Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney

Human emotions are ever present throughout our lives. They effect events, decisions, and relationships. Sometimes we control them, but sometimes they control us. The latter is true for Mary Maloney in Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”. Mrs.Maloney experiences many changes in her emotions, and in the end they get the best of her. Dahl uses language and dialogue to show the motivation for why she undergoes these changes. In the beginning to the story, Mary Maloney seems to be a typical housewife. She is satisfied with the sense of familiarity and comfort performing womanly duties give her. She stays at home, “glance[ing] at the clock, but without anxiety” (Dahl 1). Even when he is not at home, Mary is constantly thinking of her husband,

She is now methodical, coming up with an alibi and practicing holding a normal conversation in the mirror with the neighborhood grocer (Dahl 2). Returning home, Mary prepares to act shocked when she arrives to the scene of the crime, telling herself if she “found anything unusual or terrible when she got home..she would have to react with greift and horror” (Dahl 3). At this point, Mary is very calculated and in control. She knows how to react and what to do to avoid facing the repercussions of murder. Once back at home, she calls the police, and once they arrive she begins to play the part of a grieving wife, crying endlessly. But she was still well-organized and managed to manipulate the situation into her control. Knowing full and well all she needs to do is get rid of the evidence, her now calculating mood formulates a plan. Still under the rouge of a grief stricken wife, she asks the officers, “Would you do me a favor?...Why don’t you eat up the lamb in the oven?” (Dahl 4). This showcases how methodical she is, using the situation to her