In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, a housewife named Mary Maloney exerted all of her fury onto her husband and created a deceptive case for the police officers to solve. It was the 1950s and Patrick, Mary’s husband, arrived home after work one day—looking exhausted and weary. He spoke little upon entering their home and immediately drank a tall glass of alcohol. Mary repeatedly asked her husband if they should cancel their dinner plans and stay home for supper, but he responded by telling her he wanted to leave her and become divorced. Mary, acting oblivious to the fact that her husband was in love with someone else, proceeded to go out to the freezer and took out a large, frozen leg of lamb. After bringing the leg inside, …show more content…
He stood there swaying for a few seconds, until he eventually collapsed on the floor. Mary realized that she just killed her husband and stood there shocked for several moments. When she regained her composure, she formed a plan to cover up the murder. After placing the still hard leg of lamb in the oven, Mary went out to the local grocery store and purchased potatoes, peas, and cheesecake. In front of the grocer, Sam, she acted as if nothing had happened at her house. She behaved as if it were just a normal day. When she returned home, she pretended to find her husband lying on the floor and called the police. Mary wrecked the scene and tried to make it look as if someone had broken into the house prior to their arrival. Soon after that, the police were at her house and questioned her about her husband and how she found him upon walking inside the door. The officers examined the area in addition to Patrick’s corpse. Determining that he was killed by a blow to the head from a large, heavy object, they asked Mrs. Maloney if there were any objects fitting that description in the house. She replied that there were no objects similar to that in the
In "Lamb to the Slaughter" Roald Dahl uses the leg of lamb as a symbol of domesticity. The meat, which the primary intention of it was to be cooked and eaten, had mainly to do with the kitchen and women. When Mary used the leg of lamb to kill her husband, she turned a domestic tool into a tool for harm and murder. In this way, Mary challenged the domestic role the patriarchy of the time had placed her into. The leg of lamb also represents Mary, and the way she follows her husband, the same way a lamb follows a shepherd. The leg of lamb also alludes to the bible; in the way the Jesus was the Lamb and a martyr for Christians, the same way that Mary’s husband was a martyr for the patriarchate.
Mary is no more capable of murder in her right mind than I am of swimming across the Atlantic Ocean. Roald Dahl’s short story, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, is about the murder of police detective Patrick Maloney by his wife Mary. Driven to homicide after her husband’s unexpected announcement that he’s leaving her and their unborn child, Mary quickly regains her senses after fatally killing him with the leg of lamb. However, she would have never killed her husband if she was in the right state of mind. Mary is shown to be temporarily insane when committing the murder of her husband because of the fact that she was pregnant, she was in a state of in denial and desperation, and most importantly that she had exhibited visible signs that are attributes of a person with mental instabilities.
The “Lamb to the Slaughter” is about a women named Mary Maloney who murdered her husband who said he was leaving her. It started when Mary Maloney welcomed her husband home back from work. Mr. Maloney was tired and didn’t want anything to eat. One of the reasons why Mr. Maloney refused to eat dinner was that they had to go eat out because they go out and eat every Thursday. But Mrs. Maloney said that it was still not too late to make dinner. But he still refused. Few minutes later Mr. Maloney told Mrs. Maloney he had to tell her something very important. That was when he had told her that he was leaving her. She was very shocked about it . When she woke up from that news said told him “ I’ll get the supper.” When she was getting supper she didn’t fell anything at all except a slight nasusea and a feeling to
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl took place at the Maloney household, in the 1950’s. Mary Maloney is a married woman; her husband is Patrick Maloney. Meanwhile, Mary was pregnant. Mary loved Patrick, she enjoyed his presence once he arrived home from work. Mary would wait for Patrick to come home; she would even gather refreshments upon his arrival. Mary was compassionate and understanding of him, until one evening when he arrived from work.
Later, when she arrived back home from the store she was shocked to see her husband lying on the floor, dead. Jack Noonan came to the scene to help find the weapon and catch the murderer. He examined Patrick's body and noticed some dry blood on the back of his head. Officer Noonan came to the conclusion that, "Patrick had been killed by a blow to the back of the head." The object used to kill Patrick
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.
