles to you” (Doyle) . Helen is a strong-willed woman, but her feelings of anxiety have made her even more inferior to her stepfather. When Helen is aware that her stepfather traced her, she immediately states “he is so cunning I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?” (Doyle). She knows he can help; she has all the faith that in some way Holmes will find Roylott guilty.
When Doyle describes how embarrassed Helen feels when her stepfather gets into fights with neighbors, her tone is bitter and dismal. The disgrace of her stepfather allows her not to have friends. Helen wishes that she has more friends, she is lonely. She is basically trapped in her own home due to the discomposure of Roylott. She explains that “no servant would stay with us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house” (Doyle). This section of Doyle’s story is a prime example of the extremity of loneliness Helen faced as a grown woman. When Helen speaks of her aunt in Harrow that she occasionally visits her tone still does not change, not even in the slightest. As Helen speaks with Holmes regarding the investigation she does not make the plans Holmes does. She allows him to make the decision to come to the Manor. Although she is the only person to make the final decision it was his idea, Helen not once mentioned anything. Helen’s character presumes that others shall make up her mind for her. Helen stands back and lets Watson and Holmes take full charge of the investigation, she merely points in which direction the two will go. Once in Julia’s old room, currently Stoner’s room, Helen is completely oblivious to what purpose the bell rope served. Holmes examines the rope and concludes that is a phony, it was placed there. Helen’s response to Mr. Holmes was “how very absurd! I never noticed that before” (Doyle). Helen is basically tagging along the side of Watson and Holmes as they explore, she never asks a question nor tries to get involved. In other words, it seems like Helen is intimidated by the superiority which Holmes conveys. She would rather stay out of his way then intrude in his inquisition.
Helen is in no way a bad person in this story, in fact it is not expressed how good a woman she actually is. Watson and Stoner look at each other dumbfounded as Holmes says "both my friend and I must spend the night in your room"(Doyle). Without hesitation she openly invited Holmes and Watson to stay in her room. All the while Helen knows that they all face the danger of being killed; if in fact her stepfather is the killer. Think about it, she wants nothing but the best for herself as a woman. The only problem she faces is not having that female role model to help her achieve that type of self-gratification. Her mother died when Miss. Stoner and her sister were mere babies, and then goes the one person that, metaphorically speaking, completes her. Since she feels threatened by her stepfather it is hard for her to be compliant with knowing she could be the next martyr. Granted she may not be a face the world-head-on type of individual, but she knows what she wants and she is doing her hardest to get there.
In conclusion Helen blames her stepfather for the murder of her sister, even though it turned out that Roylott was in fact not the killer. She can teach many things to those who want to excel, like how to be more assertive and confident. Definitely how to pay more attention to detail, and not to judge a person by what you assume is the correct answer. Helen is a prime example of an individual who chooses to let others parade all over them, to dominate them without repercussion. Helen is a fearful, victimized, lonely, and kind-hearted woman, who desires for others to be responsible for her.

Works cited
Doyle, Sr. Author Conan “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. U of VA Electronic Text Center, U of VA 1995 Web 17 Feb 2010 http://etext.virginia.edu