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
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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
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...
In the beginning of the story Mary Maloney sounded so sweet, kind and generous. She patiently waits for her husband to come home from work. As he gets in the house, Mary treats her husband with whiskey and a kiss. She knew he didn’t want to talk until the first drink was finished. Mary keeps up with her husband’s daily routine and she notices something strange. He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow but there was still half of it left in the cup. She knew what he had done because she heard the ice cubes falling back against the bottom of the empty glass when he lowered his arm. Although, when the husband tried to get himself another glass, Mary tries to get it for hi...
All of Roald Dahl’s stories seem to be brimfull of irony and wry humor, and “Lamb to the Slaughter” is no different. Mary Maloney, a pregnant, but cheerful woman is very much in love with her husband and we certainly don’t expect her to be of any trouble. It’s shocking enough to learn that her husband, who seems such a nice guy, is cheating on her and plans to move out. This changes the expectation of the story right off the bat, and we feel a compassion for the poor woman. We’re not sure how she’s going to cope with this news, especially since she’s six months pregnant with his child. So when she acts rather compulsively and strikes him over the head with the leg of lamb that was going to be his supper, we really are shocked. She’s acted
Mary played the role of a very caring wife at the beginning of the story, since she was always there for her husband and tried to do anything to serve and satisfy him. Firstly, as soon as her husband came home “She took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks”(Dahl 2). Later on when she notices that her husband seemed depressed, she asked him, “Would you like me to get you some cheese” (Dahl 2). When he says no, she replies “But you must eat! I’ll fix it anyway” (Dahl 2). This shows the care she had toward her husband at the beginning of the stroy and how her life used to revolve him. Furthermore, it shows how she used to do anything to please him. Therefore this proves how she knew her duties and responsibilities toward her husband really well. Although, in this story, Mary Maloney was not only a very a dutiful and caring wife, but during the story she transitioned into becoming an even more dutiful mother who was well aware of her responsibilities. After she killed her husband she thought of her child and wondered, “What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill the both- mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do? Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance” (Dahl 3). This shows how Mary Maloney had created this entire plan just to save her child and didn’t care what harm came to her. Therefore this definitely makes her a very caring mom, because it takes a lot of love to do such a thing. So this definitely makes her the perfect mother. In conclusion, Mary Maloney is strongly aware of her duties and responsibilities. Therefore, she was able to carry out the entire plan because people knew how much she loved her husband and so people trusted her. Also, she created this plan because
Patrick’s muscle tightens as hear Mary coming closer to him. Is she suspecting something? He thought nervously, what should I do now? What should I say? He was lost in his thoughts when Mary walked up behind him and swung the big frozen leg of lamb on the back of his head. Patrick’s vision suddenly when darken and t-- to the ground with the sounds of overturning tables and crashing
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
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,
“She moved uneasily in her chair the large eyes still watching his face, “but you must have supper. I can easily do it here. I’d like to do it. We can have lamb chops. Or pork. Anything you want everything is in the freezer” (318). Even though Mary was uncomfortable she still tried to make supper for her husband. She just wanted to be the perfect housewife and do what she is supposed to do. At this point Mary is feeling uneasy, and she is also worried. Even though her husband did not want her to do anything she ignored him. Mrs. Maloney did not want to accept the fact that her husband is trying to tell her something, and she does not want to hear it from
One of Dahl’s most prominent styles used to highlight betrayal throughout the story is point of view. The point of view of the story is told in is third-person limited, meaning the reader only gets to read the thoughts of one character. That character was Mary Maloney, the main character and wife of Patrick Maloney. Hearing only one characters view of events can make readers opinions biased, meaning the feelings they feel towards characters are from the influence of Mary Maloney. The readers do not know what Patrick Maloney is thinking so it is hard for readers to sympathize him in the beginning of the story when he tells Mary he wants a divorce (Dahl). As one critic stated, readers are unable to see into his mind, he is immediately marked as the antagonist (Bertonneau). Another critic believed that having no knowledge of his motives made his actions seem inexcusable.
As the first paragraph is introduced, Roald Dahl develops an image of Mrs. Patrick Maloney as an idle housewife. Description of the living room reflects the systematic nature of her. Table, set up for her husband with two glasses and a wine bottle proves her skill in arranging items. Roald Dahl describes her as she had “slow smiling air”(Dahl) and “ tranquil body”(Dahl). Her image of a gorgeous and smart housewife gives a reason to her husband to adore her. Along with the sophisticated housewife, Author portrays Mrs. Maloney a passionate lover as well. In the beginning of the story, Mary feels passion and love for her husband. Her description of placid looking eyes and soft mouth, and her six-month pregnancy makes us to think of her calm and caring nature. “She laid aside her sewing, stood up, and went forward to kiss him as he came in” (Dahl) refers how energetic and passionate she is about arrival of her husband, even though she is caring a six month old baby. In the story, Roald Dahl had described every little move of her before Mr. Maloney’s arrival. After her husband’s arrival, she, like always, make a glass of whisky for her husband exactly h...
Patrick would go home and ignore her when all she wanted to do was make sure he wasn’t hungry. Mary was so in love with him she would wait on the couch because she was anxious to see her husband. She was a very loving wife and would do anything for her
Primarily, Mary Maloney welcomes her husband by saying, “Hullo, darling,”. This displays that Mary Maloney is extremely affectionate towards her husband and she is content that her husband has come home. In addition, Patrick Maloney told her to listen and she responds by saying, “What is it, darling? What’s the matter?”. Mary is worried about Patrick and what he is about to say. Moreover, it shows that Mary will always listen to what Patrick has to say. This shows that Mary Maloney is very caring and cannot bear if something horrible has happened to Patrick. Ultimately, Sergeant Noonan tells Mary that the oven is still on and she says “Oh dear me!” This shows that Mary is surprised and is pretending that she forgot about the leg of lamb in the
Along with Mary waiting for her husband to come home, she is also normal because she truly care about him. because when Dahl talks about when mary comes home from the market she freaks out when everything finally hits her. The narrator explains,“All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her, and ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry her heart out. It was easy. No acting was necessary”( Dahl 155). It made the point that she cried and no acting was necessary that her feelings for he husband and all the guilt was coming
“Without any pause, she swung the frozen leg of lamb…brought it down…on the back of his head.” After the murders, both characters are calm and do not seem to feel any regret for their actions. However, the guilt slowly begins to consume Poe’s narrator, as he begins to hear the increasing beat of the old man’s heart, “louder, louder, louder!” This represents the increasing guilt he feels, which mentally forces him to admit to the murder. In contrast, Mary Maloney shows no remorse for murdering her husband, and cunningly manipulates the police into believing her lies. This forces the reader to question her basic morals and state of mind. Both stories explore the ways murder and guilt can consume the perpetrator both before and after the act. They also highlight different ways in which murder can affect mental
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 ...