Comparing Lamb To The Slaughter And The Way Up To Heaven

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,

no matter what the event. Before Mrs. Foster’s trip to France, she was about to leave when her husband ran back inside the house. She began to get nervous about being late to the airport, so she ran to the door to get him. She put her ear to the door, and heard noises in the elevator, and instead of checking on her husband, she left him stranded in the elevator. “I can’t wait for him, I simply can’t. I’ll miss the plane. Hurry now, driver, hurry! To the airport!”(5) Mary and Mrs. Foster, also both had a suspicious side to their personality. Mary murdered her husband by beating him with a lamb leg. While Mrs. Foster Murdered her husband by leaving him stranded in an elevator while she left for two weeks. Both wives were able to get away with the murder of their own husbands. Although both characters seemed to be good wives and they always tended to their husbands, they had a suspicious side to them. In conclusion, every person has two sides, just because someone seems innocent and engaging, does not mean they are. Even a wife will turn on her own husband, so others should always pay attention to the actions and personalities of their peers.