Compare and contrast the narrators of Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia" and Gasskell's "Our Society," chapter 1 of Cranford.

The narrators of Cranford, in the
chapter "Our Society," and "A Scandal in Bohemia" have few similarities between them.
The narrators are, however, both first person narrators who have roles in the events or
action of the stories but who are not the characters of primary interest. In "Our
Society," the narrator is ironic and, though a member of the Cranford community,
maintains a little distanced objectivity. This is accomplished through the structural
device of having the narrator be a past resident of Cranford and a present
visitor.

In "A Scandal," the narrator is not ironic; he
sets things forth with honestly and admiration. He is himself a little distanced having
become married and moved out from the shared rooms at Baker Street. This distance is
overcome though through the narrator's enthusiasm for Holmes and the mystery
afoot.

"Our Society" is humorously told, as for example,
the passage dealing with Miss Betsy Baker's Alderney cow that now has to go about her
pasture in grey flannel due to a fall into a lime-pit, which relieved her of her
covering of cow hair:

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[Miss Betsy] set to work, and by-and-by all the
town turned out to see the Alderney meekly going to her pasture, clad in dark grey
flannel. I have watched her myself many a time. Do you ever see cows dressed in grey
flannel in London?

"A
Scandal" is told with seriousness and not with humor. It is told, on the other hand,
with a tone of the same seriousness, and excitement that Holmes exudes when engrossed in
a challenging criminal case. An example of the tone is the narrator's description of
Holmes:

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Holmes, who loathed every form of society with
his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old
books, and alternating from week to week between ... the drowsiness of the drug, and the
fierce energy of his own keen
nature.

"Our Society" is told
in a leisurely, languid manner by the narrator, a manner in keeping with the "elegant"
lifestyle cultivated in Cranford where all the men are sent off on ships or with
regiments or in some other way--all men except Captain Brown. "A Scandal" is told with a
great deal of energy as is seen in the narrator's observation of
Holmes:

I was
seized with a keen desire to see Holmes ... and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall,
spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room
swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him.
... He was at work
again.

Cranford's
"Our Society" sets out a psychological examination of the emotions and
cognition of the residents of Cranford and what happens to them when a different sort of
man,

He
immediately and quietly assumed the man's place in the room; attended to every one's
wants, lessened the pretty maid-servant's labour by waiting on empty cups and
bread-and-butterless ladies; ... as if it were a matter of course for the strong to
attend to the weak
.....

comes to Cranford
bringing a loud voice, firm opinions, and two daughters with him. "A Scandal in Bohemia"
sets out a study in reasoning and deduction as the narrator follows and assists Holmes
in a challenging criminal problem. As Holmes says to
Watson:

I see
it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and
that you have a most clumsy and careless servant
girl?