Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl has published several novels and nearly 50 short stories all of which, without exemption, are fascinating, intriguing and bizarre to say the least. One of Dahl's more famous stories is "Lamb to the Slaughter".

This is a twisted, gripping tale of Mary Maloney, who murders her own husband by hitting him with a frozen leg of lamb and then hiding her crime and disposing of the evidence by feeding the lamb to the policemen who come to investigate the murder.

This clever story is crafted down to the smallest detail - every word and expression implies something, often has a second meaning and so manipulates the reader's opinion. The factor that makes this story even more interesting, is that it is written from the murderer's point of view, while the opinion of the author is still evident.

Roald Dahl effectively developed the protagonist both directly and indirectly; however

the use of indirect characterisation is more dominant because it reveals and explains Mary Malloney's actions. In the beginning of the story, Mary Malloney appears to be an ordinary house-wife, awaiting her husband's return, but already Dahl starts creating the enigmatic atmosphere of the story by describing Mary as "curiously tranquil".

The choice of adjective "curiously" implies that Mary Malloney is not usually as calm as she is today. Dahl also mentions that Mrs Malloney's "eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger, darker, than before. All these things aren't characteristic of her and Dahl's uses the word "new" to make the reader realise this and makes the reader expect other unusual things to happen.

The serene atmosphere set in the first paragraphs...

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...ggle. The policemen think that once they find the murder weapon it will be easy to find Patrick's killer, also they are convinced that the weapon is "right here on the premises" and "right under our very noses" - this is literally true as at that point in time policemen and eating the lamb.

After fully reading the story, the reader sees the title in a different light. "Lamb to the Slaughter" - this is (in tradition of all good titles) full of irony and double meaning - leaving the reader to decide whether it means that the leg of lamb has been taken to the slaughter, or if Patrick is the lamb that has been slaughtered.

I have enjoyed reading "Lamb to the slaughter" it is original, interesting and everything else that you can expect from a story by Roald Dahl, also, i think that Mary is a convincing, dynamic character perfect for this tale of duplicity and evil.