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Lamb To The Slaughter Mood Essay

Decent Essays

While reading “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, you notice how often the characters moods change in one way or another. A book’s tone is heavily influenced by a character’s emotions. Roald Dahl begin by setting the tone with a housewife,Mary, who lives to serve her husband, Patrick Maloney. Here is when the differences in emotions appear. Patrick Maloney comes home from work and instantly is given a greeting by his wife, very nonchalant during this time. He then swigs his drink, showing how he is dealing with a rough day. He persistently says “Sit down”(Dahl 1) to Mary who tries to satisfy his needs constantly. While still inexpressive, right before he breaks the news Patrick “became absolutely motionless”(Dahl 2) because he likely knows that Mary is a woman whose purpose in life relies on him and his presence. The most expressive thing he had done was when the …show more content…

After being told the news of the divorce her immediate response was whispering, “I’ll fix some supper.”(Dahl 2) She remains calm being in shock and can’t process that her role in life is being taken away from her. After the of killing her husband, Mary’ mind instantly races to think, “...what about the baby?”(Dahl 2) because she knows what happens to murderers but is focused on her unborn child as a maternal instinct. Mary lived through the role of a housewife consequently after Patrick pretty much takes her life away from her in an instant, it led to this outrageous act of hatred of his ability to take it away from her. Upon the return from normal trip the grocery store, she tells herself that, “She was not expecting to find anything unusual at home.”(Dahl 3) She is in the role that everything is normal so that “no acting was necessary.”(Dahl 3) After the men eat the weapon, the author ends off saying that “ Mary Maloney began to laugh.”(Dahl 4) She laughed to her satisfaction of successfully getting away with the

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