Lamb To The Slaughter Patrick Maloney Emotions

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People’s emotions can change very quickly, and they can act irrationally when those emotions are furious or shocked. In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Mary Maloney brutally murders her husband after he told her they were getting a divorce. Then when the police visited her home, she convinces them to eat the murder weapon, a leg of lamb. Both Mary and Patrick Maloney’s emotions change throughout the story, and their actions support their emotional changes.

Patrick Maloney has a huge change of heart about his marriage with Mary. He had always seemed content with his marriage, but he came home from work acting very different from his usual self, “...as he spoke, he did and unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drank it all in one swallow although there was still half of it left”(Dahl 1). We as the reader can tell that something is bothering …show more content…

She waits for Patrick to come home all day, even saying,” ...she glanced at the clock...she merely wanted to satisfy herself that each minute that went by made it nearer the time when he would come home,”(Dahl 1) and she is ecstatic when he finally comes home from work. Her mood shifts when he constantly refuses her kindness and proceeds to tell her that they were getting a divorce. He didn’t even give her a choice in the matter, he basically told her this is what we are doing, like it or not even saying,”but there really shouldn’t be any problem. I hope not, in any case. It wouldn’t be very good for my job” (Dahl 2). After she hears this news, Mary basically goes into autopilot mode. She goes down to the freezer, gets a big leg of lamb, and walks toward him in the living room. Without thinking, she,”... simply walked up behind him and without any pause, she 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 2). She acted without thinking and acted irashionaly out of anger and

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