...crimes. Yet, in “Lamb To The Slaughter”, the main character, a pregnant and jilted wife, Mary Maloney, violently murders her fickle husband. The murder was spontaneous and provoked by her husband’s announcement that he was leaving her. Prior to his announcement, she had been a devoted housewife as seen through the many kind thoughts and actions that occur throughout the exposition. This kind nature, coupled with her cunning ability to think on the fly makes her an unlikely suspect. To begin, Mary Maloney’s soft and kind-hearted personality as demonstrated through her kindnesses towards her husband and her worries concerning her unborn child makes her an unlikely suspect. Firstly, shows her kindness...
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...Feminism in “Lamb to the Slaughter” In the socially stagnant post-war United States of the early 1950's, Mary Maloney is content with the routine she has established for herself as a homemaker. She spends each day anticipating the return of her husband, police officer Patrick Maloney. In this waiting period, she tidies up his house, prepares his food, and periodically glances at the clock until he arrives. For Mary Maloney, her husband's return is "always the most blissful time of day" (Dahl 24). Patrick's presence completes Mary, in that she is dependent on him both economically and emotionally. In Roald Dahl's 1951 short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney comes to embody a feminist heroine by escaping her husband's oppression. Her behavior in the beginning of the story is docile and therefore socially acceptable; she is the willing and conscientious housewife that all women should be. She has no choice in the matter, for "the Western family structure helps to subordinate women, causing them to be economically dependent" (Bressler 186). As soon as her husband Patrick reveals that he is leaving her, Mary's whole character changes. She murders her husband, who has provided her with the security she has come to take for granted. The cultural, linguistic, and bodily elements that differentiate the female from the male are apparent in "Lamb to the Slaughter," therefore marking it as a highly subversive feminist text. It...
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...Roald Dahl wrote Lamb to the slaughter in 1954, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Speckled Band in 1892, that is around 62 years apart which would make the stories slightly different to each other because they were wrote in two different centuries. Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990, Roald Dahl was most famous for writing children stories but he did also write some books for adults like the tales of the unexpected which lamb to the slaughter featured in. The characters in Roald Dahl’s books only ever appeared once. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 and died in 1930, Arthur Conan Doyle was a trained doctor which would have been helpful in writing his stories as he would know the medical view on his cases and that would have helped him to write his books which featured Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson what makes this book different to the speckled Band is that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson appear more than once in Arthur Doyle’s books. When reading the two short stories I noticed that in the Lamb to the Slaughter the story was being told by a narrator and we were following the story though Mary Maloney’s eyes and how she feels, In The Speckled Band the story was being told by doctor Watson and how he feels about Sherlock Holmes and the case and also he added what he thought might of happened. Also The Speckled Band seems to be a true Murder Mystery because we don’t know who killed Helen’s sister so it is a mystery to us as well as the characters and that adds suspense...
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...Nowadays, freedom is a fundamental right for each man and woman, but it is not a perfect concept. When one’s freedom is endangered, he can do unimaginable things, especially when love is at stake or can react weirdly when he acquires it. It’s exactly what Kate Chopin, a female American author during the 19th century, did when she treated about women’s conditions in the short-story Story of an Hour in 1894, where a woman falsely learns about his husband’s death. Almost 60 years later, Roald Dahl wrote Lamb To The Slaughter, set in Great Britain, where a woman kills her husband and hide the evidences cleverly. These two short stories are not only comparative on the two female protagonists and the imagery used, but also on the main themes which are freedom and betrayal. Freedom is one of the major theme in The Story of An Hour. Indeed, once she learned her husband’s death, and after she was crying alone in her room, she feels slowly happier: yes she is sad that her husband died but still, she starts to feel something that was never felt before, a feeling that embraces her which is the emotion of being free: “ ‘Free, free, free!’ and “Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering’ “. Married, she was the innocent, loving and inferior to her husband, but now that was a widow, well that I what she thought, she felt that the era of her freedom was beginning :“There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will...
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...can change in a split second, just like Mrs. Maloney. We can tell she is a dynamic character from this. In the beginning Mrs. Maloney is head over heels in love with her husband. Following her first murder Mrs. Maloney doesn’t fall to pieces. Prior to the end Mrs. Maloney is proud of what she did. With this story “Lamb To The Slaughter” the author Roald Dahl characterizes Mrs.Maloney as dynamic, revealing to us that people are fragile and can snap at the slightest things. Mrs. Maloney loves her husband. According to her internal monologue Mrs. Maloney “loved the warmth that came out of him”, and we can infer that she loves him (Dahl 1). The author uses descriptive words such as “warmth” to create an uplifting mood. The positive...
