Mary Maloney Short Story

When one has the power to manipulate and deceive others, one can even get away with a hideous crime. In Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Mary Maloney, a pregnant woman, viciously pounds her unfaithful husband with a frozen lamb after learning about his affair. She takes advantage of the preconception that women are always the victims of a patriarchal society and that they are portrayed to be weak and submissive. Not only does she successfully deceive her husband and kills him, but she also cleverly deceives the police to destroy the weapon. Ultimately, it is her manipulative, ruthless, and decisive disposition that allows her to deceive the police and escape from being arrested.

As Mary’s story unravels, she continues to suffer long hours of work, starvation, and separation from her family. She reads her holy bible and is constantly reminding herself that God is with her and will see her through these trials. Her spirits are lifted her master agrees to sell Mary to her husband, and her mistress begins the journey with her, but before long the mistress decides not to go any further and they turn back. Not long after, she starts to loose hope that she will ever be reunited with her family. She becomes discouraged, and her spirit

When she enters the bedroom, her voice changes from present to past tense and she starts to reminisce and begins to talk about her mother and aunts. She seems happy to remember her mother’s room and introduces her aunts to the audiences. Mary delivers her dialogue saying that the dressing table and the small elephant statue figures are all same. When Mary gently touches her mother’s photo, she delivers a sad tone. Her performance conveys to the audiences that she misses her mother. The tone of her voice represents that she is a gentle, innocent and a loving child. Her verbal and non-verbal interactions conveyed the viewers with a message that she is an orphan.

Mary begins the story as a doting housewife going through her daily routine with her husband. She is content to sit in his company silently until he begins a conversation. Everything is going as usual until he goes “ slowly to get himself another drink” while telling Mary to “sit down” (Dahl 1). This shocks Mary as she is used to getting things for him. After downing his second drink, her husband coldly informs her that he is leaving her and the child. This brutal news prompts the first change in Mary, from loving wife to emotionless and detached from everything.

In the short story, A Jury of Her Peers, Minnie Wright, the main character, is accused of murdering her husband, John Wright. The story takes place during an investigation at the Wright’s home. There are 5 people involved; the sheriff, Henry Peters, and his wife Mrs. Peters, one of Minnie’s neighbors, Lewis Hale, his wife Martha Hale, and George Henderson, a county prosecutor. The story narrated by Martha Hale, where she develops throughout the story into a strong woman. Susan Glaspell, the author, uses many techniques such as verbal and dramatic irony, characterization, and symbolism to bring the literature to life throughout the story.

Janie and Mrs. Mallard both lead distinctive lives due to their beliefs, environment and health. At an early age Janie married Logan Killicks because of her grandmother’s dying wish (Hurston, 15). Janie soon left Killicks and married Joes Starks a prosperous man who’s desire was to become rich and well known (Hurston, 29). Starks passed away and Janie married a younger man than her named Tea Cake (Hurston 116). Janie left her home town with Teacake and had the privilege to travel to new places and experience freedom, love and happiness (Hurston, 131). A hurricane arrived to the muck and Teacake was bitten by a dog with rabbis, Teacake tried to kill Janie, and in self-defense Janie killed Teacake. After Teacake’s death Janie was able to “pull

As a young mom, Mary had days in which she felt overwhelmed she enjoyed “partying, dancing, and being noticed by men-and noticing them back - much to the chagrin of her family, friends who ended watching the boys so many nights”(Moore 19). This contrasts Joy’s choice to leave her children with family and friends because she on the other hand had to work. Her absence in her children’s life did not transmit nurture, but absent mindedness instead. Joy also “knew what her older son was into but didn’t think there was anything she could do for him now. She hoped that Wes would be different” (Moore 71).

In this letter, a very similar sentiment is conveyed as in her other letters. In this situation, the reader can also see that Mary is curious as to whether or not her brothers are still alive. The local newspaper has reported that one of her family members died in a recent battle. This shows the sentiment of civilians living anxiously on the home front and how they are impacted by news of their loved ones. Moreover, Mary also states that she waits for her husband to return every night until she cannot stay awake anymore, showing the extent of her emotions, even if her words do not convey them.

