Examples Of Manipulation In The Landlady

The Landlady is a jarring short story about a woman who owns a bed and breakfast. Throughout the narrative she shows an increasing amount of psychosis, which can be characterized by delusions, tendencies to manipulate and lie, and severe attachment and obsession with a person, thought or item and. For the purpose of this essay, I will be looking analyzing three characteristics being; obsession, delusion in the form of flirtation and, finally, manipulation. She uses these traits to lure a potential victim into her bed and breakfast, where it is foreshadowed that she practices taxidermy on her guests so they may never leave her.
Throughout the duration of the tale, whether it be to convince Billy Weaver to enter her bed and breakfast, or to drink the assumed to be poisoned tea, the Landlady, who

remains nameless only to add another unknown terror to the story, uses manipulation.

Simply the welcoming manner through the way the bed and breakfast is set up is the first case of manipulation, acting as a disguise, hiding the true terrors beyond a ‘homey’ exterior. “...the first thing he saw was a bright fire burning in the hearth. On the carpet in front of the fire, a pretty little dachshund was curled asleep with its nose tucked into it’s belly.” (page 107) Later do we find out that this “pretty little dachshund” is dead and has been preserved by the Landlady herself. The fire is welcoming during a cold night in a new place. “Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself; all in all, it looked to him as though it would be a pretty decent house to stay in.” (page 108) This proves to be wrong, however the placement of the animals, the burning hearth, and the warm presence of the bed and breakfast is perfect for luring handsome young

boys to their presumed death. Once Billy enters the bed and breakfast, he is greeted by a fantastic price which he would be foolish to pass up, “ ‘Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast.’ It was fantastically cheap.” (page 109) Just as Billy says, it was fantastically cheap, and simply dumb to pass up considering he was a young man, in a new town. Finally the landlady uses verbal manipulation and distraction convincing Billy to drink the tea that, “tasted faintly of bitter almonds.” We can assume that his tea was poisoned as cyanide can be derived from bitter almonds and, when put in food, can have a bitter almond flavour. Despite Billy stating that he isn't really in the mood for tea, and that the Landlady “shouldn’t really bother”. (page 114) However, while he is distracted in thought, she offers Billy ‘milk and sugar’, by the time Billy is jutted back to reality, he can’t refuse the tea, as that would be rude. Billy begins drinking the tea, and as stated by the text “She did the same.” By the Landlady doing this, it is enough reassurance for Billy to disregard the funny taste of the tea, as the Landlady is drinking it as well. In all these instances, the Landlady uses manipulation to lure and poison Billy, despite her friendly and warm appearance.
Coming hand and hand with the Landlady’s manipulation, the Landlady is clearly delusional, flirting and complimenting Billy, making him feel special, and flattered. She treats Billy like one of her ‘little pets’ and often makes remark of his physical attributes. At first, the Landlady “..seemed terribly nice.” (page 109) She tells Billy that she is always ready for “...an acceptable young gentleman to come along.” (page 109) Then she continues by saying, “And it is such a great pleasure, my dear, such a very great pleasure when now and again I open the door and I see someone standing there who is exactly right.” The Landlady is ridiculously choosey when it comes to her tenants, and often flirts with them, despite her age, being “...about forty-five or fifty years old” (page 108). The Landlady ‘checks’ Billy out, and because of the age difference Dahl adds a chilling ambiance and off putting foreshadowing, like the quote, “She was half-way up the stairs, and she paused with one hand on the stair-rail, turning her head and smiling down at him with pale lips. ‘Like you,’ she added, and her blue eyes travelled slowly all the way down the length of Billy’s body, to his feet, and then up again.” This was added into the story, and seems almost irrelevant at the moment, but by the end of the story, these simple cues only add onto the true insanity of the Landlady.