In “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the author, Roald Dahl depicts Mary Maloney is waiting for her husband, Patrick Maloney who works as a police officer. However, when Patrick comes back home, he decides to leave his families. Mary murdered her husband impulsively, as a six-month pregnant mother, she has no idea how things will turn out for her and her baby. In order to stay out of her crime, she tries to have an alibi from the grocer and destroys the murder—a leg of lamb. By narrating from Mary’s perspective, the author convinces the readers that even though Mary commits the crime, the unsuccessful marriage, the specificity of pregnancy and the greatness of maternity help to declare Mary’s motivation of her crime and doubts about Mary’s full responsibility …show more content…
The author persuades the readers to feel empathy for Mary’s condition and also to understand the cause of her uncertain emotions. By starting with the setting of a pregnant woman waiting for husband to come back home, the author depicts it is “her sixth month expecting a child” (1). Then, Dahl notes that Mary uses “the big frozen leg of lamb” to hit Patrick (2). Through Dahl’s description of Mary, a pregnant woman is certainly in a vulnerable mental condition when anything subtle can trigger her breakdown. Although the readers might blame Mary for her vital behavior towards her husband, they will take the idea of Mary as a pregnant woman eventually as Dahl expects to implant the concept into their minds. The author expresses Mary’s uncertainty of her mood from “[crying] hard” after looking her husband “lying there on the floor” to “[begin] to laugh” while the detectives are eating the weapon (3-4). Dahl uses dramatic irony to show Mary’s severe mood swings distinctly. Mentally unstable is one of the symptoms of pregnancy which implies it is acceptable for Mary to kill her husband during her hard time dealing with unstable emotions. Hence, the specificity of a pregnant woman’s role connects the readers to produce a strong sense of empathy and knows it is Mary’s pregnancy which leads her to those decisive …show more content…
Dahl writes, “She did everything without thinking” (2). By using the lamb, Mary “hit [Patrick]” which she finally realizes “[she’s] killed [Patrick] (2). Even though she does not know what she is actually doing, it is true that she has committed a crime. Based on the standard of common morality, the things Mary does are not to be judged righteous. Whereas, the author uses one paragraph to depict Mary’s detailed thoughts after she realizes she kills her husband. Dahl writes, “What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill them both—mother and child? (2)”. Although she “didn’t know” and “wasn’t prepared to take a chance”, Mary Maloney decides to protect her unborn baby (2). Mary “practiced [her smile and words] several times more” and “went out” to “the neighborhood grocery” (2). After she comes back home and calls the police, Mary offers the colleagues of Patrick to “eat up the lamb in the oven” (4). The author highlights Mary’s inner thoughts which allows the readers to know what Mary is thinking as a role of mother. Dahl means to build a connection between Mary and the readers by drawing the readers’ attention to Mary. It provides a background to create an alibi and as well as to conceal the truth of Patrick’s death by cooking the weapon. Therefore, the author reveals the reason why Mary wants to hide her crime. Just like Mary is comforting herself for what she has done, it is not only for herself but
Mary had been interviewed to the point where she shut down and couldn’t answer anymore questions. She sat in silence when detectives would investigate her, unable to tell them what happened. Mary eventually fell guilty and started her journey to baby jail where she began a sentencing. The other juvenile delinquents and CO’s, or guards, of baby jail mistreated Mary because of the accusations people made. Mary’s back story consisted of murdering a baby and now that’s how people characterized and treated her, like a murderer.
In the short story “Lamb To The Slaughter”, written by Roald Dahl, the two main characters, Mary and Patrick Maloney, show many emotions and the emotions are portrayed in certain ways depending on how Dahl uses word choice and figurative language. Throughout the story the emotions of the characters change and alter depending on how specific events happen and show how the character will react in the situation, whether it be good or bad. Mary and Patrick Maloney have very different emotions towards each other and it’s very surprising to see how the emotions change during the course of the story.
The author uses the characters in the story as a big climax, to show evil throughout the text. The two stories are very different and are very much the same all at once and they both play big parts with the main points using the characters. Lamb to the slaughter is written by Roald Dahl and The possibility of evil is written by shirley jackson. The characters in the stories play dramatic parts in the story, to make the story interesting.
Traumatic news can lead to traumatic actions. In Roald Dahl’s ”Lamb to the Slaughter,” main character Mary Maloney is told very shocking new that causes her to overreact and kill her husband Patrick Maloney. Their blissful life turned upside down in a matter of five minutes. Mary was a great wife to Patrick. She loved him very much and is even carrying his child. Mary always catered to Patrick and was very loyal to him. Mary Maloney is a sympathetic character because she was very loving, compliant, and only lied to protect her baby.
