Lamb to the Slaughter" By Roald Dahl

“Lamb to the Slaughter” By Roald Dahl

In Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the slaughter,” the behaviour of the characters makes us shiver.

The story starts off with Mary Maloney‘s husband walking in from work and sitting down in the armchair. She then made him a drink and asked him he was tired. She then asked him if he wanted supper but he said no. later he said he had something important to say and for a few moments she stood shocked. She went to get the supper out any way but when she came back up he was standing next to the window, she then smacked him round the back of the head smashing his scull. She acted normally as not arouse suspicion. She went to the shop and then went home and called the police. They came round and investigated the crime scene, and looked for the murder weapon. Mary offered the lamb to the police officers to eat and they did and by doing so eating the only bit of evidence proving it was her.

At first we see Mary Maloney as a gentle, loving person but we later find out she is capable of murder. We don’t like thinking that we are a bad judge of character but this is the way Roald Dahl wanted. Roald Dahl writes nearly all his stories with a twist in them. He has a particular style of writing that lulls the reader to think one thing but to later twist that belief.

My first impression of Mary Maloney was a happy woman with a lovely husband. “Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come him from work.” and “…went forward to kiss him as he came in”. These lines to me show her as a typical wife waiting for her husband to come home and to give her the love and attention she needs. Her personality is quite lovely one at first. She waited, looking
at the clock to see how long she had left till she saw her husband again. This is quite romantic in my opinion and shows ...

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My first impressions of Patrick Maloney, the husband, were not as I expected them to be. From what I saw of the wife I expected Patrick to be a kind gentle man who loves every second with his wife, only to find out he is not. As soon as he gets in is to the chair and drinking a glass of whiskey “…Then she walked over and made the drinks, a strongish one for him, a weak one for herself; and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he in the other, opposite…” This gives the impression that he works hard but probable to hard because he comes home tired and doesn’t want to eat. “Yes,” he said. “I’m tired,” And as he spoke, he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow.” When he tells her of what I think is him planning on leaving her I began to think of him as a horrible man. “This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I’m afraid,” he said. “But I’ve thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won’t blame me too much.”

Later when I learnt of Mary’s real personality I was shocked that she was able to commit murder. Her first reaction after the murder was what happened to her unborn child. This to me was quite odd because she had just killed her husband and wasn’t worried about her own life but that of her child. “On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill then both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do?”. Another thing she did was put the murder weapon in the oven to get rid of it. “She carried the meat into the kitchen, placed it in a pan, turned the oven on high, and shoved it inside.” This is typical behavior for a killer to get rid off the weapon so they don’t get caught. But later she gives it to the police to eat which shows they don’t actually suspect her or they would of sent the lamb for forensic analysis. “…You must be terrible hungry by now because it’s long past your suppertime, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality. Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven. It’ll be cooked just right by now….” She also practices her alibi so she gets it spot on which means she does not intend on turning herself in. “…That was better. Both the smile and the voice were coming out better now. She rehearsed it several times more…” When the police come she puts on a sad face so to seem innocent and the police fall for it and even eat the lamb because they believe that she has nothing to with it. “While she was talking, crying and talking”

Now he is dead I think that Patrick’s behavior was not so bad that it warranted death but I think he could have done it in a more subtle way. “This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I’m afraid,” he said. “But I’ve thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won’t blame me too much.” He is not as cruel as I I first though but that’s a theme all the way through the story, not being like we first thought.

After I read the story I felt hat the title was quite appropriate because the way she killed him was rather cruel. She comes up behind him with him having no idea she has the large piece of lamb in her hands and hits him and ultimately kills him. He was like a lamb, weak and innocent. Well he wasn’t innocent as such but he could have sorted that out after he had the discussion.

In Conclusion, the behavior of Mary Maloney made me shiver because I had misjudged her right from the beginning and did not realise what she was capable of. I think Roald Dahl has written this story in a magnificent way. He captures the reader and wants them to carry on to the very end. He is no doubt one of the best writers of all time.

By Tim Marshall