The Polished Hoe Analysis

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

" Mary said, after a moment, "clever to see me when I wasn't there." She stood up. "I am going home... This is being brainwashed." But Dobson wasn't about to let her go. At one point Mary asked, "Is this place bugged?"In the end she refused to budge. "I am making no statements. I have made lots of statements. It's always me you come for. Norma's a liar, she always tries to get me into trouble." At 3:30am Mary was permitted to leave. Dobson second-guessing himself. But after seeing Mary's behavior at Brian's funeral, and gathering additional testimony from Norma, he brought Mary back into the station.” Mary also attacked other kids. “The following day, three girls who were playing by the Nursery were attacked by Mary, with Norma nearby. One of the girls said that Mary "put her hands around my neck and squeezed hard... The girl [Mary] took her hands off my neck and she did the same to Susan." The police were soon called. Norma stated that "Mary went to the other girl and said, 'What happens if you choke someone, do they die?' Then Mary put both hands round the girl's throat and squeezed. The girl started to go purple... I then ran off and left Mary. I'm not friends with her now." The reason Mary Bell killed is because her mother was a prostitute and her father was not in the picture.

Firstly, by using her intelligence, she kills her husband without leaving a trace, showing that she is a sufficient murderer. For example, Mary kills her husband when she, “...[swings] the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and {brings} it down as hard as she could on the back of his head” (Dahl 4). Obviously, knowing that the police is going to appear and search for the murder weapon, Mary kills her husband with a frozen piece of lamb because she can cook it later. When Mary kills her husband with an edible item, she acknowledges that it can later serve as a delicious meal. By Mary choosing a murder weapon that can disappear by

Mary Bell had a rough childhood. Her mother was a prostitute and her father was thought to be the famous criminal Billy Bell. Her mother didn't really want her, she tried to kill Mary on “accident”. She would give her dangerous amounts of sleeping pills and would push her out windows. There was an eyewitness, who is not known, who claimed to see her giving Mary a lot of pills at one time. Her mother would bring home random men and force Mary to do very naughty things with the men. Her family tried to take

During her first appearance in court for her trial, she stated “I only killed one little old lady. Not the others. It isn’t write to pin the others on me.” When she was later asked about her motive for the sole killing that she took responsibility for, she simply said, “I got angry.”

Mary Maloney is a vicious murderer who killed her husband, Patrick Maloney, in cold blood. This woman is guilty of second degree murder. The murder was intentional, it was not premeditated. Some would say because she is pregnant and how Patrick treated her when she was pregnant she should get a second chance because of her hormones. This doesn’t give her an excuse at all she should at least get sent to jail.

In the beginning of this Southern literature novel and through allegory, imagery along with an ironic tone we can tell Welty has set an emotional, recollective storyline. Despite the novel being somewhat straightforward it is composed with multiple flashbacks that eventually the protagonist finds them connecting like a puzzle to her present life. Portraying the protagonist role, Laurel is known as a hard working women, widow and a beloved daughter. Her narration is mainly seen through her family and friends in Mount Salus, during the devastating events leading up to her father funeral. In the mix of external conflicts between Laurel and antagonist Fay, Welty describes Fay through allegory and conversation writing style as a selfish, open-minded

To start off telling why she is a murderer, she is able to manipulate others through her words and her actions. Manipulation is something that someone needs to be able to get away with others. If someone can get them to believe him or her, then that person can say whatever that person wants them to hear. This is exactly what Mary Maloney did to the police. Mary Maloney in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ says “You must be terribly hungry by now because it’s long past your supper time, and I know Patrick would never

How could Mrs. Mary Maloney, a loyal, heartfelt, soon-to-be mother commit such a horrendous crime? There isn’t any evidence that points to Mary being guilty other than the fact that she lives with her husband. There’s not even a murder weapon of any sort in the vicinity of the home. Just because someone is at the scene of a crime does not make them a criminal. Mary Maloney is no felon and she committed no murder.

“ I had a good reason to kill him though. He was gonna leave me after he got me pregnant and I would have had to take care of her by myself. So i went downstairs to the freezer and got a frozen leg of lamb. I came up behind him with one good whack and he was dead. I went to the store, came back home, and fed the lamb leg to the police so they couldn’t find the weapon. They said it was probably right under their noses and they heard me laugh in the other room and i gave up acting and told the truth.” Mary said sadly.

To begin with, Mary may be malice, but do to her quick thinking she is a loving housewife who cares for her husband. When her husband (Patrick) arrives home from work, Patrick gives Mary information that he is leaving. This shocks Mary, but still manages to round up dinner for them. She grabs the first object she could find which was lamb. On her way back to the kitchen with the big frozen leg of lamb, Patrick, who had his back turned toward Mary said he was going out and that he didn’t want her to make anything. At this point, Mary walked up behind him and without any pause, swung the big frozen leg of lamb in the air and brought it down hard on the back of his head. After Patrick had fallen onto the floor, Mary had many questions, but everything became clear to her. “She carried the meat into the kitchen, placed it in a pan, turned the oven on high, shoved it inside” (Dahl). Mary then hurries to the store to buy vegetables for dinner. On her way back she convinced herself to act normal because nothing was wrong. “And if, She happened to find anything unusual, or tragic, or terrible, then naturally it would be a shock and she’d become frantic with grief and horror. That’s the way, she told herself. Do everything right and natural. Keep things absolutely natural and there’ll be no need for any acting at all” (Dahl). Mary put a ton of thought into her plan after realizing all the possibilities that would happen to her if she was caught.

Lastly, Mary shows remorse when she walks in and sees her husband's dead body after going to the store. She was able to show emotion at the sight of her husband lying in the floor, showing that she knew that she murdered him and was fully aware of her actions. She cries and is sad because she really did love him, but her anger got the best of her, and she murdered him in the heat of the moment. “All the old love and longing welled up inside her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and

Firstly, Mary during the crime loses awareness of what is happening and snaps which can clearly be seen in the text where it says, “She couldn’t feel anything at all- except a slight nausea and desire to vomit. Everything was automatic now….” (Dahl Mary goes into a state of shock after her husband tells her that he is planning on leaving her and cannot be held accountable legally for what she did in a state of insanity and mental unawareness. This quote really shows what kind of effect this news has on Mary's character and how it completely diminishes her mental capability during this time. Others might say that “just because she goes into shock does not give her the right to kill her husband” which can be true in some cases, but truly traumatic shock, like Mary’s husband saying he was leaving her during a time

The novel, The Polished Hoe, written by Austin Clarke unravels a narrative filled with slavery, sexual and gender discrimination, labor hardships, and sexism. Throughout a story that unfolds in 24 hours, the author animates a tale of a crime narrated by Mary-Mathilda, a sexually abused slave descendent, in order to display the disturbing colonial history of the fictional Caribbean island of Bimshire. By using the legacy of colonialism and slavery, Clarke headlines the power dynamic and oppression through the deeper rooted issue that the lower class, powerless, are compliant to the volatile acts of colorism, gender discrimination, and sexual exploitation.

There are shared assumptions that have developed overtime as a means of understanding the world, which are unique in every culture; these are commonly referred to as social constructions. In The Polished Hoe, written by Austin Clarke, these constructions become clear, in efforts to shed light on the inequalities that plague habitants of the Caribbean who inherited specific invariable traits. In the land of Bimshire, Barbados as we know it, being classified as anything other than a landowning white male, comes with a host of prejudices that deems one to a lifetime of indirect servitude. Gender is a clear barrier that decides whether someone becomes a wealthy citizen, or a submissive spouse at the mercy of her superior. Hence, the untold