Characterization In Lamb To The Slaughter

In the story “ Lamb to the slaughter “ Roald Dahl the author of the story, used dynamic characterization to represent Ms. Maloney’s character. The emotions that made her change the way she is during the entire story. The actions that she used to get rid of the evidence, despite being both different and a little bit darker than other plans. And the main motives for committing the acts, which were other examples of her being a dynamic character.

Our first primary statement is about her emotions. At first we see that Ms. Maloney is a wonderful, kind, and a: “ curiously peaceful “ ( Dahl 1 ), person who takes care of her husband Patrick, no matter what happens to her as long as her husband is happy. However after hearing the news from her husband that he wanted a divorce, she started becoming darker, and cold throughout the story. Some examples include: “ All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him “ ( Dahl 3 ), as well as “ In the other room Mary Maloney began to giggle “ ( Dahl 5 ). This Statement

shows that Ms. Maloney was both nice and innocent during the story, but now we see that she turns cruel and becomes crazy after her husband Patrick told her the unfortunate news.

Something else that shows us in the story, that gives us an example of her being a dynamic character is the actions that she does that help aid her, from being caught by the police. The actions that she did after killing her husband was both brilliant as well as disturbing. Once Ms. Maloney killed her husband with a very hard frozen leg lamb. She used this to her advantage by faking the scene of the crime to the officers by saying that her husband was killed by a killer. Some of the evidence that were found were: “ In a few words she told her story about going to the grocer and coming back, when she found him on the floor.” and “ She cried to him. ‘ Quick! Come quickly! Patrick’s dead.” ( Dahl 3 ). This report also shows that Ms. Maloney was both a good and friendly person in the paragraph, however that all changed when she became dreadful and dangerous during the plot because of the murder that she had committed.

Furthermore, her third and final statement is her main motive for acting the way she is.

After all Ms. Maloney snapped and killed her husband, without even knowing the consequences of what is going to happen next. The main subject on why she acted differently in the story, is a result of her husband Patrick, who wanted a divorced because he doesn’t feel any love for Maloney anymore. Some of the evidences that include to this topic were: “ This is going to be a big shock to you, I’m afraid “ he said “ But I’ve thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided that the only thing to do is tell you immediately.” ( Dahl 2 ). This statement is another example of Ms. Maloney dynamic characterization because at first we see that Mrs Maloney was both a kindhearted person who took care, as well as love her husband Patrick, however when Patrick told her that he didn’t love her anymore, she became corrupted with both confusion and anger because of the news that her husband told

her.

Overall for this passage, along with the textual evidence proves that Ms. Maloney is a dynamic character. It shows that she changes each time during each part of the story. Her feelings changing everytime something good or bad is about to happen. The actions that Ms. Maloney uses to get rid of the evidence. And her main reason for acting the way she is, which were other examples that explains that she is a dynamic character.