The Masked Slaughter
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is a short story that revolves around the main character, Mary Maloney, who is depicted as a regular housewife with an unhealthy obsession for her husband, Patrick Maloney. It begins with Mary anxiously awaiting each minute for Patrick’s, arrival from detective work. When he comes home, Patrick tells Mary that he is going to divorce her for an unexplained reason. This leads to Mary ultimately killing her husband and getting away with the murder she committed. The universal theme that revolves around this story is that some people are not how they perceive to be and to watch out for Deception.
Throughout the beginning of the story, it’s shown that Mary and Patrick have a normal relationship, but that’s far from the case. From the very beginning, it’s apparent that Mary has a serious obsession over Patrick; almost unusual. Roald Dahl describes this emotion through the words, “She loves the warmth that came out of him when
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Patrick is perceived through Mary emotions to be the ideal brisk husband, but, when he comes from a home that's far from the case. He comes home acting strangely indicated by “Yes, he sighed. I'm thoroughly exhausted. And has he spoke, he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drank it down in one swallow, although there was still half of it left.” Furthermore, this leads to Patrick unexpected news that he is most likely going to divorce Mary. The divorce is indicated by “And I know it's a tough time to be telling you this, but there simply wasn’t any other way. Of course I'll give you the money and see that you're taken care of. But there really shouldn't be any problem.” As a result, the sudden change in emotions of Patrick is what sets the pace of the whole story. Roald Dahl uses Deception as a way of expressing that Patrick is really not who he seems to
Often people are not what they seem. According to Roald Dahl, in “Lamb to the Slaughter,” “But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” When in public Patrick Maloney was the doting husband, but when the doors hid outside eyes Patrick revealed his true feelings. He wanted a divorce. He wanted to ruin his wife and soon-to-be child, but without anyone knowing. Thought the passage, the tone is revealed as condescending. The way Mr. Maloney talks to his wife is as though she is a small and unknowing child.
.... The sparsely decorated apartment with black counters and shelves makes a statement in how little actual value that material possessions have in Patrick's opinion. Another over-the-shoulder perspective shot shows Patrick's reflection off the Les Misérables picture frame, supplemented by the chiaroscuro, further supports how the image of Patrick that he sees is mostly obscured by the dark inner thoughts in his mind. The closeup shot of Patrick's face as he slowly peels off a facial mask showing that he wears a metaphorical mask to pretend that he is emotionally present, saying that he is "simply not there" even when people can interact with Patrick physically.
He can hear her steps down the stair to the cellar. He almost burst into tears. Patrick knows that he can’t give up now, not after he have broken her heart and made up everything so she can leave him. There was no Rebecca, he had no son, his parents didn’t force him into this marriage he was the one who made things look like that both their parents wanted them to get married. Patrick was afraid that she wouldn’t agree to this marriage. I can’t stop now, Patrick thought to himself it’s working she’s believing it; he told himself to hold back the tears but one still slip down his cheek.
Striking, the boy conveyed an unparalleled impression. Deeper into this utopia however, his once charming disposition, slowly cracked to reveal his true monstrous nature. Out of the dream, emerged a nightmare. Malevolent, malicious, masks fell off to reveal a mentality concealed before. First impressions are not always accurate, sometimes underneath the perfection lies a different character waiting to be awakened. Take Mary Maloney in Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” for example. Mary’s character development, along with her interactions with her husband, Patrick Maloney, and the detectives from his department reveal the theme of, “Seemingly “perfect” people have a dark side.”
