Lamb To The Slaughter Analysis

Mary Maloney was sitting in her living room when her husband, Patrick Maloney, came home. This was the premises of the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” composed by Roald Dahl. Patrick was a police officer; his wife stayed at home, which was typical for the 1950s, which was the time period of the story. The couple had been, so it seemed, happy throughout their marriage. In fact, Mary was pregnant with a baby boy. It felt like another normal day when Mr. Maloney stepped through their home’s door. Patrick Maloney always had a drink when he arrived back at his house after work. However, something was off about him on the particular day the story took place. He did not take off his jacket, to begin; he immediately moved to pour a glass of whiskey after walking into the house, kissing Mary as he did so. He told his wife that he needed to tell her something, that she might want to sit down when he did so. The news he requested Mary listen to was this: he wanted to leave Mary for another woman’s love, he wanted to divorce her. Not being able to believe this statement, Mary retreated into a state of shock, saying she would fetch the meat to cook dinner. She hoped that if she acted as if nothing happened, the information wouldn’t be true, the suddenly serious tone of the night would lift. Nevertheless, when she returned from acquiring the meat, Patrick was standing by a window, packing to leave. The woman didn’t mean for the next event to