In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, a housewife named Mary Maloney exerted all of her fury onto her husband and created a deceptive case for the police officers to solve. It was the 1950s and Patrick, Mary’s husband, arrived home after work one day—looking exhausted and weary. He spoke little upon entering their home and immediately drank a tall glass of alcohol. Mary repeatedly asked her husband if they should cancel their dinner plans and stay home for supper, but he responded by telling her he wanted to leave her and become divorced. Mary, acting oblivious to the fact that her husband was in love with someone else, proceeded to go out to the freezer and took out a large, frozen leg of lamb. After bringing the leg inside, …show more content…
her husband told her he did not want dinner and that he was leaving. Patrick was facing away from his pregnant wife when she walked into the room. Mary had to find a way to stop him from leaving her. In a state of hysteria, Mary raised the heavy club of lamb up high and brought it down on his head.
He stood there swaying for a few seconds, until he eventually collapsed on the floor. Mary realized that she just killed her husband and stood there shocked for several moments. When she regained her composure, she formed a plan to cover up the murder. After placing the still hard leg of lamb in the oven, Mary went out to the local grocery store and purchased potatoes, peas, and cheesecake. In front of the grocer, Sam, she acted as if nothing had happened at her house. She behaved as if it were just a normal day. When she returned home, she pretended to find her husband lying on the floor and called the police. Mary wrecked the scene and tried to make it look as if someone had broken into the house prior to their arrival. Soon after that, the police were at her house and questioned her about her husband and how she found him upon walking inside the door. The officers examined the area in addition to Patrick’s corpse. Determining that he was killed by a blow to the head from a large, heavy object, they asked Mrs. Maloney if there were any objects fitting that description in the house. She replied that there were no objects similar to that in the
house. After numerous hours of inspection and interrogating, the police noticed that the oven was still on with the meat cooking inside. The officers decided to take the lamb out of the oven; Mary insisted that they eat the meat because they had spent a long time on the case and must be famished. Attracted to the delightful smelling meal, the policemen stayed and ate the murder weapon in its entirety. This was an example of situational irony. The detectives and officers were searching for hours for a possible weapon that was used in the murder; however, they ended up eating the evidence without discovering that it was the object that killed Mr. Maloney. While the gentlemen were eating, one of them remarked that he thought the murder weapon was right under their noses. This was an example of verbal irony because the weapon was right under their noses. They did not even slightly suspect the leg of lamb to have anything to do with the death of Patrick. As the men were consuming the dinner, Mary Maloney began to giggle as they never found out her secret. Another type of irony utilized in the story was dramatic irony. The reader knew that Mary Maloney was guilty of murdering her husband, but the detectives never figured out that she was the culprit. They simply overlooked her false story and came to other conclusions. Mary evaded being caught by the police and was never brought to justice.
In Lamb to the Slaughter, Mary Maloney, doting housewife pregnant with her first child, commits a heinous crime against her husband. After he tells her that he is leaving, she become distraught and strikes him in the head with a leg of lamb. Afterwards, Mary...
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
Having to take your anger out on someone isn’t fair or good, especially if you’re being killed with frozen lamb. Based on everyone’s understanding, when you kill someone you’ll have to pay the price and consequences. Apparently this lady didn’t. But are we sure she’s going to marry another man and kill him too? In “Lamb to the slaughter”, I’m going to be talking about Mary Maloney and how madly crazy she is.
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
In "Lamb to the Slaughter" Roald Dahl uses the leg of lamb as a symbol of domesticity. The meat, which the primary intention of it was to be cooked and eaten, had mainly to do with the kitchen and women. When Mary used the leg of lamb to kill her husband, she turned a domestic tool into a tool for harm and murder. In this way, Mary challenged the domestic role the patriarchy of the time had placed her into. The leg of lamb also represents Mary, and the way she follows her husband, the same way a lamb follows a shepherd. The leg of lamb also alludes to the bible; in the way the Jesus was the Lamb and a martyr for Christians, the same way that Mary’s husband was a martyr for the patriarchate.