After she heard the news she convinces herself that he (Patrick) is still alive, she also speaks to herself/ practices her speaking to sound ‘normal’, and it shows how she felt about getting away with it. Mary Maloney was over tasked with the keeping of the house and being a doting wife to her husband, all she had going in her life was looking after her husband. Mary only wanted to be there for her husband, wanting to be with him no matter the problems they might have. Mary refused to see that her relationship was in rambles. To make her husband happy she took on as many tasks she could, along with keeping their marriage together as it was slowly falling apart. “Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked”. (Oliver Wendell Holmes,
A comparison between Roald Dahl's Lamb to the slaughter and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band
“Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all” (319). In the short story by Roald Dahl, Mary was a devoted housewife who later on turns into a cunning, deranged housewife. Mary Maloney is a woman who is 6 months pregnant, happily married to her husband Patrick. One day he comes home acting unusual and wants to tell Mary something, but she keeps interrupting him trying to make supper for him. Next thing you know Mary goes to the freezer grabs a leg of lamb walks behind him and hits him in the head. To identify the language that portrays the emotions and the changing of her emotions, this essay traces the emotions of Mary and how she changes throughout the story.
.... Maloney would leave to be with the other women. This thought though, became a reality for Mary Maloney. Mary Maloney has testified to happening to “stumble across” a will, which mentioned Mary Maloney receiving three quarters of Patrick’s fortune if he were to pass away. Being the wife a detective, Mary Maloney new how to plot a scene. First she would murder Patrick, receive his fortune to care for the unborn child, never have to face him again after he said to her face that he loved another women and had been having affairs with her. Secondly, she would need to dispose of the murder weapon secretly, and create an alibi that would testify for Ms. Maloney. Thirdly, pretend that it was all a dream and that it never happened. Sadly, it was an incredibly easy task for a clever woman such as herself. How is it that money is what shapes our world but also destroys it?
Comparing Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
..., nurturing environment. If Patrick did not act in this way, by default he would be supporting a maxim that allowed all people to take children away from their parents, which cannot be universalized, as the structure of society and families everywhere would vanish. He acted out of and in accord with duty to return Amanda to her mother. Amanda rightfully belongs with her mother, and Patrick chose to turn Doyle in to make things right. He acted from real experience and without regard for a further end. I admire Patrick, as I would have done the same exact thing. Amanda belongs with her mother, even if her mother may not be the best. Also, Amanda’s grandmother and possibly other relatives could help in her upbringing, in spite of her mother’s drug addiction. Kidnapping is not the best alternative. What would the world be like if we all thought like Doyle?
towards the reader to what is the man like but later in the story this
Henrik Ibsen created a world where marriages and rules of society are questioned, and where deceit is at every turn. In A Doll’s House, the reader meets Nora, a housewife and mother trapped in her way of life because the unspoken rules of society. Nora and the people around her decieve each other throughout the entire play, leading up to a shocking event that will change Nora and her family lives forever. Ibsen uses the theme deceit to tell a story filled with lies and betrayal.
Near the middle of the story we see Mary exhibit her bad sinister character; her personality and feelings suddenly change when she murders her own husband by hitting him at the back of the head with a frozen lamb leg. After denying all of Mary’s helpful deeds, Patrick told her to sit down so that he can tell her something serious; the story doesn’t tell us what he says to her but Mary suddenly changes after he tells her something, her “instinct was not to believe any of it” (Dahl 2). She just responded with “I’ll get the supper” (Dahl 2) and felt nothing of her body except for nausea and a desire to vomit. She went down the cellar, opened the freezer, grabbed a frozen leg of lamb, went back upstairs, came behind Patrick, and swung the big leg of lamb as hard as she could to the back of his head killing him. This act of sudden violence shows how much she has gone ...
...ng to Brad about not coming out and they start beating him up. Charlie comes in to defend Patrick and knocks one of the people out. The group starts talking to him again since he expiated for kissing Sam by saving Patrick’s life.
When the police arrived they try to understand and figure out how Patrick has been killed. But unluckily the officers can not notice Mrs. Maloney was the killer. At the end of the book Mary Maloney giggles when the officers said, “Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack?” (Dahl 18). Throughout the beginning, Mary Maloney seemed like a nice caring wife but what Patrick said caused her to do a crime. At that point, Mary knew she got away she eliminated the evidence and managed to escape. Mary laughing shows readers that the killing of her husband was not important to her at all. Therefore the theme of this story is to not trust everybody.