Narratives and The Speckled Band

After reading Structural Analysis of Narratives you kind of see what Barthes is trying to explain, either we would look at “a narrative [as] merely a rambling collection of events…or a common structure that is open to analysis (p.80)”. Barthes points out that there are different parts to a narrative and sentences are dependent on them. The function of a narrative also helps by “planting an element that will come to fruition later (pg. 89)” as it did in a speckled band with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In the Adventures of the Speckled Band you see where narratives play a roll from Holmes investigation of each room at the Roylott estate to the plan of becoming along with Watson a vulnerable victim to solve a crime/mystery. Looking from the point of view of Watson (the narrator) as he tells the story about the Speckled Band, he draws you in and wants you to keep reading to find out as he does what will happen next, from Structural Analysis of Narratives on page 87 “to understand a narrative is not merely to follow the unfolding of the story, it is also to recognize its construction”.