Dahl’s protagonist in “Lamb to Slaughter”, Mary Maloney, displays her deceitful nature when her husband comes home from a long day of work. Mary kills Patrick with a frozen leg of lamb after he informs her that he wants a divorce. Immediately thereafter, she goes to the store to purchase vegetables. This is the beginning of her deceit. Mary clearly does not need vegetables. Her trek to the store is her way of creating an an alibi. This adds another layer to her deception. Here, she engages in a conversation with a seemingly familiar clerk, Sam. She informs him that Patrick “decided he’s tired and doesn’t want to eat out tonight” (Dahl 3). This gives Sam the impression that her husband is still alive when in all actuality, he is dead. She has added yet another layer to her level of deception. Mary’s deception has no limits. She eventually deceives herself into thinking she did not murder her husband. She convinces herself that she is “not expecting to find
Author also surprises readers, when he introduces conflict between a couple that used to love each other deeply. Diverting the story from love to betrayal, author develops an irony. In the story, reader sees two examples of betrayal. Ms. Maloney, while talking with her tired husband, finds out her husband no longer want to keep their marriage. Without giving any kind of reason, Patrick betrays her wife with a decision of breaking marriage. Mary shocks, when her husband, boldly, says, “ This is going to be bit shock of you”(P. Maloney) Author creates a total opposite picture of Patrick by describing him as a husband who used to give her wife surprises; he is now giving her shock in the middle of her pregnancy. Mary, who was previously shown as “anxiety less”(Dahl), with “a slow smiling air”(Dahl) and “curiously tranquil”(Dahl), had began to get upset and now inculcate her eye with a “bewildered look.” After betrayed by her husband, she, without any argue, she goes to the basement to look for frozen food. She decides to have leg of a lamb as a last dinner with her husband, but she smashes the frozen leg in to Patrick’s head with killing him. Mary betrays her husband by killing him and takes revenge of her betrayal. Later, Author confirms her as a murdered with the statement of “I’ve killed him”(Mary) from her own lips. Dahl, in the story,
Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” utilizes satire and humor to critique domesticity and the life of a housewife. His use of detail and perspective allows us to view the eager, submissive, and anxious housewife, Mary Maloney. These traits are evident when she glanced at the clock again and again, waiting for her husband, “she merely wanted to satisfy herself that each minute that went by made it nearer to the time when he would come home” (Dahl 1). The exaggeration and descriptive imagery humorously depicts Mary Maloney as a submissive housewife, eager to please her husband in any way. The story satirizes domesticity by portraying an obsessive wife, Mary, who sits like a dog waiting to greet her husband at the door, fetching a drink for him like a toy, crying “I’ll get it” as she jumps out of her chair, and gazing at him “all the time with large, puzzled
This is where the reader knows more then the characters, having seen the murder from Mary’s point of view and now watching the police officers discuss the crime. Also ironic, is that the police officers are doing Mary a huge favour by eating the evidence, making her practically undiscoverable. What is also special about the story, is that in the very beginning, Mary Maloney is described as a weak woman, only devoted to her husband and submissively in love with him. The reader is completely shocked when she murders her husband.
This is a twisted, gripping tale of Mary Maloney, who murders her own husband by hitting him with a frozen leg of lamb and then hiding her crime and disposing of the evidence by feeding the lamb to the policemen who come to investigate the murder.
expected them to be. From what I saw of the wife I expected Patrick to
Dahl’s use of dramatic irony during the story helps displays the actions of Mary Maloney and other characters. Mary Maloney swings the leg of the lamb to the back of the head of her husband. Dahl says, “ she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head” (Dahl 320). As a result, this quote is effective because the lamb was used as a weapon, instead of food; which shows that Mary could use anything to harm someone without her trying or when it was her attempt to hurt that someone. The story writes, “Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack”. In the same way as the first quote, this sets back to Mary because she sabotages the police to eat the lamb. With the police eating the lamb she is getting rid of the evidence so she does not get caught. From the use of dramatic irony in the story, Dahl's builds Mary as a character; he also uses different irony to create her.
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.
Societal norms show the worlds various good and bad ideologies. In the story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl a woman named Mary kills her husband with a leg of lamb. Then, she calls the cops and tells them that her husband is dead. After that, she feeds the murder weapon to the cops on the scene. The portrayal of women as the bad cop, the preconceived notion of a female's role in society, and implied dependence on men are all themes in Lamb to the Slaughter. In using the wife as the murderer, Roald Dahl shows the human desire to exact revenge.
Emotive language and dialogue was a literary technique that Roald Dahl used in order to explore the idea of stereotypical gender roles which was a common societal issue particularly in the 1950s. Lamb to the Slaughter tells of a couple during the 1950s who followed the stereotypical couple concept of having a housewife and a husband working a middle-class job. Through the Maloney’s relationship it can be seen how Mary Maloney fulfilled and had a desire of wanting to provide and care for her husband using her skills of a housewife. This can be perceived in the quote; “I’ll get you cheese and crackers.” This informs readers that her nature and manner of wanting to please and satisfy the needs of her husband is very important to her. In response to Mary her husband replied with “I don’t want it”. The issue of gender roles/gender hierarchy in this particular situation encouraged Mary’s contentment of wanting to murder her husband which may have been initiated because of the imbalance within their relationship. Patrick Maloney’s reply to his wife portrays a disrespectful and inconsiderate attitude which represents the dominance and power that he has within the relationship. His authority within their relationship may have been generated because of his role as a provider for his wife. Another quote by Mr. Maloney states “sit down, just for a minute sit down,” this represents the type of relationship and interaction that the couple reflects. Their relationship shows no negotiation and inequality within the relationship; Patrick who is an educated detective, whereas Mary was just a
Mary is very manipulative in that she is able to create the character of the poor, pregnant wife, whose husband has just been murdered. She is able to convince the police to take pity on her, to mix her a drink and then to even eat the evidence, the leg of lamb that she has left in the oven. "Why don’t you eat up that lamb that is in the oven" (Dahl, p. 17). Mary realizes that if the police find the evidence she will go to jail. Her quick thinking and manipulative character results in the police officers eathign the evidence and therefore she cannot be charged of this crime. These actions show the complex character that Mary Maloney truly is.