In his short story, Lamb to the Slaughter, Roald Dahl, through the use of symbolism and diction, gradually shows how a seemingly innocent character turns evil. One of Mary Maloney’s most obvious acts of evil is the murder of her own husband, Patrick Maloney who, similar to a lamb unsuspecting of its fate when it is led to slaughter, was caught completely unaware. She walked up behind her husband and “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). She planned on murdering her husband and it was not out of self-defense. The murder of another person is a crime, and it goes against human morals as well.
Mary Maloney, a character in Road Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter”, goes from being caring and loving, to a cold and unforgiving woman, to a self-possessed and calculated widow putting on show for the police, due to a series of events in the story. At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Mary Maloney as woman who loves and cares about her husband deeply. When Patrick arrives home from work he comes in the door, Mary takes his coat and hangs it up. Then she pours him and herself a drink and they sit back and relax in their chairs. While Mary is sitting in her chair she thinks to herself, “She knew he didn’t want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after
“Years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute.” -Edgar Allan Poe (goodmorningquote). Patrick and Mary Maloney were a happy couple that lived the ideal middle-class suburban life. That is until a confession of betrayal destroyed their lives together and ended the life of one. Roald Dahl builds literary elements in "Lamb to the Slaughter" to demonstrate unpredictable behavior often follows feelings of betrayal. The central idea of the story is built on: plot, characterization, and conflict.
Maloney slaughter. “She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes, looking at the body, still holding the piece of meat tightly with both hands.” Patrick’s wife surprised herself. He triggered these emotions that resulted in his death.What leads Mrs. Maloney in even more distraught is Patrick just leaves without a care in the world. “ ‘I already told you,’ he said. ‘Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.’” This could contribute to Mary’s shock, living with somebody that you expected to be with your entire life and then have them get up and leave
Unlike all the murders in the world this murder was not planned until the very moment Mary decided to. During the story, after her husband said he was going to leave her, she wanted to murder him. Without any real murder weapons she found a leg of lamb. Quietly “she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high and brought it down as hard she could on the back of his head” (Dahl 4). She had to think of something quick limiting her choices to either cry or to murder him. In the end, she chooses an option and murders him. This shows that she is a quick thinker, but that will lead her to the next part. How to get rid of this murder weapon? The leg of lamb was in her hands and she had to do something about it before the police finds out that her husband died. She quickly puts into the oven and begins cooking it. And before you know it the police come and as people work, they get hungry and same as the police. Mary takes advantage of that and the police eats it. And the police talk, “That’s the hell of a big club the guy must’ve used to hit poor Patrick [...] Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises.” “Probably right under our very noses” (Dahl 9). Mary Maloney outsmarted the police, knowing that they would be hungry and knowing how to get rid of the murder weapon. She made the police think she was innocent because she gave the police good hospitality and acted if she loved her husband. In the end, Mary Maloney outsmarted most of the
In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter, Alfred Hitchcock a world renowned actor, does his version of the story in film version, based on the Roald Dahl original. This viewing of the Hitchcock film, made me think very differently about the characters. In Hitchcock’s version, it is easier to imagine the personalities of the characters and the setting of the story. Hitchcock's story is similar to Dahl’s because Mary Maloney kills her husband with a leg of lamb, and Mary Maloney calls the police claiming that someone killed her husband. On the other hand, Hitchcock’s story is different because it gets more in detail about when Patrick was doing and why he wanted to leave her.
Furthermore, as the police officers come in to investigate, she starts weeping and acts miserable, despite the fact she ferociously murdered her own husband. Mary Maloney comprehensively executes a plan which leads the police officers thinking it is absurd that she committed the murder. Moreover, Mary Maloney goes to such an extent that she victuals the police officers the leg of the lamb, which she used to ruthlessly murder her husband, therefore, causing there to be no evidence of her actions. Mary Maloney's cunning trait allows her to successfully get away with the murder she had committed by utilizing her cleverness to bamboozle the police officers while playing it off innocent very slyly. Finally, as Mary Maloney executes her plan, she proves she is a valiant woman because of the abundant lies she tells the police, which could lead her to receive several felonies. To successfully execute her plan Mary Maloney acts to be surprised when she finds her husband died, "Quick! Come Quick! Patrick's dead!" (Dahl 15), she cries to a police officer. Here, Mary Maloney being a valiant woman becomes quite ostensible. This goes to show how Mary Maloney takes a tremendous risk by endeavoring to cover up evidence and making plausible stories of her whereabouts to avoid receiving
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.
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.