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. This story presents many themes. One theme is that it is a mistake to underestimate those who appear to be weak, and those who appear to be innocent are often anything but. Another theme is that you shouldn’t betray someone that loves you deeply. Lastly, the third theme of this short story is that people do not know what they are capable of until they put it into test. One theme is that it is a mistake to underestimate those who appear to be weak, and those who appear to be innocent are often anything but. Since Mrs. Maloney is pregnant, most people would think that she can’t move much and isn’t that strong. And because of the stereotypes and that facts that she is a woman, some would say she isn’t that smart. A majority of a population would think that a murderer has to be fast, smart, and strong. So if you compare …show more content…
This theme is highly present in Mrs. Maloney. In the beginning, we all probably thought Mrs. Maloney couldn’t hurt one person. Mrs. Maloney probably thought that also. But once she heard the news from Mr. Maloney, she made it her goal to kill him. But from the time when she got the lamb leg from the freezer to the time that she killed her husband, Mrs. Maloney most likely hesitated once. She thought she wouldn't have the ability to hit him hard enough to kill. This connects to the theme because Mrs. Maloney probably thought she didn’t have the strength to kill a man. But then she proves herself
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...
Life. Life is what gives you the ability to think, to speak, to breath and to be a part of this world. It is worth more than any amount of money, your life is priceless. Without it, we would seize to exist; our world would be utter darkness. Honourable Judge, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, today Mary Maloney stands on trial before you. A woman who took the away the life of not just an innocent citizen, but her very own husband. She was thought to be an ordinary women, a typical housewife and a soon to be loving mother. However, the facts presented before you today conclude that Mary Maloney was not just an unordinary detective’s wife, but also a murder. On April 13th 1953, the life of Patrick Maloney came to a tragic end because of leg of lamb in the hands of Mary Maloney. For the following reasons, Mary Maloney, wife of the deceased, is guilty of 1st degree murder.
It was a normal evening in the Maloney home. Mrs. Mary Maloney sat sewing, while waiting for her husband to return home after an involved day as a police officer. Around 5 o’clock Mr. Maloney returns home with shocking news and… Bang! …a leg of lamb hit over his head and Mr. Maloney falls to the ground dead. All evidence and theories, point to Mrs. Maloney being the killer of her husband, but why? Mrs. Maloney did not kill her husband out of anger after the recent marriage incident, but she did it as a result of mental anguish, self defense and trauma inflicted upon her by her husband. All these events explain exactly why Mrs. Maloney murdered her husband out of reasonable measures.
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.
At the start of the story Mrs Maloney shows the theme of human beings are fake towards her husband. Instead of showing her discomfort of him ending it with her she instead acted like nothing happened. This is shown in the story when he says “Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all.” Imagery also plays a big role within the theme of the story.
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
To illustrate, in the author’s words, “Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven?” (Dahl, p. 324) In this quote the author proposes that Mary deceived the detectives into eating the murder weapon. This quote models the author’s use of character development as Mary went from the beginning of being good-natured and honest to deceitful. This brings the immoral evolution of Mary out. Moreover, the author plainly asserts, “And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.” (Dahl, p. 324) In this quote, the author describes how Mary laughed as the detectives ate the murder weapon. This quote reminds the reader that Mary is now “innocent” in a different sense than she was in the beginning of the story. “Perfect”, unaware, self-sacrificing, wife Mary is gone. Revealed to the readers is wicked, manipulative murderer
On Thursday, July 16, Mary spent her day like she would any other. She looked forward to the time with her husband that they had every evening when he arrived at home (Dahl). Mary was glancing at the clock, without anxiety, awaiting her husband’s arrival (Dahl). Knowing this, it’s obvious that Mary was calm and unprepared to murder her husband. If Mary is being charged with first degree murder, it states, “The killing is deliberate and premediated” (Berman). If Mary had planned the murder of Patrick Maloney she would not have been calm in doing nothing all day. Her calmness shows the fact that her killing her husband was not premeditated. However, when Mr. Maloney arrived home and gave his wife the news that he was leaving her, her entire attitude was forced to change dramatically. Why? Because when giving a six month, hormonal pregnant woman stressful news, her hormones are forced to increase
Would you kill the husband you love, to save your unborn child? Would you deceive yourself and those around you; to save your unborn child? In Roald Dahl’s short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the protagonist, Mary Maloney is a very dynamic character. She has a dual nature since she is very cunning yet very caring, making her the perfect murderer along with the perfect mother. Firstly, she is very deceitful and has the ability to easily cover up her lies. Not only that, Mary is a very clever character who always makes the most intelligent choices. Lastly, the woman is very dutiful, caring and is very aware of her responsibilities as both a wife and a mother. Therefore all of these characteristics make Mary Maloney a very dynamic character
In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, Mary Maloney is shown to have a very sinister and manipulative character. In the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney was a normal, loving and caring pregnant housewife that loved and cared for her husband, Patrick Maloney, very much. Earlier at the start of the story we see Mary was waiting for her husband to come home from work. She had set up the house with two table lights lit and plates on the dining table so they can have a very romantic dinner when Patrick comes home. When Patrick came home, Mary was very excited to see him. She would try to offer him some drinks and insisted she would get things in the house he needed so he didn’t have to get up himself. The countless times that Patrick said no to her offers and helpful doings, she still tried to serve and tried to make him feel comfortable and relax after work.
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.
Mrs. Hutchinson speaks out when Bill Hutchinson is chosen only because he is a family member. If he were not, she wouldn't have cared if he lived or died. When she, herself, is chosen, she gets upset about it and now it is suddenly not fair. "Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said" (Dahl 7). This is most likely how Mary Maloney in "Lamb to the Slaughter" would have reacted if she were caught with murder. She only laughed because she got away with her crime. "And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to laugh" (Jackson 4). She would have been just like Tessie Hutchinson saying "It's not fair" when they haul Mrs. Maloney off to
It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven insane by guilt, which would eventually lead to her death.... ... middle of paper ... ... As we saw, it was plaguing her dreams, and taking a heavy toll on her mental health.
The short story “Lamb to The Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is about the death of a detective who has been murdered by his wife. As officers arrive they can’t seem to find the murder and the murder weapon. The short story Lamb to The Slaughter is interesting to read because the author allows readers to put their own perspective into the book. Another reason is the storyline and finally the theme.
In ms.Maloney’s story she acts shocked about her husband telling her something and then kills her husband. Then she devises a plan to go out and buy food giving her an alibi and call the police. While all this unfolds in the story you see both characters grow. Ms.mallard settles her conflicted emotions and realizes her new formed freedom. While ms.Maloney charater goes from being a loyal wife and selfish to being a calm, cold hearted