The Adventure Of The Speckled Band Analysis

In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, Sherlock Holmes first suspects the gypsies. He does this because they were at the scene of the crime and during this time, gypsies were seen as strange, scary people. Gypsies were seen as different, and different was not viewed in a positive light. Different was strange and something to be cautioned. The gypsies are referred to as “vagabonds” (205) in the short story. They had no jobs or homes, and wandered around. They had no definitive place in that society; the gypsies stood out. This tells us that their position in that society was at the bottom, a minority. They could even be seen as lower than the low class in some ways. Even the low class had some way of trying to make a living. Gypsies however, went where ever they pleased. This made them an easy target to place the blame of crimes on. They were categorized and profiled, and because of that profile they were the first suspects to come to Holmes’ mind. This has a direct connection to current issues in society like racial profiling. Different is still seen the same light. People are treated the same way gypsies were in 1892. Today, minorities are the first suspect to go to after a …show more content…
Last year, The New York Times ran an article called “The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black”. This article gives one account of the risks one may face while driving and being of color. In this article Rufus Scales, a 26-year-old black man, discusses when he was pulled over in Greensboro, North Carolina, a 41% black city. When he was pulled over for “minor infractions” (LaFraniere and Lehren), he went to stop his brother from getting out of the car because he was unsure whether they should or not because of the recent incidents with black men and police across the country. He was then stunned with a Taser, and “yanked” from his