Lamb To The Slaughter Comparison Essay

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Rarely do films offer more detail then texts, however this is not the case in Alfred Hitchcock's interpretation of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter. In Lamb to the Slaughter, the main character, a pregnant woman named Marie Malone, finds out that her husband is going to leave her. She goes to prepare meat for dinner, but in a bout of rage smashes her husband’s head, killing him. Afraid for the fate of her child, she attempts to cover up her crime. Although there are numerous differences between the written text and Alfred Hitchcock’s film, the most important are the method of drawing readers in, and the effects of character emotional development on the mood, tone, and the audience’s connotative understanding of the story.
Throughout the written version of Lamb …show more content…

For instance, in the written text, Patrick Maloney, Mary Maloney’s husband, gently and carefully explains that he will be leaving her, while in the filmic version he informs her of his intentions to leave without giving her any emotional support. The emotional difference in this quote results in different interpretations of Patrick by the audience between the two versions; in the written text he is interpreted as kind and caring, while in the filmic version horrible and cruel. Another example is the interpretation of Mary Maloney herself; in the written version feels remorse for murdering her husband, demonstrating her to be mentally unstable, not cold and calculating, while in the film she cares not at all for her husband after he breaks news of his leaving her, and the murder is clearly premeditated. Denotatively, she is still a murderer, however, connotatively, the diversity between the two versions makes the difference between a terrible choice in a moment of mental instability and cruel, horrible, deliberate

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