Lamb To The Landlady Analysis

Murder, one of the worst crimes a human could commit, is not taken lightly and most times the primary suspect is a male. In the 2 stories, “Lamb of the Slaughter”, and “The Landlady”, the reader learns just how murderous man’s counterpart can be. Roald Dahl, the author of these 2 stories, wrote “Lamb of the Slaughter” from the perspective of Mary Malony a loving housewife who gets terrible news, and wrote“The Landlady” from the perspective of Billy Weaver, a 17 year old businessman who stumbles across a Bed and Breakfast run by our next “Mistress of Death”. The reader will learn that even though these 2 stories are different in many ways, they still have plenty of similarities.

The short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl contains many literary elements that contribute and impact the story and also add to the writer’s craft. The story is about a woman, Mary Maloney, who accidentally kills her husband and tricks the police into believing she is innocent. The literary element of dramatic irony was portrayed and impacted the reader’s perspective of the story. Mary Maloney, who is the killer of her husband, persuaded the police to eat a leg of lamb which actually was the murder weapon. The police do not realize they are being tricked as shown in the quote, “personally I think it’s (the murder weapon) right here on the premises” (9). The dramatic irony is that it the police are looking for the weapon but they are eating the very evidence they are looking for and do not know it. This shows that Dahl knows how to spin an ironic twist in his story without it seeming out

In “The Landlady,” the terrifying monster is the landlady herself. At first the she seems very kind but as the tale progresses she becomes scarier. When she first opens up the door she gives Mr. Weaver “a warm, welcoming smile” that appears to be innocent. As the story progresses the landlady says that Mr. Weaver is exactly what she is looking for. Although he says “The old girl is slightly dotty … but at five and sixpence a night, who cares about that?” He passes by the fact that she is crazy. Then the madness continues through the evening when she tells him that he is what she is looking for. The landlady says “I see someone standing there who is just exactly right … like you,” so it seems that she has a certain preference for her victims. During that time it seems like a reasonable answer. She goes on to say that she has not had a customer in over a year and has only had two customers, which seems outrageous. This fact is a little off putting, but Mr. Weaver sees nothing wrong with it even though he is a businessman. At the end of the night she talks about her pets and how she stuffed them when they died, which fascinates Mr.Weaver. The reader can connect the fact that she has two guests at the bed and breakfast two years and she is good at taxidermy. The evidence leads to the landlady being the monster in the short story.

The Landlady by Roald Dahl unveils a valuable theme through mysterious and disturbing occurrences. The integrity and truthfulness of a person are difficult to uncover. They hide behind fake identities, masks which alter the beliefs of others. Despite the difficulty to realize one's’ authentic self, it is important to be alert and to notice clues in order to depict their personality or to predict situations. This is proven by the first encounter between the main character and the Landlady, the Landlady's behaviour and the evidence within the bed and breakfast guestbook. Therefore, the theme of The Landlady is to not be too trusting or unwary and to be perceptive.

Miss Lottie’s old house symbolizes the deterioration of the entire nation during the Great Depression while the marigolds she plants represent hope in the face of despair. In detail, having Joey deciding to go to Miss Lottie’s house, Lizabeth describes the house as “...the most ramshackle of all [the] ramshackle homes.” (257). During the Great Depression, everyone has many money problems. So the fact that Miss Lottie’s house isn’t the best of all of the houses, shows how the Great Depression causes hardships. The Great Depression makes it so that the nation suffers in an ongoing poverty, which is why Miss Lottie’s house is very much broken. Furthermore, Lizabeth continues to describe the house when she states “a brisk wind might have blown it down… There it stood...a gray, rotting thing with no porch, no

The spooky outdoor setting is made to prepare the reader for the appearance of a cozy indoors, whereas the landlady’s scary features on the inside are covered up by her warm but deceitful personality. She tricks unsuspecting young men with her generous and very motherly personality.

The Silence of the lambs (1991) is in doubt a film which demonstrates a well-constructed horror film. The film, ranging with scenes, shots, and frames that were well constructed to be identified as horrific. The films cinematography shifts the films narrative and impacts the film, especially the film’s frames. It seems reasonable to suppose that from the film’s frames and of those of the characters expressions, they shape the film’s genre to be horrifying, psychological, and thrilling and they guide viewers towards where the film’s narrative will lead to. Therefore, even a single or series of frames in the film such as Hannibal Lecter’s evil smile, Buffalo Bill opening the door, Hannibal Lecter standing in his cell, and the dialogue between Agent Starling and Hannibal Lecter, act collectively to represent and symbolize claims about the film.

