Mary Malonee's A Lamb To Slaughter

The common theme of "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" is that presumptions give people power to betray others, as revealed through the characters' actions. Both "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are about supposedly inferior people who rise up and murder their oppressors, tricking many people along the way. Throughout "Lamb to the Slaughter", it is clear that Mary Maloney is only able to get away with murder because the detectives assume a woman would never commit such an atrocity. While they search for the murder weapon, one of them told Mary that "the murderer might not have taken it with him, but he might have thrown it away" (Dahl 4). By only using the pronoun "he" while referencing the killer, the detectives

The main character Mary Maloney is a devoted housewife that turns into murderer throughout the story. Mary Maloney was a normal wife but, throughout the story she changed drastically. In the short story Lamb of the Slaughter Mary Maloney’s actions and feelings throughout the story change as a result of the events in the story.

While doing her everyday routine, and waiting for her husband little did she know this would be his last day coming home. At about ten minutes till five she heard Patrick’s car arrive. Marry started her day like any other sewing and greeting Patrick at the door. After she poured him a drink he finished it fast and got back up to get another. Patrick then told Mary he was leaving her for another woman, in this case she had a sudden reaction. With all the opportunities present, she did something she never thought she would do. She killed her husband with malice causing her to be guilty of second degree murder.

In “Lamb to Slaughter” it shows how life was like before she killed Patrick and what she does before he comes home.The police show up at Mary’s door but don’t really suspect her at all,they don’t because she went

In the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl portrays an abhorrent murder. During the 1950’s in the Maloney household, Patrick Maloney elects to remove Mary Maloney, his wife from his life. Mr. Maloney has found the love of his life and it no more Mrs. Maloney. Added to the conflict, Mary Maloney was impregnated by Patrick Maloney six months ago. Mary was overjoyed with her amazing life, but the moment she was betrayed, everything changed for her.

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.

In Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Mary Maloney killed her husband after he told her some bad news and that he was leaving her. Roald Dahl left out a major part of the story, what did Mr. Maloney tell Mary that led her to kill her husband that she so dearly loved? Dahl used this method so that instead of reading the story then not giving it another thought, he wanted the reader/audience to express curiosity and keep on the subject of the story. Throughout the beginning paragraphs, it becomes clear that Mr. Maloney did not leave Mary because they lost a spark in their relationship. Mr. Maloney fell in love with another woman.

Mary Maloney is waiting at home for her husband, who she loves so much, to come home from work. When he gets home, he tells Mary some upsetting about wanting out of the relationship. Mary is very upset and confused by the news and reacts by killing her husband by striking him on the back of the head with a frozen leg of lamb. Mary is not guilty of first-degree murder, but instead suffers from diminished capacity. She does not commit first-degree murder because she does not premeditate the murder, she suffers from many overwhelming emotions causing her to not think clearly, and she is unable to determine right from wrong.

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

Mrs. Maloney gets away with the murder in the end. This caused by a revolting ending in which he police detectives eat the leg of lamb that was used to kill Patrick. The writer creates an unbelievable ending by making the story, up to the murder, set in a very normal family house. It is not somewhere you would associate with a morbid killing. The writer builds up an impression that the marriage may not be as good as it could be, and both were under strain not to release the tension onto each other.

Neither does the murder as it is just a spur of the moment thing 'She

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.

Mary has one motive for murdering her husband. The motive is that she couldn’t accept the fact that her husband was leaving her. He says, “ ‘This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I 'm afraid,’ he said. ‘But I 've thought about it a good deal and I 've decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won 't blame me too much...So there it is,’ he added. ‘And I know it 's kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasn 't any other way. Of course I 'll give you money and see you 're looked after. But there needn 't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn 't be very good for my job.’ " Although he didn’t say the exact words the reader can infer this when he states “… i’ll give you money and see you 're looked after. But there needn 't really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn 't be very good for my job…” Some readers might disagree with her for killing her husband because he was leaving her, but she was truly in love with him

To start off, it can be clearly seen from the short story that Mary Maloney is guilty. She makes a conscious effort to make sure she reacts as if she has not committed this crime in the text “Lamb to Slaughter” she says, “If she finds anything unusual or terrible when she got home, then it would be a shock and she would have to react with grief and horror.”(Dahl 383) By her stating this it shows that she knows she is guilty and that she killed her husband. The main reason I chose this quote was that it shows that she knows what she is talking about and that she has to act like this otherwise she will be caught and

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.