What makes a murderer perfect to get away with it? In Roald Dahl’s story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Mary Maloney is a woman who is clever. In the story, it was any typical day to Mary, waiting for her husband to come home, so they can go out to eat. When the husband comes home, he says he is leaving Mary. Which made Mary want to murder him and she faces many obstacles, but still gets away with it. In the event that, Mary Maloney murders her husband and gets away with it she shows her dark side, which she is cunning and smart making her a really clever murderer with the traits that make up the perfect murderer.
Firstly, Mary Maloney is a cunning character who shows that she could have been a really good actress because she fools everyone
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to thinking that she was an innocent woman. For instance, after she murders her husband she has to act fast and if she was not at home during the murder. She says, “Hullo Sam,” she says brightly, smiling at the man behind the counter” (Dahl 5). Mary Maloney shows that fooling everyone is her thing. She fooled that man Sam because of how loving and nice she was even thought in her inside she was not happy, but sad. Secondly, she knew that police officers were “terribly hungry by now because it’s long past your suppertime and I know Patrick would never forgive me [...] if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you with decent hospitality” (Dahl 8). She is using her gentleness and what her husband would have done if he was there. She knew that the murder weapon was in the oven, so she waited at the right time and she wanted the police to eat it. Fooling them into thinking that she is innocent and helpless without her husband. Therefore, Mary uses her cunning skills into fooling Sam and the police into thinking that she is innocent. Second of all, Mary is a smart person.
Unlike all the murders in the world this murder was not planned until the very moment Mary decided to. During the story, after her husband said he was going to leave her, she wanted to murder him. Without any real murder weapons she found a leg of lamb. Quietly “she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high and brought it down as hard she could on the back of his head” (Dahl 4). She had to think of something quick limiting her choices to either cry or to murder him. In the end, she chooses an option and murders him. This shows that she is a quick thinker, but that will lead her to the next part. How to get rid of this murder weapon? The leg of lamb was in her hands and she had to do something about it before the police finds out that her husband died. She quickly puts into the oven and begins cooking it. And before you know it the police come and as people work, they get hungry and same as the police. Mary takes advantage of that and the police eats it. And the police talk, “That’s the hell of a big club the guy must’ve used to hit poor Patrick [...] Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises.” “Probably right under our very noses” (Dahl 9). Mary Maloney outsmarted the police, knowing that they would be hungry and knowing how to get rid of the murder weapon. She made the police think she was innocent because she gave the police good hospitality and acted if she loved her husband. In the end, Mary Maloney outsmarted most of the
people and made them feel like she was a happy woman. In conclusion, Mary Maloney is a clever character because of how cunning she was to fool everyone, which makes her character and how smart she was to come up in a short period of time. Also to get away with it which makes her the perfect murder that no one expected her to be. Roald Dahl shows Mary Maloney as a helpless wife that then later in the story shows who she really is and shows which traits you need to perfect your murder and get away with it. As woman in the world are classified as weaklings, Roald Dahl portrays a woman as smart and strong which makes her equally strong as men. This is because both men and women are perfectly equal in the world, but you should never classify a woman as weak because they might be stronger than you and they might murder you.
Mary Maloney is accused of murdering her husband with an unknown weapon for an unknown reason. Chief detective, Patrick Maloney was murdered last night at his own house, no suspects have been identified yet and the search for the murder weapon was futile. Apparently, the officer had come home exhausted from work and was waiting for his wife Mrs. Mary Maloney, who left to buy food across the street for their dinner. According to a statement, Mary arrives home from the grocery store to find her husband dead on the living room floor.
Lamb to the Slaughter is a short story written by Roald Dahl (1953) which the reader can analyze using a feminist lens and Freud’s Psychoanalytical criticism. Mary, the protagonist, is a pregnant housewife who learns from her husband that he is going to leave her. The author describes Mary’s reaction to this terrible news by depicting her as going into a state of fugue in which Mary murders her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, and later destroys the evidence by feeding the cooked lamb to the police officers who come to investigate the murder. This characterization is typical of the attitude of the society of the time of a women, pregnant, presented with a situation she cannot control. Mary’s first instinct is to reject her husband’s news
Life. Life is what gives you the ability to think, to speak, to breath and to be a part of this world. It is worth more than any amount of money, your life is priceless. Without it, we would seize to exist; our world would be utter darkness. Honourable Judge, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, today Mary Maloney stands on trial before you. A woman who took the away the life of not just an innocent citizen, but her very own husband. She was thought to be an ordinary women, a typical housewife and a soon to be loving mother. However, the facts presented before you today conclude that Mary Maloney was not just an unordinary detective’s wife, but also a murder. On April 13th 1953, the life of Patrick Maloney came to a tragic end because of leg of lamb in the hands of Mary Maloney. For the following reasons, Mary Maloney, wife of the deceased, is guilty of 1st degree murder.
It was a normal evening in the Maloney home. Mrs. Mary Maloney sat sewing, while waiting for her husband to return home after an involved day as a police officer. Around 5 o’clock Mr. Maloney returns home with shocking news and… Bang! …a leg of lamb hit over his head and Mr. Maloney falls to the ground dead. All evidence and theories, point to Mrs. Maloney being the killer of her husband, but why? Mrs. Maloney did not kill her husband out of anger after the recent marriage incident, but she did it as a result of mental anguish, self defense and trauma inflicted upon her by her husband. All these events explain exactly why Mrs. Maloney murdered her husband out of reasonable measures.
In Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” Mary Maloney is put in this exact situation. Mary ends up killing her husband with a leg of lamb because of the news he told her. The question being asked is Mary Maloney a psychopath or is she just a normal housewife driven to extreme measures?. She waited eagerly for her husband to come home from work, she truly cared about him she didn't really have to act, she also looked so upset when the policemen were talking to her, so those reasons make it clear that she was a normal housewife.
