Lamb To The Slaughter Suspense

Suspense is a detail that many horror writer use to catch the attention of many readers and keep them holding on till the end. Just as W.F. Harvey does when creating suspense in his story August Heat. Mr. Harvey used three methods to create his suspense for his story, foreshadowing, withholding information, and reversal. With these three methods he is able to make the reader feel like, “ We may even hold our breath without realizing it as we read on eagerly to find out how the story ends”(Source 1).

Dahl’s use of dramatic irony reveals that common sense is gone when something illegal happens. After killing her with a frozen lamb leg, Mary Maloney to come over and investigate while the lamb is cooking in the oven. After the lamb is done cooking, she offers the police to eat some while

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.

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

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.

At the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney loves and adores her husband, this does not last very long. Dahl uses simple but strong sentences to portray the killing of Patrick Maloney “At the point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause 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.” This illustrates Mrs. Maloney walking without any hesitation, killing her beloved husband and this also exemplifies the ultimate transformation of Mrs. Maloney from her calm behavior to being over dramatic. Another detail that this phrase demonstrates is that Patrick is so focused in his thoughts that he doesn’t sense his wife walking up towards him. Dahl reveals this unexpected transformation of Mary Maloney through her actions and thoughts. Another phrase that exemplifies Mrs. Maloney’s change in character is when she thinks to herself, after killing Patrick, “‘All right,’ she told herself. ‘So I’ve killed him.’” This illustrates Mrs. Maloney’s impeccable life, or what she conceives to be her life is demolished. At this point of the story, Dahl uses direct and indirect sentences to develop the protagonist and to show the complete transformation of Mrs. Maloney and brings her to

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,

“‘Watch out!” screamed Maggie. Suddenly the road took a sharp turn, and a huge oak tree loomed in my headlights”(Shusterman 39). When Neal Shusterman uses suspense it’s usually in a way that would probably end badly. He loves to try and hook the reader with suspense, so then the readers would want to keep reading that same book. As evidence in Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman and “The Abandoned Farmhouse” by Ted Kooser, suspense can be effectively created through the use of imagery.

She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested in her…” Then he came home from work one day, giving her bad news. She tried to ignore it, but killed Mr. Maloney by hitting him on the head with a frozen leg of lamb. “Lamb to the Slaughter” had a major symbol, the leg of lamb. The lamb symbolized Mr. Maloney because he was not expecting to be killed, just like a lamb.

Additionally, Dahl used situational and dramatic irony as literary devices in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. An example of dramatic irony used in the story is when Mrs. Maloney requests that the police eat the murder weapon, the frozen lamb leg. The author says, “It’d be a favor to me if you’d eat it up” (Dahl). This expresses dramatic irony because the police think she is asking them to eat the lamb to be polite, but in reality Mrs. Maloney just wanted to get rid of the murder weapon. An example of situational irony used is when Mary Maloney kills her husband with a frozen lamb leg because she was displayed as a loving wife who was obsessed with her husband and his happiness, but then she shocks the reader by killing him. The author states, “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause 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).

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.

Both the screen interpretation done by Alfred Hitchcock, and short story written by Roald Dahl show what can happen when a love turns into bitterness. In both the story and film, Miss. Maloney expresses mysterious behavior when she interacts with the detectives after Mr. Maloney's death. As a viewer, the short story was better because it was easier to visualize than the film.

Lamb to the Slaughter Extra Credit Essay 1. In the written story, Roald Dahl doesn’t reveal exactly what Patrick says to Mary so we don’t know exactly why he’s leaving her. Why do you think he chose not to include this information in the story? Explain in Detail.

Would you rather read a boring storing or a story with suspense? Roald Dahl's “Lamb to the Slaughter” has significant use of suspense. Suspense plays a crucial role in the plot of the story because it keeps readers engaged and anxious. This is because suspense is a state or condition of uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome. Suspense is created in this story using the techniques situational and dramatic irony.

Mary's husband tells her that he is leaving her. "´So there it is," he added. "And I know it's a bad time to be telling you this, but there simply wasn't any other way. Of course, I'll give you money and see that you're taken care of. But there really shouldn't be any problem. I hope not, in any case.´¨ The husband makes it sound like Mary must depend on him -- like she is worthless without him. In reality, Mary can take care of herself. As if to prove this point Dahl has Mary kill her husband. Which can be seen as the ultimate act of revenge. At this point, Mary has called the cops and they are arriving. ¨´The car came very quickly, and when she opened the front door, two policemen walked in. She knew them both. She knew nearly all the men at the police station."Is he dead?" she cried. "I'm afraid he is. What happened?´" This is perhaps the darkest form of revenge simply out of the fact that the statements she makes are out of anger. It is plain deceit -- Mary is lying to men she has known for a long time. The dark and simple dialogue in this section of Lamb to the Slaughter shows an extreme form of revenge, in the case, murder.