Near the middle of the story we see Mary exhibit her bad sinister character; her personality and feelings suddenly change when she murders her own husband by hitting him at the back of the head with a frozen lamb leg. After denying all of Mary’s helpful deeds, Patrick told her to sit down so that he can tell her something serious; the story doesn’t tell us what he says to her but Mary suddenly changes after he tells her something, her “instinct was not to believe any of it” (Dahl 2). She just responded with “I’ll get the supper” (Dahl 2) and felt nothing of her body except for nausea and a desire to vomit. She went down the cellar, opened the freezer, grabbed a frozen leg of lamb, went back upstairs, came behind Patrick, and swung the big leg of lamb as hard as she could to the back of his head killing him. This act of sudden violence shows how much she has gone ...
Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, instantly grabs a reader’s attention with its grotesque title, ensuing someone’s downfall or failure. The saying “lamb to the slaughter,” usually refers to an innocent person who is ignorantly led to his or her failure. This particular short story describes a betrayal in which how a woman brutally kills her husband after he tells her that he wants a divorce. She then persuades the policemen who rush to the scene to consume the evidence. This action and Patrick’s actions show the theme of betrayal throughout the story which Roald Dahl portrays through the use of point of view, symbolism and black humor.
Later, when she arrived back home from the store she was shocked to see her husband lying on the floor, dead. Jack Noonan came to the scene to help find the weapon and catch the murderer. He examined Patrick's body and noticed some dry blood on the back of his head. Officer Noonan came to the conclusion that, "Patrick had been killed by a blow to the back of the head." The object used to kill 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,
In his short story, Lamb to the Slaughter, Roald Dahl, through the use of symbolism and diction, gradually shows how a seemingly innocent character turns evil. One of Mary Maloney’s most obvious acts of evil is the murder of her own husband, Patrick Maloney who, similar to a lamb unsuspecting of its fate when it is led to slaughter, was caught completely unaware. She walked up behind her husband and “swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head” (Dahl). She planned on murdering her husband and it was not out of self-defense. The murder of another person is a crime, and it goes against human morals as well.
“Years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute.” -Edgar Allan Poe (goodmorningquote). Patrick and Mary Maloney were a happy couple that lived the ideal middle-class suburban life. That is until a confession of betrayal destroyed their lives together and ended the life of one. Roald Dahl builds literary elements in "Lamb to the Slaughter" to demonstrate unpredictable behavior often follows feelings of betrayal. The central idea of the story is built on: plot, characterization, and conflict.
Maloney slaughter. “She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes, looking at the body, still holding the piece of meat tightly with both hands.” Patrick’s wife surprised herself. He triggered these emotions that resulted in his death.What leads Mrs. Maloney in even more distraught is Patrick just leaves without a care in the world. “ ‘I already told you,’ he said. ‘Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.’” This could contribute to Mary’s shock, living with somebody that you expected to be with your entire life and then have them get up and leave
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
In Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb of the Slaughter,” we read about a married couple that has a tragic yet cleverly ending. In the story, Mrs. Maloney, a pregnant woman, and Mr. Maloney, a police officer, have been a married couple for many years. But then Mr. Maloney tells his wife that he is going to leave her. Eventually, Mrs. Maloney is angered and decides to kill her husband. We later find out that she gets away with it.
Furthermore, as the police officers come in to investigate, she starts weeping and acts miserable, despite the fact she ferociously murdered her own husband. Mary Maloney comprehensively executes a plan which leads the police officers thinking it is absurd that she committed the murder. Moreover, Mary Maloney goes to such an extent that she victuals the police officers the leg of the lamb, which she used to ruthlessly murder her husband, therefore, causing there to be no evidence of her actions. Mary Maloney's cunning trait allows her to successfully get away with the murder she had committed by utilizing her cleverness to bamboozle the police officers while playing it off innocent very slyly. Finally, as Mary Maloney executes her plan, she proves she is a valiant woman because of the abundant lies she tells the police, which could lead her to receive several felonies. To successfully execute her plan Mary Maloney acts to be surprised when she finds her husband died, "Quick! Come Quick! Patrick's dead!" (Dahl 15), she cries to a police officer. Here, Mary Maloney being a valiant woman becomes quite ostensible. This goes to show how Mary Maloney takes a tremendous risk by endeavoring to cover up evidence and making plausible stories of her whereabouts to avoid receiving