Landlady is a short story by Roald Dahl. The story is about the youthful man, Billy Weaver, who went to the a little city called Bath to carry out his job. Sadly, he gets into the wrong place and that gets him into trouble. The topic refers to a widespread thought or message that keeps running all through out a story. Now we locate various subjects in the story, The Landlady, by Roald Dahl.

Have you ever wondered what life is like for people in specific social classes and all the baggage that comes with being wealthy? In the article “Amber Waves of Green”, author Jon Ronson has sit downs with hard working americans making a income of $200 a week all the way up to $625,000 a week. In another writing titled “The Mansion”, written by Michael Lewis, allows the reader to get insight on what life is like as a middle class individual taking on a higher style of living. Within the two articles the reader can point out that both Jon Ronson and Michael Lewis disagree on living styles, what wealth can do for you, and how it can affect the people around you.

A snarling wolf can be as nice as a loving grandmother, and a cute bunny might actually be a demon in disguise, but you never know until you get to know them. The Landlady, written by Roald Dahl, is a short horror story of a young man named Billy Weaver going to the town of Bath for a business trip. While looking for a place to stay, he finds a seemingly kind, old lady who offers cheap bed and breakfast. While treating Billy to tea at night, the landlady poisons Billy and goes to make him one of her taxidermied collections. Dahl uses foreshadowing, characterization, and irony to examine how innocence can change the way things seem.

Being seen as conventionally attractive can lead to a specious appearance of likability and trustworthiness. Expressions such as “it is the prettiest ones that break your heart” or “it is the ones you least expect that betray you” permeate conversations and shape perceptions. It seems that appearance plays a large role in the way people are initially perceived. This may seem unfair to those not genetically gifted, but it can be used to one’s advantage. As Stephen King put it, “the trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” Similarly in “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Roald Dahl asserts that the apparently innocent are often underestimated. Dahl expresses this through his portrayal of stony calmness with which Mary Maloney kills her husband and through the irony in her ingenuity covering it up.

After living in her world of darkness, Eleanor accepts Dr. Montague’s invitation to research the paranormal perception of Hill House for a summer. Although Eleanor’s feeling is conflicted by the death of her mother, she is extremely contented with the fact that she is freed from her prisoned life. It is time for self-discovery. As she drives up to Hill House, she would joyfully imagine a different her with a different family, in which she would meet many great people and would be enjoying her simple life. Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House incorporates the idea of family into a haunted house. Hill House targets characters who have great desires and weak points. Eleanor, who fits into the description of whom Hill House would target,

Within “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, the theme is that being naive can make one unaware of dangerous situations. Billy Weaver was looking for a decently priced hotel to stay at. However, an old lady offered to take him in for a night at her bed and breakfast. So, the lady welcomed Billy and insisted that he drink a cup of tea that happened to be posioned. Then, Billy slowly sipped the poisonous tea while he questioned the lady. Finally, Billy’s innocence led him to the high risk situation of consuming the toxic tea.

Roald Dahl uses various writing techniques in the horror short story, “The Landlady,” to build suspense, or the uncertainty or anxiety that a reader will feel about what may happen next in a story, novel, or drama. In this short story, the protagonist, Billy Weaver, a young, handsome seventeen-year-old, traveled from London to Bath, due to work, and looks for accommodation. Eventually, he came across a quaint bed and breakfast owned by a landlady who appeared to be generous. The landlady portrayed herself as a kind, innocent soul, but her intentions spoke otherwise. As the tale continued, Billy realizes that things are not what they initially appeared to be at the bed and breakfast. Through the use of foreshadowing and characterization, the author, Roald Dahl, of the horror short story, “The Landlady,” effectively builds suspense for the reader in the thread of the plot.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was a controversial play for its time because it questioned society's basic rules and norms. Multiple interpretations can be applied to the drama, which allows the reader to appreciate many different aspects of the play. This paper examines how both Feminist and Marxist analyses can be applied as literary theories in discussing Ibsen's play because both center on two important subject matters in the literary work: the roles of women in a male-dominated society, and, the power that money has over people.