Examples Of Irony In Lamb To The Slaughter

“Lamb to the Slaughter”

“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl took place at the Maloney household, in the 1950’s. Mary Maloney is a married woman; her husband is Patrick Maloney. Meanwhile, Mary was pregnant. Mary loved Patrick, she enjoyed his presence once he arrived home from work. Mary would wait for Patrick to come home; she would even gather refreshments upon his arrival. Mary was compassionate and understanding of him, until one evening when he arrived from work.
Patrick told Mary he was exhausted; although something seemed to be on his mind. Mary offered to retrieve his slippers, make him another drink, as well as cook him dinner, but he shockingly denied everything. Suddenly, Patrick asked Mary to sit down and listen to him. Despite of

Mary’s love for him, Patrick announced that he going to divorce Mary.

He exclaimed that he fell in love with another woman; therefore, breaking Mary’s heart. Mary was in shock; she could not believe what she was hearing. Mary grabbed the lamb chop she was going to prepare for dinner, then suddenly slammed it onto Patrick’s head, killing him. This is an example of situational irony due to the fact that Patrick’s demise was unexpected. Mary understood that she needed to cover her tracks, she needed to hide the fact that she murdered Patrick.
Mary decided to head to the grocery to store, to make it seem as though she was not home when Patrick met his sudden death. She acted normal at the grocery store, she did not want to act suspicious. Obviously she needed to act surprised when she saw her husband lying dead on the floor. Mary dropped her purse as well as her groceries, she even destroyed her items around him, to make it seem as though there was an intruder. Finally,

Mary called the police, crying. She choked out that Patrick was dead, she needed the police to come investigate. Police and detectives arrived; they immediately began searching for any possible clues. They came to the conclusion that Patrick had been hit in the head with something similar to a club, as well as it was unexpected. They even concluded that it was by someone he knows, due to the fact that he did not have his gun out. They questioned Mary, but they did not think it was Mary. This is an example of dramatic irony, because neither the police nor the detectives had suspicion for Mary. Although, the audience does know that it was Mary the killed her husband. Late that night, Mary offered the police and detectives her lamb chop that had been cooking in the oven, as well as coffee. As they were chatting about the crime, Mary was listening in on their conversation. One man said that the object used to kill him may be right under their noses, meaning it may be in the house. This made Mary giggle, because they what was used to kill Patrick is under their noses, they were eating the lamb chop. This is an example of verbal irony due to the fact that they meant that the object they are looking for may be in the area. Although, Mary took it literally, due to the fact that the lamb chop was under their noses.
In the end, Mary was not caught for the murder of her husband Patrick. She dearly loved him; therefore, she could not handle the fact that he wanted to have a divorce. The police and the detectives investigated the case, but did not come to a conclusion. In the passage there were true clues. One true clue in the passage was that there was an enormous gash on the back of Patrick’s head, they could conclude that he was hit in the back of the head. There were red herrings, or false clues as well. One false clue in the passage was that their family room was destroyed, so the investigators could conclude there was an intruder; although, there was no intruder. Mary was not convicted of murder, even though she caused the shocking demise of her husband.