How the Stories Were Scary The two stories are interesting, but the story “The Landlady” is pretty creepy, while the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” is not so creepy. The story “The Landlady” is creepy because the lady in the story checks out and always compliments the 17 year old boy that is staying at the B&B. In the story the lady and the boy are walking up the stairs, and the lady turned around and checked him out. The lady also seems too nice. The lady always uses sweet words and offers so much. Another thing that makes “The Landlady” creepy is how she has the book of people that have stayed at the B&B, and there is only two people on the list. The lady also cuts off the boy when he figures out who the boys are and tries to tell her
where he has seen him, so he will not want to leave. In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” I do not find it scary because in the story the women just kills her husband and just tries to play it off. She killed him with a lamb leg. After she kills her husband she goes to the store and tries to come back and act like she had no idea he died. All of these facts are proving why I think these stories are scary, or not so scary. I believe these stories are written well, but they are not too scary.
The repetition Roald Dahl uses helps the scare factor in “The Landlady” and “Lamb of Slaughter”. In “Lamb of Slaughter”, Roald Dahl repeats the words “Sit down” and “eat something” in the story. For example, in the text it says, “Anyways, she went on. I’ll get you some bread and cheese.” and “ Sit down, he said. Just for a minute, sit down.”. These words being repeated makes you wonder why he doesn’t want to eat, especially after a long hard day at work. Also, it makes you wonder what he wants to tell her, but it never tells you so it kinda makes you think of what he tells her. In “The Landlady”, Roald Dahl repeats the words “Bed and Breakfast” and how nice it looked. For example, in the text it says, “BED AND BREAKFAST, it said, BED AND
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens. The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general. These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences. Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.
Free Will and Warfare in Slaughterhouse Five Slaughterhouse Five is an oddly charming, anti-war book with a rather relevant historical background written by Kurt Vonnegut, who experienced first hand the events in Dresden during World War II. Vonnegut was a prisoner in Dresden, Germany, and at the time Dresden was a relatively defenseless and militarily bleak city. "The city was fire bombed so successfully (and senselessly) that 135,000 civilians were killed in the violent fire storm" (McKean). The suffering in Dresden was so horrible that writers, artists and historians have had a hard time conveying how horrible it actually was. Vonnegut wrote about his experiences forming the story, throwing several drafts away, and in the small two hundred and ten pages he tells his story.
Some people think that if they could only change one aspect of their lives, it would be perfect. They do not realize that anything that is changed could come with unintended consequences. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken both illustrate this theme. They demonstrate this by granting the main character three wishes, but with each wish that is granted, brings undesirable consequences. The main idea of this essay is to compare and contrast “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish.” Although the “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish” are both fantasies and have similar themes, they have different main characters, wishes, and resolutions.
In The Stranger by Albert Camus, for the majority of the novel, the protagonist, Meursault, is an emotionless character who has no real relationships. He did not ever take time to visit his mother, and he helps a man beat a woman up. Meursault did not make these choices because he is evil. He behaves this way because he only does things that he wants to do, because he is a nihilist who thinks human existence has no meaning, so he should live in the way that is best for him. But in Chapter Five of Part Two, Meursault changes when he lets all of his inner emotions out, allowing him to see that doing what he wants, and not conforming to what society wants is his purpose, rather than a way to pass time before an inevitable death. Finding this purpose
In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the main character is a woman who has been controlled and conformed to the norms of society. Louise Mallard has apparently given her entire life to assuring her husband's happiness while forfeiting her own. This truth is also apparent in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. In this story, Nora Helmer has also given her life to a man who has very little concern for her feelings or beliefs. Both of these characters live very lonely lives, and both have a desire to find out who they really are and also what they are capable of becoming. Although the characters of Nora and Louise are very much alike in many ways, their personalities differ greatly when it comes to making decisions regarding the direction of their lives.
“The Landlady”, by Roald Dahl tells the story of Billy Weaver who stays in a bed and breakfast in Bath, England and comes face to face with a dangerous homicidal landlady. For “The Landlady”, there is a book and a movie. There are several differences, but one that stands out the most to me is, in the book Billy was having a hard time deciding if he was going to go to the Bed and Breakfast or the Dell and Dragons. After he is having trouble deciding he decides that he will check out the Bell and Dragons, but as he is walking away his eyes catch the “Bed and Breakfast” sign. Billy starts moving forward to the Bed and Breakfast without knowing why. In the movie Billy walks up to the Bed and Breakfast and rings the doorbell. The landlady opens the door while he still has his finger on the bell. Bill tells her that he
In response to the works of writing I’ve read in chapters 19-26, each poem has a subject matter relating to the title of the chapter. Each chapter has its own theme brought into the works, but each piece of writing I’ve read told its own spin of the subject creating it’s own theme. In the paragraphs below, I will compare and contrast the difference between the themes they all portray. I’ve chosen to limit myself to only poems, because I feel that the little that is said makes it easier for me to grasp an image to what is being said and also helps to build the story more in my mind.
Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White
Thinking back to our childhood, we all remember hearing many kinds of fairy tales. Some of them inspired us others confused us, and most of them taught us valuable lessons. Through out centuries tales and stories have been used as a valuable tool to pass on our culture to new generations. There is a strong belief that these fairy tales mirror and influence society. All cultures interpret tales in their own unique way. They add and subtract various aspects of the tale to fit the needs of their particular society. The same tale in the United States is different from the tale told in Asia. A good example of tale evolution can be seen in one of the most famous tales ever told which is “Cinderella”. As a professor of women’s history Karol Kelley points out in her essay Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella “There are some 700 versions of Cinderella”.This fairy tale as many others has been changing for many years, and in recent years Cinderella has come under some criticism for its depiction of women’s roles in society.
Roald Dahl’s version of Lamb to the Slaughter, greatly presents and interprets the events that take place in the original story. This film perfectly displays the drastic change between a dedicated, loving housewife, to a mischievous murderer. At the beginning of the film, Susan George perfectly plays the role of the “perfect wife,” as she caresses her husband Patrick (played by Michael Byrne), and jumps up at any opportunity to comfort him. However, Mary’s behavior is chilling and real as the movie progresses; the movie ends with her laughing in a frightening manner upon realization that she has gotten away with her husband’s murder. The order of events in the film is also an inventive way to tell the story. The pieces leading up to her husband’s
“Lamb to the Slaughter” composed by Roald Dahl apprises the murder of Patrick Maloney. It was the year 1950, interior of the Maloney residence, where Patrick Maloney deceased. Every second, Mary Maloney examined the clock to see when her husband would arrive home from work. As Patrick entered the house, Mary noticed something erroneous with Mr. Maloney. Whenever Mary endeavored to tranquil Patrick with food, he rejected her with a no. All of a sudden, Patrick notified Mary to take a seat, there he explained to her about the divorce; he no longer wanted to be with her exasperating behavior. Though Patrick promised to leave her with a decent amount of money. With the appalling news, Mrs. Maloney became petrified. At first, Mary attempted to
Sun Tzu once said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles” (fdhdh). Although this quote may be insightful, the characters of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and George Orwell’s Animal Farm, did not understand the toll that fear would play in their actions. Written in 1945, Animal Farm explored the Russian Revolution in a way that the common man could understand. Lord of the Flies, written in 1954, also analyzed a larger idea such as religion. Both novels used common themes to better exemplify the thoughts, feelings, and structure of their characters’ minds and how they function with influences. In writing Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies, authors Orwell and Golding use fear to control
Two good, loving wives or two suspicious murderers. You decide. Roald Dahl is the author of “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “The Way up to Heaven”. In both stories, the two wives, Mary and Mrs. Foster share very similar characteristics. In the Beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter” Mary, Patrick’s wife, gave off strange characteristics. “She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man”. (87) It is very awkward that a wife would love to “luxuriate” being with her husband. She just quietly sat and watched her husband drink when he arrived home from work. How is this luxuriating? In the story “The Way up to Heaven” Mrs. Foster, the wife of Mr. Foster, also gave off strange characteristics to the reader. She was constantly worried about being on time,
“One cannot plan the unexpected” by Aaron King, means that no one knows what the future holds until it occurs. Just like the quote Patrick Maloney did not foresee his future when he explains to his wife ,Mary, that he was leaving her. As the reader, one did not expect that Mary would be capable of murdering her own husband out of desperation. “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl unveils the story of Mrs.Maloney and Mr.Maloney. Mary Maloney is hopelessly devoted to her husband, Patrick Maloney, and is awaiting her first child. Mary spends all of her time to make a sweet comfortable home for her husband when he arrives from work. Mrs.Maloney appears to love her husband throughout the beginning of the story but shockingly murders her husband due to his infidelity. Since she was a detective’s wife, she manages to put her emotions aside and covers her tracks. Mary acts fast upon the murder and comes up with a believable alibi. The detectives investigated throughout the house but it was all in vain. Not a single detective could detect that a pregnant woman would kill their own husband, due to double standards back in the 1950s. No one suspected her due to