Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney Character Analysis

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Throughout the short story unit we learn that the human mind is a powerful tool. First, Amy uses her mind to defeat her brother. Secondly, Mary uses her mind to manipulate the police in order to get away with murder. Therefore, the protagonists in our stories all follow a similar pattern of behaviour - each heroine uses her mind to overcome the antagonist against her.
In the story “Gore”, by Sarah Ellis, Amy defeats her twin brother Lucas by using psychological warfare. Amy is a complicated character. For an example, one could say that Amy is imaginative. One could prove this with information from the story. She creates a scenario and makes Lucas believe that it is really happening. One could further prove this with a quote: “Amy, you’re …show more content…

At the beginning of the story, a trait that described Mary was charming. She seemed like a fairly pleasant woman who loved her husband unconditionally. There is a quote from the story to prove this: “There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did.” (Dahl 10). She was also very tidy, which can be proved by this quote: “The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight-- hers and the one by the empty chair opposite” (Dahl 10). Her husband Patrick, however, seemed to be cold. This can be proven with this quote: “Her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a little nod, but he made no sign.” (Dahl 12). He also seemed to be a bit of a dipsomaniac. To prove this, I have a few quotes from the story: “He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow although there was still half of it, at least half of it, left.” (Dahl 11); “When he came back, she noticed that the new drink was dark amber with the quantity of whiskey in it.” (Dahl 11); “She watched him as he began to sip the dark yellow drink, and she could see little oily swirls in the liquid because it was so strong.” (Dahl 11). Mary stands up to her husband through second-degree murder. She tricks the police by devising an alibi and cooking the evidence in her oven. As a result of these events, Mary may grow more

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