Literary Themes In 'Silence Of The Lamb'

After a few tries, Jack and the hunters finally catch a pig. The boys and Jack brutally attack it and kill it. This is the first step of Jack's decent to primitive savagery. We see the loss of innocence because Jack has killed his first living creature, and also had a loss of innocence sexually. Now we see Jack become very confident in his hunting ability and we start to see him act more like a hunter. He now wears a mask over his face and always wants to hunt. The author has this to say about Jack and his mask, "the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (62).  With the aid of the mask, Jack is now transforming into a different person. He seems to be happier as a hunter. The author also lets us into Jack's mind, for his thoughts on his first kill, "His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink" (70).

There are three principal sources of interest in narratives: suspense, mystery, and irony. In the narratives “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Ronald Dahl, irony is a primary source of interest. Irony is defined as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In both of these cases, the use of irony by the authors greatens the impact the pieces have on their audience. In both “A Rose for Emily” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the authors have numerous pieces of irony throughout their respective stories; this use of irony creates a better reading experience for the reader.

Can a person kill someone they really love. Roald Dahl’s mysterious story, ”Lamb to the Slaughter,” takes place in the 1950’s. Dahl introduces Mary Maloney, the protagonist, as a conformable, obedient women, who is six-months pregnant and is obsessed with her husband, Patrick Maloney-a detective. The story begins with Mrs. Maloney eagerly waiting for her husband. When he arrives, Dahl makes it obvious that there is something wrong with the dialogues of his mood, which were very harsh towards Mary. The revelation of Patrick Maloney leaving her completely transformed the once gratified, loving Mrs. Maloney into a brutal, cold-hearted murderer. One lesson the story alludes to is that when people withstand heartbreaking incidents, it is easy for

Montag lives in a selfish society where everyone thinks solely about themselves. When Montag says this is the age of the disposable tissue, he is not really referencing the handkerchief someone would blow their nose with. He is enlightening the reader on how people in his society only utilize other people for the goods and services they contribute. Someone in his society would be friends with another person merely because they could benefit them in some way. An example from the book that would prove he is correct is when Mildred uses Montag for the money he is able to provide her with. When he threatens to quit his job, she leaves him and calls the fire department exposing his secret stash of books. He is implying that this is an unacceptable way of life. Montag used to act this way and think nothing of it. Then he met Clarisse and she

In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, has many examples of imagery, irony, details, and language which keeps the

"Fahrenheit 451", and "Animal Farm", are influential novels, displaying the theme of journey. Throughout these novels, the importance of characters, and decisions influence the plot. "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, tells the story of a depressed fireman in a futuristic dystopia. With books deemed illegal, fireman, Guy Montag destroys printed books for a living. While George Orwell's "Animal Farm", takes place in the Manor Farm run by Mr.Jones, an alcoholic human who labors the animals on the farm. In both books, the hardships the characters face affects the impact of their expedition. The pieces, “Animal Farm” and “Fahrenheit 451”, exhibits the theme of journey through beginnings, hesitation, and struggles.

It is expected for arguments to arise when writing about controversial topics. Many times the meaning of a book is not as obvious as the author intended, which may lead to problems. Other times, books are challenged because they contain sexual or inappropriate material. When Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five critics were quick to judge his peculiar way of writing. Although Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five was oftentimes misunderstood, interpreted as inappropriate, and judged for the peculiar point of view, critics seem to appreciate and accept one aspect of it: the structure of the book.

Jack is an example of a loss of innocence because he goes from wanting rules to a level of complete savagery. Jack has the realization that killing leads to fear which brings power, so he must kill to reach the top. Once Jack paints his face and looks upon his reflection in a pool of water, he is changed, “He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling” (page 64). Jack’s excitement seems to be an indescribable possession. The intensity for the hunt represents how they are falling further. “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife…Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands” (page 135). These children seem to represent that they have been brought up in innocent homes, so the killing and bloodlust is new for them. All of these specific events can show that Jack’s change in innocence

Characters mutate more and more as the novel progresses, which makes the character dynamic. The change that a character undergoes works to impact the overall theme of the novel. Over the course of John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, one of the characters, ma Joad has drastically developed. She changes into a more nourishing and optimistic character.

The diction in this novel helps us understand each character differently, by their chose of words and their tone we get a perspective of what they are going through and their

To begin with, the passages include that the characters lacks of maturity and that they are shy. First, in the

“Is there, then an evil that is innate, that is the little piece of monster in all of us.” (Cusatis). Every person has two sides, no one is completely good or completely evil. In the East of Eden, John Steinbeck uses a biblical metaphor to illustrate the innate good and evil that humans encounter. The novel includes several characters that are purely evil or do evil deeds. The Trask family is directly correlated to the Garden of Eden and other biblical narratives. “Steinbeck puts more into his stories than Genesis 4” (Fontenrose). Steinbeck illustrates the concepts of good and evil, family, and love to describe the frailties of the human experience.

Baruch Spinoza once said “Experience teaches us no less clearly than reason, that men believe themselves free, simply because they are conscious of their actions and unconscious of the causes whereby those actions are determined.” He compared free-will with destiny and ended up that what we live and what we think are all results of our destiny; and the concept of the free-will as humanity know is just the awareness of the situation. Similarly, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five explores this struggle between free-will and destiny, and illustrates the idea of time in order to demonstrate that there is no free-will in war; it is just destiny. Vonnegut conveys this through irony, symbolism and satire.

Slaughterhouse-Five, a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, tells the story of the devastating effects of war on a man, Billy Pilgrim, who joins the army fight in World War II. The semi-autobiographical novel sheds light on one of history’s most tragic, yet rarely spoken of events, the 1945 fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany.

The motif of the lamb leg within “Lamb to the Slaughter”, by Roald Dahl, contributes to the development of the story by embolizing Mrs. Maloney’s facade of innocence, which in turn strengthen the moral dilemma of either turning herself in as a criminal risking her child’s life or to continue living as a metaphoric lamb leg with the benefit of allowing her to raise her child without fear.