Mary Maloney In Roald Dahl's Lamb To The Slaughter

Literary elements and writer’s craft are essential to a well written story that gives understanding and meaning to the readers. Authors use these elements to add deeper meaning to a story that otherwise is as dull and same as the rest. The short story Lamb to the Slaughter is about a wife who kills her husband and then tries to cover it up. The Leap, another short story, is about a girl who is telling stories about her mother’s life. Both short stories portray and utilize literary elements and writer’s craft but Lamb to the Slaughter uses them more effectively and clearly.

Roald Dahl isa world renowned children's author, with books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG. However, his short story Lamb to the Slaughter is less popular, but equally a literary masterpiece. The short story is about a housewife Mary’s relationship with her husband, Patrick. He is rude and commanding to her as she attempts to prepare their supper, so she impulsively kills him with the lamb leg she was readying for their meal. Dahl uses emotions, irony, and characterization as narrative elements to create tension between characters in his short story Lamb to the Slaughter.

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.

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

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 1951 short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney comes to embody a feminist heroine by escaping her husband's oppression. Her behaviour in the

The first reason why I believe Mary is criminally responsible for her role in the murder of her husband is because of the way she manipulated the crime scene. Mary brutally murdered her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, an unusual choice in the first place. After committing the murder, and realizing what she had done, Mary leaves his body limp and lifeless on the floor, and goes upstairs to clean up, and make herself presentable. “All right, she told herself, So I’ve killed him.” (Dahl 382). This sudden realization shows that Mary knows what she’s done and comprehends the gravity of the situation. “Then she washed her hands and ran upstairs to the bedroom. She sat down

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.

At first glance, the woman on trial today seems caring, but looks can be deceiving. Mrs. Maloney’s demeanor portrays innocence, but this woman is maniacal. I bet the jury is wondering why and how an frail, sweet, and seemingly loving housewife could kill the love of her life. The death of Mr.Maloney only has one logical explanation. The vile housewife went to the store after she killed Patrick, even though she claims she went to the store and then found her husband dead.

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.

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

The conflict in “Lamb to the Slaughter” is, that Mary. Maloney, a devoted housewife, six months pregnant, kills her husband with a leg of lamb after he tells her that he is planning on leaving her. In the very beginning, the atmosphere is very calm. Mary Maloney is peacefully sewing in her living room waiting for her husband, a police officer, to come home from work. After his arrival, they silently sit in the living room drinking whisky. Mrs. Maloney watches her husband very carefully but after he swallows his whisky very quickly and gets another stronger drink, the reader notices that something is unusual. Before she wants to fix something for supper, her husband stops her and tells her, even though it isn’t exactly conveyed to the reader, that he

Deceit is a poisonous character trait. Characters who possess this trait are untrustworthy. Roald Dahl craftily illustrates this in his short stories “Lamb to Slaughter” and “The Landlady”. “Lamb to Slaughter” is the story of Mary Maloney, a young pregnant woman struggling to cope with her husband’s betrayal; “The Landlady” tells the tale of a sneaky bed-and-breakfast owner who never lets her tenants leave. Therefore, Dahl’s incorporation of these characters within his short stories are the epitome of deceitfulness.

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.

After the murder of Mr. Maloney is done, she strays even further from the path of the lamb when she creates an artificial alibi by going through extreme lengths to protect her child from harm, which can seen within text. Her first step to create her artificial alibi was going to the grocery after the murder. Before going, she “rehearse[s] [her smiles and dialogue] several times” (Roald 3). By rehearsing, she keeps her appearance as a lovely housewife when conversing with the shopkeeper; maintaining her appearance and using her innocent semblance as her tool for manipulation. Afterwards, when the police arrive at the scene of murder due to Mrs. Maloney’s call, she manipulates the officers by setting setting the mood of sorrow and despair while she “sob[s]” (Roald 4) over the phone and conversing with the officers, then she manipulates the officers by using the artificial alibi she created while shopping for groceries, and further manipulates the officers by clouding their judgement with whisky. Mrs. Maloney’s reason for manipulation can be inferred when she questions what happens to the unborn child of a murder on the third page, which further infers that when Mrs. Maloney puts all her effort into deceiving the officers, it wasn’t for her