Did you know that John Wilkes Booth had actually attempted, and failed, to kidnap and assassinate president Lincoln multiple times before he succeeded? How about a fictional character like Mary Maloney? Whom of which subconsciously murdered her husband with a frozen chunk of meat after an emotional snap. Both of these people, fiction or not, have murdered people for a cause; one of which was more personal than the other. Mary’s cause was that her husband stated he was leaving her only moments before she attacked. While John’s cause was less personal, it still had a large effect on him and his future; John murdered Lincoln because he believed that it would be best for him and his country as a whole. The motives for their actions are very distinguishable

From what I apprehended from the story, I am confident that Mary Maloney is insane. My explanation as to why I think Mary Maloney is psychotic is as followed. First off, on page 1 the author illustrated the way Mary Maloney felt in the presence of her man. “She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel - almost as a sunbather feels the sun- that warm male glow that came out of him when they were alone together. She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested on her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness.” I used this quote to justify that Mary Maloney is bizarre because in my point view, what kind of wife observes and speaks of her husband in such a way? I do not think typically hear women identify every single characteristic of their significant other, showing that Mary Maloney is not sane.

During the course of "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, readers learn a valuable truth; those who seem weak are sometimes the most powerful. The characterization of Mary Maloney makes the reader believe that she is frail, naïve and a weak woman. However, this is not the case, as proven when “…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” (13). Consequently, Mary, a pregnant woman, is able to kill a large man with a single blow. This is an example of Mary’s physical strength that is hidden by her physical image.

On July 24, 2002, David Lynn Harris was brutally murdered. David had been seeing another woman in secrecy; when his wife, Clara Harris, found out, she ran over him three times with their daughter in the passenger seat witnessing everything. Clara was sentenced to 20 years in prison along with a fine of $10,000. Just as Clara was found guilty, so should Mary Maloney from the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. This story was based in the fifties and clearly shows the roles of men and women. However, when Patrick, the husband of Mary, came home, he spoke of bad news and Mary hit him on the head with a leg of lamb, hence the name of the story. Readers can automatically come to the conclusion that Mary Maloney is guilty. Her mental stability before, during, and after the incident, the logical cover up story, and her emotions and actions towards her wrong doings all prove that she was aware and responsible for the hostile act towards Patrick, and therefore should be proven guilty.

Finally, the reader is introduced to the character around whom the story is centered, the accursed murderess, Mrs. Wright. She is depicted to be a person of great life and vitality in her younger years, yet her life as Mrs. Wright is portrayed as one of grim sameness, maintaining a humorless daily grind, devoid of life as one regards it in a normal social sense. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright is indeed the culprit, she is portrayed sympathetically because of that very lack of normalcy in her daily routine. Where she was once a girl of fun and laughter, it is clear that over the years she has been forced into a reclusive shell by a marriage to a man who has been singularly oppressive. It is equally clear that she finally was brought to her personal breaking point, dealing with her situation in a manner that was at once final and yet inconclusive, depending on the outcome of the legal investigation. It is notable that regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Wright had finally realized a state of peace within herself, a state which had been denied her for the duration of her relationship with the deceased.

Detective James Campbell watched as Heinz walked out the door. “That man is such a nuisance I’d kill him,” he thought to himself. The two were the best detectives around but could never come to an agreement. It seemed the only one who could make them work together was the genius police officer Rebecca Scott. They both seemed to admire her cunning wit and skill. As he walked out of the office, Heinz knew he was being watched by Campbell. He felt the man’s stormy, grey eyes on his back, imagined his face wrapped in a snarl. Despite all of this he was not intimidated. He knew that he wouldn’t have to put up with his snotty attitude for much longer.

Sally stopped at the door to Mary’s bedroom. With a breakfast tray in her hands, Sally carefully opened the door and set the breakfast on Maria’s table. When Maria woke up, Sally got her ready. This was Sally’s daily routine, even in Monticello, Virginia. Sally Hemings was one of Maria’s favorites. Sally had always taken great care of Maria and together, they had a strong bond.