Lamb To The Slaughter Irony

In Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” , Mary Maloney murders her husband, a detective, after he declares that he is leaving her. Mary then has to cover her tracks or else she and her unborn child will be killed. Throughout the story, Mary’s character changes from loving wife to cold killer and back again based on her situation.

Mary has three distinct personalities throughout the story. In the beginning of the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter” she seems like a devoted wife to her husband, Patrick. For instance, “The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight-hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the

Mary Hutchinson was by far the most glorious and loving person through-out the novel, and loved by all that knew her, “We all loved one another but somehow every one of us had a special work with Polly. She was so bright and cheery and brave” (Pg.7). She was a young seamstress who lived a simple life, making an honest living and was very close to her loving family. She had been pursued by her co-worker the young Jack Wilson, who fall in love with her (or so she thought), but it was normal for people to be attracted to her beautiful nature. After years of courting they had finally gotten married and had children of their own, although the second would not be born until the “father” I say vaguely had left the country. This once highly sought after woman would now be left to care for two young children while her husband moved countries to find work (not to mention flee embarrassment). This was the moment that would change her life for the worst, only she hadn’t known it yet.

In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl the husband that comes home early one day with bad news. He told his pregnant wife something. It was really shocking to her, and in the story it said that she got really sad. He then says that he would give her money and see that she is looked after. When she heard the news she went downstairs to the basement and got a frozen lamb to cook him. When she came up, he heard her and could tell that she wanted to make him supper. So he told her that he was going out so she doesn’t have to make it, but he said it in quite a rude manner and she seemed bothered by this because right after he said that she hit him in the head with the frozen lamb and he died. After she seen what she has done,

Foreshadowing in a story is very hard to include, without making the next event too obvious. In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” Roald Dahl uses elements of suspense to engage the readers to keep reading to see what happens next. Even though one may seem innocent and gentle, can turn powerfull in a second. The author frequently uses dramatic irony, plot twist and foreshadowing to create a story that is both creepy and mysterious.

Being ill, she was unable to do much. Although, she did make a fellow friend who was ill because of the sanitarium. Her name was Agatha Holloway. She was soon to be engaged, had a job, and what seemed like a good life, until the illness hit her. Agatha asked Mary questions on marriage, which Mary replied with uncertainty. Being a young mother, she lacked experience. Her kind heart gave her the best answer she could, though.

Mary waits on him to get home. She is pregnant with their first child. He has something on his chest, and he hasn’t told his wife yet. When he told her, it was very shocking news. She went back into the kitchen to cook dinner even though he didn’t want anything.

After they move to the English house, Mary notices that her husband moves away from her, that he

She is not able to be satisfied with life without maidservant, luxurious house or elegant clothes, either. Growing up alone in a world full of shallow materialism, Mary, like her mother, also has “devotion to material needs and desires”. In addition, Mary shows her indifference to the other people and the outside world, like Burnett emphasizes, “ as she

In both of these stories, Roald Dahl uses his beautiful yet simple descriptions to paint a picture of the main characters. Their actual physical characteristics differ in many ways, but somehow still manage to create a presumption of peaceful innocence. Mary Maloney, in “Lamb to the Slaughter” (Dahl 39-44), is physically described in a way that creates the impression to the reader of an angelic like beauty. He writes of her skin as having a “wonderful translucent quality” and describes her mouth as “soft”. The most descriptive, and again simple, physical feature written about Mary was of her eyes.

Would you ever think that an innocent little lamb could be used as a murder weapon? Imagine that you are situated at home making dinner and the telephone rings. You pick it up and it’s the police station. They tell you that a murder weapons’ location is somewhere on your property and may be in your house. You look in the oven and see you lamb dinner still cooking. Then, a thought pops into your head. Could a lamb kill someone? In the story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl, Mary is a benevolent and gentle 1950’s housewife who is 6 months pregnant. She waits for her loving husband to return from work every evening. When he does come home one night, he drinks more whiskey than usual and then horrifies poor Mary with something he tells her. Mary is in shock and out of instinct goes to fetch him dinner. She grabs a frozen leg of lamb and retaliates with it. When he is dead, she prepares a plan to cover up her work. Throughout the story, deception slowly absorbs the characters and leads them to betrayal.

Mary’s characterization, especially at the latter half of the novel, is atypical. She was initially introduced as a girl stuck in a love triangle, but after the death Harry Carson, she becomes a heroic character, making her own decisions. Necessity was a primary factor; the Bartons were on the edge of poverty for much of the novel. This reality forced Mary to work, much to her father’s protest. He believes he should be the primary provider; John Barton recommends she becomes a servant, a very feminine career. Instead Mary decides to become a seamstress; Brown points out it was a job “with a possibility of a future managing a shop or perhaps owning he own” (348). Mary not only becomes a significant breadwinner for her family, but also has the

Mary deals with the sense of displacement because of the absence of a stable home. Since her husband, James, was an actor, the family would have to move around depending on his schedule. Leaving Mary and her children on cheap hotel room. Mary was not a fan of this, she never had a place to call home. She fondly remembers her ideal childhood home, and contrasts it with her present dwelling.

In the play, Mary is a beautiful woman and lives the life like any other girls of her time; but she is emotionally attached to her sons and her family when she marries into the Tyrone family. She is also getting old, so she keeps going on her days worrying about her change of appearance. She suffers from a morphine addiction and she is psychologically wounded because of her past. She tries many times to break free but she could not stop as she spends time with her family. She has gone through many struggles but she cannot move on with her life. She keeps looking back into the past; and she regrets marrying into the family because of the dreams she had to sacrifice such as becoming a nun or a concert pianist.

Mary’s entry in to Dick’s house was ‘home’-coming in a double sense, the childhood home and the destined home for her gender role. She did not feel easy in the new place because the nostalgic feelings for the town impressed her mined a lot. As the story states her nostalgic feeling as following: