Seven years passed and Gertrude feels that Farmer Lodge doesn’t love her anymore. They are both very unhappy. So Gertrude tries one more thing to get rid of the scare on Gertrude arm. She has to touch her arm against the neck of someone who has just been hanged. She didn’t tell her husband because she knew he will disapprove of it.
She went down to the prison where the person was about to get hanged. When the man bring the hanged persons body to Gertrude as he promised. Then he slowly put Gertrude’s hand on the hanged body.
Then all of a sudden, Gertrude began to scream. Then she heard a scream behind when she turned around she saw Rhoda. The person who got hanged was Rhoda’s son. Rhoda was screaming then she grabbed Gertrude arm and pulled her arm away from the body. Gertrude fell down unconscious. Because the shock was too much for Gertrude, she died three days later. Her husband is never seen in town again. He sells the farm and goes to live far away. After he dies some of his money goes to Rhoda and the rest goes to a home for boys in trouble with the law.
Eventually, Rhoda went back to her old home and goes back to work on the diary for many years she refuses to take the money left by Farmer Lodge.
Lamb To The Slaughter
Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in Cardiff Wales. He was the third of four children and only the son of Harold and Sophie Dahl. Roald Dahl father Herald was a ship-broker. Astri Roald Dhal sister died at the age of 7 from appendicitis. Two months after Roald Dahl sister died some people said that he died of a broken heart but it was pneumonia.
After Roald Dahl finished high school he went to work for the shell oil company. Roald Dahl under went training in England for three years, after which he was sent to east Africa. He was in his mid twenties and in a mood for an adventure. He would later recount his adventures at shell and his subsequent experiences as an RAF pilot in his 1906 book, going solo.
In 1953 Roald Dahl married actress Patricia Neal, Whom he had first met at a party in 1951. She was promising Warner Bros star who had recently ended a much publicised affair with Gary Cooper. They had five children together and he attributes his success as a writer of children books to them. Patricia suffered a series of near fated strokes in 1965.
In 1983 Roald Dahl divorced Patricia Neal after thirty years of marriage and quickly remarried Felicity Dahl. The last years of his life were relatively happy and productive, and some of his best books were written during this period. Roald Dahl died on November 23, 1990 oxford, England. He was buried in great Missenden.
Lamb to the Slaughter written by Roald Dahl the story is about a woman whose name is Mary Maloney she is pregnant. She is very faithful to her husband everyday she’ll wait for her husband to get home which meant she knows every move her husband makes when he enters the house so if there was something wrong she would know.
One day when her husband comes back from work firstly she heard the tyres on the gravel outside, and the car door slamming, the foot steps passing the window, the key turning in the lock. She laid aside her sewing, stood up, and went forward to kiss him as he came in. she took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made 2 drinks the strong one for her husband and a weak one for herself. Then her husband started to drink strongly holding the glass hands.
Then she asked her husband if he wanted anything to eat and he said no so then she began to feel nervous. Then her husband said “sit down”. Then he put his head down and became motionless, and he kept his head down so that the light from the lamp beside him fell across the upper part of his face leaving the chin and the mouth in shadow. She noticed there was a little muscle moving near the corner of his eye. When her husband began to talk she felt he was moving away from her bit by bit.
When he finished talking she said,’ let me go fix some food and he said alright so she went to the cellar. She put her hand in the cabinet, she put her hand in the cabinet, and then she took hold of the first object her hand met. I was a leg of lamb wrapped with paper. She took the wrapped paper off, and then she walked to the living room slowly. She saw her husband with his back to her saying,; darling, I don’t want supper, I am going out in a minute. ‘Then she lifted the leg of lamb as high as she would, then she brought it down as hard as she can.
Then her husband dropped to the floor she knew he was dead. So she put the lamb in the oven and put the oven on high.
Then she went to the Grocery to get some vegetables. She speaks to the grocery man Sam normally. She bought two idaho potatoes and a big slice of cheese cake. She thought to her self from her way back from the groceries that she’s going to cook her husband a leg of lamb with some greens. When she got home she looked at her husband on the floor and began to cry. She then called the police.
When the police arrived on the scene they started to ask her questions. She then told them that she went to the groceries to get some greens. The police went to the groceries to ask Sam if the women that came was acting funny Sam said no. When they went back to the house the police began to comfort Mrs Maloney. She told them to eat the lamb because it would be a waste. Then she begins to tell the police officers that if her husband was alive hell want them to eat. Then police officers ate the lamb.
Similarities
The similarities in the two stories are that both men don’t love their wives. In lamb to the slaughter Patrick Maloney doesn’t love Mary anymore because, I think he is tired of the relationship between them. He is fed up with her doing everything for him. Patrick leaves Mary pregnant with his son in withered arm, Farmer Lodge left Rhoda because he didn’t love her. He also left her with Rhoda because she was a worker. He wanted a ladylike woman. Farmer Lodge didn’t care about his son, just like Patrick Maloney because Farmer Lodge ignored his son when he passed by in the carriage with Gertrude and Patrick doesn’t care that Mary is pregnant because he said ill give you money to look after the baby. In both stories both men are involved with 2 women and in both stories there is a child. In both stories the mother is jealous of other women. Both men have a social status in there community. In both stories there is no evidence in either story to implicate the women involved in both men death, Thought farmer Lodge Died of natural causes. Both stories show routine peoples everyday lives.
Differences
The differences between the two stories are that on the withered arm story it is set in a small village and on the Lamb to the slaughter story it is set in the city. Both stories were written centuries apart. The withered arm shows life in a typical village in the 19th century, Lamb to the slaughter shows modern day life in the city. Lamb to the slaughter is believable but withered arm is not believable because there is superstition for example Gertrude goes to see a man who can see the future and when Gertrude goes inside she finds out Rhone was her enemy. In the real world there is no such thing as magic. Mark Maloney leads a comfortable life but Rhoda brook has always been poor but Rhoda could have been wealthy if she just took the money farmer Lodge left her. Rhoda child dies in the withered arm in the lamb to the slaughter the child is not born yet. In the lamb to the slaughter there is police intervention. In withered arm life just resolves it self.
Conclusion
My essay has told you everything you need to now about Lamb to the Slaughter and Withered Arm. I have talked about how the play/story starts and finishes and I have told you about the author in great detail. I have explained the similarities that I think are in the story.