We see with Mary that being pregnant can alter your emotions and cause someone to act much different that who they really are. Her husband being ready to divorce, makes her in denial that he no longer wants to be with her and hopeless because she will be left to raise her baby alone. Mary, not being about to think straight, kills her husband, going to show that she was evidently suffering from mental instability during and even after the killing. As evident, this was no murder committed in cold blood. Mary is innocent in the murder of Patrick Maloney by plea of temporary
To illustrate, in the author’s words, “Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven?” (Dahl, p. 324) In this quote the author proposes that Mary deceived the detectives into eating the murder weapon. This quote models the author’s use of character development as Mary went from the beginning of being good-natured and honest to deceitful. This brings the immoral evolution of Mary out. Moreover, the author plainly asserts, “And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.” (Dahl, p. 324) In this quote, the author describes how Mary laughed as the detectives ate the murder weapon. This quote reminds the reader that Mary is now “innocent” in a different sense than she was in the beginning of the story. “Perfect”, unaware, self-sacrificing, wife Mary is gone. Revealed to the readers is wicked, manipulative murderer
On Thursday, July 16, Mary spent her day like she would any other. She looked forward to the time with her husband that they had every evening when he arrived at home (Dahl). Mary was glancing at the clock, without anxiety, awaiting her husband’s arrival (Dahl). Knowing this, it’s obvious that Mary was calm and unprepared to murder her husband. If Mary is being charged with first degree murder, it states, “The killing is deliberate and premediated” (Berman). If Mary had planned the murder of Patrick Maloney she would not have been calm in doing nothing all day. Her calmness shows the fact that her killing her husband was not premeditated. However, when Mr. Maloney arrived home and gave his wife the news that he was leaving her, her entire attitude was forced to change dramatically. Why? Because when giving a six month, hormonal pregnant woman stressful news, her hormones are forced to increase
In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Dahl highlights how the the truth is closer than you think. Mary Maloney is reactive when she finds out her husband wants to put an end to their marriage. After she finds
Mary played the role of a very caring wife at the beginning of the story, since she was always there for her husband and tried to do anything to serve and satisfy him. Firstly, as soon as her husband came home “She took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks”(Dahl 2). Later on when she notices that her husband seemed depressed, she asked him, “Would you like me to get you some cheese” (Dahl 2). When he says no, she replies “But you must eat! I’ll fix it anyway” (Dahl 2). This shows the care she had toward her husband at the beginning of the stroy and how her life used to revolve him. Furthermore, it shows how she used to do anything to please him. Therefore this proves how she knew her duties and responsibilities toward her husband really well. Although, in this story, Mary Maloney was not only a very a dutiful and caring wife, but during the story she transitioned into becoming an even more dutiful mother who was well aware of her responsibilities. After she killed her husband she thought of her child and wondered, “What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill the both- mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do? Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance” (Dahl 3). This shows how Mary Maloney had created this entire plan just to save her child and didn’t care what harm came to her. Therefore this definitely makes her a very caring mom, because it takes a lot of love to do such a thing. So this definitely makes her the perfect mother. In conclusion, Mary Maloney is strongly aware of her duties and responsibilities. Therefore, she was able to carry out the entire plan because people knew how much she loved her husband and so people trusted her. Also, she created this plan because
...e oven?” (Dahl 4) Mary was very manipulative and sinister because she knew exactly what she was doing; she wanted the officers to eat up all of the lamb so that there would be no evidence of the murder weapon that she used to kill. As the officers were eating up all of the lamb, Mary was very happy and giggling while she was listening to the officers eat up the lamb, she was never grieving about the loss of Patrick and just wanted to kill him and cover up the evidence so she will not be caught.
No longer in shock, she contemplates the consequences of her actions and decides that “she certainly wasn’t able to take that chance” (320). Dahl writes that with careful rehearsal, Mary’s at first “peculiar” smile and voice began to appear normal (320). Mary’s actions at this point are portrayed as quick and calculated as mirrored by Dahl’s use of long, complex sentences in this portion of the text. Her alibi is set. Her words practiced and rehearsed. She is an actress waiting for her finale, a sobbing exchange with the police who come to investigate the death. Mary’s performance pays off in the end, after begging the officers to accept her “decent hospitality,” she tricks them into eating the very murder weapon they are searching
Comparing the Way in Which Helen Stoner and Mary Maloney are Treated in The Speckled Band and Lamb to Slaughter
Now, with her husband dead, Mrs. Maloney must find a job to support herself and her child. Why would she bring that upon herself? All good questions with the same answer, Mary did not murder Patrick Maloney. During the case, the police found a suitable alibi for Mrs. Maloney, which was solidified by Sam the grocer. Sam told the police Mary acted normal and wanted to make Patrick a good supper, and the grocer even went to say it was impossible Mary murdered Patrick.
Then she said to herself “ All right then, he would have lamb for supper.” Then she went upstairs and hit her husband in the back of the head with the lamb leg. After that she went to the store and acted like nothing happended. When she went to the grocer, she told him that she was buying edibles for her husband. After coming home she called the police and said that her husband, Patrick is dead. At first the cops were confused then they understood and came right away. Two policemen walked in. One of the officers discovered a small patch of congealed blood on the head of the victim. Then the officer called more people to help with the investagation. A doctor, two detectives, and a man who knew about fingerprints. After a while, the doctor went home and two other men in and took the body away on a stretcher. After that the fingerprint man departed. The two detectives remained, alongside two policeman. The detictives went up to Mrs. Maloney and told her that her husband with a heavy blunt insturment, almost like a large piece of