Mrs. Maloney In Lamb To The Slaughter

Associate professor Julie Bette at University of California wrote an essay regarding young women views about their gender. In this chapter titled “Women Without Class”, the author, Julie Bette, explores how female teenagers express different version of their femininity. Bette conducts her exploration by observing and interview female high schoolers in small town located in California’s central valley. The tittle “Women Without Class” to reflects Bette’s interest in young women from modest means and low educational attainment, who have low “cultural capital” to enable class mobility.

The wife Mary Maloney was a devoted house wife at the beginning of the story. One example is that she had the whiskey ready for her husband right when he got home. Mary had it ready for him because she wanted him to be relaxed and calm. Another example is that she was extremely nice to him and really anxious. She kept asking him if he wanted another drink or if he wanted something to eat like a snack before they go

Mary Maloney is a sympathetic character because she covered up Patrick’s death to protect her baby. All of the tricking and deceiving she did was to save her unborn child from what could have happened as a result of her actions. She did not know what the laws were for murdered with unborn babies and she did not want to find out. Dahl states, “ What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance” (3). Mary’s number one concern was for her baby. She did not want

Mrs. Maloney wants revenge on her husband. But why does she want revenge on her husband? Her husband is leaving and they have a baby boy on the way. So that could have something to do with it.

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.

Is it possible for a loving wife that is six months pregnant to love her husband with all her heart, but then moments later is found to be the wife that murders her husband? Well, Mary Maloney is the wife of a detective named Patrick, an alcoholic man that comes home from work only to see his wife that he no longer loves. One day, when Patrick is not sober, he attempts to deliver some upsetting news to Mary about a divorce. Sadly, she does not believe it and carries on with her life, but after having to believe it, Mary takes revenge on Patrick by taking his life from him. Mary Maloney is extremely intelligent and is a very deceiving female character in the short story called, Lamb To The Slaughter. Throughout this story, her character traits do not just portray how she is an effective murderer, but a strong actress as well.

According to the US Department of Justice, out of 3.5 million accounts of family violence, 49% of those accounts were crimes of violence committed against spouses. Mary and Patrick Maloney were a typical couple in the 1950’s. When Patrick comes home one night to give Mary some alarming news she becomes very upset. Later that night Mary Maloney’s husband, Patrick, would fall into the 49% of criminal cases of violence that quickly lead to his death due to Mary murdering him. The reasons that she is guilty is because as soon as she killed him she looked back and she knew exactly what she had done. Another key point is that she rehearsed her smile and touched up her face makeup so that she would hide the guilt of what she had done. One other reason that she is guilty is because of her laughing at the end of the story showing that she was relieved that she had gotten away with the murder of her husband. Mary Maloney is most definitely guilty of murder because she was fully aware of what she did, she tried to cover it up, and she was glad that she got away with it.

This is where the reader knows more then the characters, having seen the murder from Mary’s point of view and now watching the police officers discuss the crime. Also ironic, is that the police officers are doing Mary a huge favour by eating the evidence, making her practically undiscoverable. What is also special about the story, is that in the very beginning, Mary Maloney is described as a weak woman, only devoted to her husband and submissively in love with him. The reader is completely shocked when she murders her husband.

Once hearing this news Mary Maloney was in complete astonishment, so amazed she could hardly speak. Dahl states, “her first instinct was not to believe any of it. She thought that perhaps she'd imagined the whole thing. Perhaps, if she acted as though she had not heard him, she would find out that none of it had ever happened” (Dahl 381). The circumstance in which Mary was faced with created upon her an oblivious mind. The reason for why Mary tried to avoid reality is not because she is unintelligent, but because of her obliviousness to divorces. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was a short story written and based off the time period of the 1950s. In the 1950s men never left their wives for other woman. Mary Maloney is not guilty, but oblivious to the idea of a divorce which developed her mind to reach the point of

After her outrageous outburst at her husband, Mary quickly and cleverly plays out her next actions, so that she will not be considered a suspect. She puts the leg of lamb, her murder weapon, in the oven to cook, and later she tricks the detectives into eating the lamb eliminating one piece of evidence. “Why don't you eat the lamb in the oven?(Dahl ” . This shows that she knew she killed him and had to get rid of the evidence. It also shows that her brain had the ability to reason and think quickly, denying any claim that she has a mental disability. In the text she knows she has to maintain her composure so that no one is suspicious of her. “Keep everything absolutely normal, and there will be no need for acting at all.” Mary Maloney tells herself while she is trying to manipulate the murder scene, so that she is in the clear. All in all, Mary's ability to clearly think and plan an escape from murder charges proves she is not mentally insane.

Last time you have heard of Ms. Maloney was when she had a little lamb who got their leg chopped off which Mary used to killed her husband with the leg and fed the leg to the police. Well… now she has given birth to her baby Olivia and has gone to jail. Olivia had to go to an adoption center while her mom was in jail. Mary is no longer allowed to have any kids or anyone live with her unless she loves them and they get married. She is currently living alone and misses her husband even though he was about to leave her with the baby.

Everything has been done routinely and Mrs.Maloney is anxiously awaiting her husband’s return. “Why,?” you may ask. So that she could murder him! Patrick only wanted to come home and relax after a long day at work. He worked long hours to protect the innocent. Meanwhile, Mary who seemed innocent, spent those hours planning his death. Patrick trusted his seemingly-loving wife. She betrayed him. Mary Maloney is guilty of first-degree murder.

This shows that the wife is easy going and that she doesn’t rebel against her husband when he abuses her, whereas the situation of the wife in ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ is different. She is referred to by her name Mary Maloney and is six months pregnant. This is important because it shows what stage of her marriage life she is in and if it affects the outcome of the story. She is reliable and dependant on her husband to make her happy as it quotes ‘she loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man’. This shows that Mary enjoys just sitting down if it is her husband who is beside her. Also when you first begin to read ‘Lamb to the slaughter’ you get the sense of feeling that Mary Maloney is calm and caring ‘there was a slow smiling air about her’. The writer does this so that the reader begins to think that Mary’s character is gentle and warm. The murder then becomes more horrific as the reader does not expect a sudden change of character.

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 Maloney as a wife is very kind and thoughtful and fully devoted to her husband, as well as expecting (pregnant). The main problem with Mary Maloney is her obsession with acquiring the perfect family, and will do anything in order to get it. Mary Maloney is the stereotypical housewife of the 1960's, where it is all about making the life comfortable for the husband. In the short story Mary Maloney is almost portrayed as a servant” she laid aside her sewing…..she took his coat and hung it in the closer” in this quote we get two things, first one is that woman stay at home and the second is they