Mary Maloney In Roald Dahl's Lamb To The Slaughter

Owing to the fact that she was so hurt, she to a lamb leg to the back of his head and there he went crashing onto the floor unable to move (Dahl 2). Later on that day, to cover up her tracks she called the police over to tell them of the tragic accident that happened to her husband but of course it was all a lie. To get rid of the evidence, She insisted that they stay for dinner and so they did. Mary Maloney was content because she got away with the murder of her husband and in that matter it seemed as if she enjoyed it which showed her to be even more demeted than she seemed in the

“She explains to sam that Patrick is so tired he hadn 't wanted to got out for supper. She told how she’ed put the meat in the oven- it 's there now cooking.” Mary makes up a story. Here is a quotation to prove it. “Patrick! She called.

Mary Maloney “simply walked up” behind Patrick and struck him with a “big frozen leg of lamb” “as hard as she could”. This completely contrasts the starting character of Mary as a housewife whom was patiently waiting for her husband to return home, which no one had expected. She did it “simply” which moulds an image of her not needing to think through her action, effortless and swift. The readers would be disgusted at how fast her character changes, thus suspense would be created as they would constantly question themselves about how it was possible. Additionally, after she struck her husband, she thought that it was “funny” on how “he remained standing” for a while.

Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, says “If truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom.” This quote not only applies to this century, by explaining while one may be afraid of someone’s exterior, their heart may be even darker than anyone could imagine. Lies, Secrets, and deception are within everyone whether you believe it or not. “ Lamb of the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl reveals the events caused by the main suspect Mrs. Maloney herself. At first glance, Mrs. Maloney, was a simple-minded women who cares not only for herself but her husband’s as well. Behind the mask of deception, she is an unusually cruel woman with most cynical intentions.

Both the men in each story take their wives for granted and nothing else. They see their wives not being good for anything other than cooking and being an ordinary housewife. In both stories, the women prove their husbands completely wrong in their own way. In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Mrs. Maloney was an ordinary wife expecting a baby but when her husband comes home a bears horrible news, she grows furious and kills him. Patrick Maloney came home to bear the bad news not expecting her to beat him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb.

Mary brought it up to the living room, he once again rejected her trying to give him food by saying he would be going out. (2) She suddenly swung the frozen leg of lamb at his head knocking him down, thinking of her consequences of killing her own husband. Mary didn’t care what the penalty was for her but she was pregnant and it worried her what would happen with her child. (2) She quickly thought about putting the leg of lamb in the oven and preparing to go out. (2) Mary began to practice what she would say to Sam the grocery man and how she would say it, from her “hello” to her smile, it would all have to be natural.

The short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl, is about a pregnant women who kills her husband with a leg of lamb after he tells her that he is leaving. In the story, Dahl uses indirect characterization; specifically thoughts, dialogue, actions, and what others say about the women, to give the reader a detailed look at her inner self. Using indirect characterization, the author is able hint throughout the story that Mary, the main character, is a sociopath, and is very unstable during her pregnancy, without blatantly stating it. A sociopath is defined as Mary’s thoughts change throughout the story, showing the reader her development as a character. In the beginning, she is a caring wife, who loves her husband dearly and can not wait for him

Nanny who has been Janie’s caretaker has several hopes and dreams for her granddaughter. Nanny is not entirely perfect at her job of raising Janie, since her dreams for her are clouded by her own scarring experiences. Nanny attempts to insure a better life for Janie by forcing her to marry Logan Killicks, an old and wealthy man. Blinded by her own dreams, hopes, and desires, Nanny makes many impositions on Janie, “Have some sympathy fuh me. Put me down easy, Janie, Ah’m a cracked plate” (Hurston 20).

I was born as a woodsman but I didn’t want to be lonely so I decided to get married with the Munchkin Girl but I had to work to make money to buy a new house for the Munchkin Girl. The Munchkin girl lived with a old woman that was lazy and did none of the house work. The old lady didn’t want the Munchkin girl to leave her so she set off to the Wicked Witch and she promised her two sheep and a cow. So the Wicked Witch cursed my axe and and when I went to go chop wood my axe slipped and cut of my left leg and so on till I got a body made of tin. I have no heart to love with so please wizard grant my wish so I can love again.

The young innocent girl is going through a rough time in her life. She lost her brother because of the war but is too young to comprehend how people grieve in different forms. Her father, for example, is in denial and will not get over the death of his son. The transformation of the closet comes into play when the young girl is trying to seek her father’s attention because she craves his love and affection. She figures out that if she dresses up in clothes that give her features to resemble a male, then her father pays more attention to her.