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...Although Mary Maloney and Minnie Wright are fictional characters in two completely different stories, they both share a common complaint: having an atrocious husband. The two of these women unwilling wiped out their spouses in uncommon ways. In Roald Dahl’s "Lamb to the Slaughter", Ms. Maloney realizes some dreadful news, which later follows with her obtaining the urge to kill her husband with a frozen lamb leg. On the other hand, in Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers", an abundant amount of events led to Winnie Foster's Unexpected murdering of her husband. If a reader studies both characters in full, they would conclude one must have more sympathy for Ms. Maloney than poor old Ms. Foster due to her finding out her husband is leaving her and having to raise a child by herself now....
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...The pursuit of power leads us to abandon our morals, ultimately resulting in the erosion of personal integrity. The texts "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Geranium" by Graeme Lay, and "Dear Mr. Cairney" by Patricia Grace all suggest that anyone is susceptible to the influence of power, whether as a victim or perpetrator. This is explored through how power serves as a catalyst for moral compromise and is a dangerous and destructive force. Power is a catalyst for moral compromise, as demonstrated in "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (TOWWAFO). In "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney's character development showcases this phenomenon. At the story's outset, Mary embodies the role of...
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...“Lamb to the slaughter” Mary Maloney character sketch Mary Maloney the wife to Mr. Patrick Maloney, also a soon to be mother and oh how she longed for the birth of her child, but even though Mary was quite far along in her pregnancy she found not one excuse for this to interfere with keeping her household the way it was expected to be. This meant a day of perfecting the perfect, Mrs. Maloney loved nothing more than to please her husband and with everything perfect how could he not be pleased? To Mary the world revolved around nothing but her husband, she almost had a tendency to over obsess about him if he was not home she would hover at the door awaiting his return. Mary would give anything and everything for her husband until the day cam that her husband announced he had no interest to be with her any longer. As you could imagine Mary was nothing but shocked and by being in shock Mary had not the slightest word to say, but her lack of words were easily made up for with her strong and intense actions. You can abruptly see the emotions lying inside of her, and it was the emotions lying inside of her that evoke her to have her husband now lying on the floor. You could feel the rage and power inside her throughout the time that she abolished her husband, but you could later feel the tension and guilt building up in her after she had realized what she had done, she had to cover her tracks but how? Mary was never known to show such rage towards anything, to others she...
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...her gratitude to her husband for working for his family. In Lamb to the Slaughter and Hey You Down There!, two main characters appear to be this kind of wives, but the stories reveal their hidden feelings. Though Mary Maloney and Dora Spender’s attitudes toward their husbands seem similar, how they actually think of / feel about their husbands are quite different. Respecting first impressions of Mary and Dora, both of them are typical full-time housewives who think their bosses are their husbands. Firstly, neither of them complains about their husbands’ behaviors. In Lamb...
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...“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves”. People that want freedom don’t always get what they planned out or get what they wanted. In the story Lamb of the slaughter, begins with Mary and Patrick having an argument, continues with her planning to kill him, and ends with freedom. “ Story of an hour begins with Mrs. Mallard finds out that his husband is dead, continues with her thinking about his husband death, and ends with her dying because of what happened with his husband. The Story an Hour and Lamb of the slaughter both stories shared freedom. “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped to bring her out of the stock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprise, and she stood...
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...Desirees Baby by Kate Chopin and Lamb To The Slaughter by Roald Dahl are similar in many ways. Both have a strong female lead character who is so in love with their significant other. Both stories take unexpected dark turns and end with some irony. The sense of irony in Desiree’s Baby is at the end when Armound is reading his mother's letter, “... belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.” He got rid of his wife and child because he thought they were cursed with the slave race. The irony in Lamb To The Slaughter is when the detectives are eating the leg of lamb one says “ is probably right under our noses…” she used the leg or lamb to kill her husband. The two stories are different in the way they take their dark turn. In Desiree’s Baby her baby starts bearing the skin of a black baby. The turn the sends desiree to her death “ that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.” this then leads to them fighting and ultimately desiree’s suicide. The turn in Lamb To The Slaughter is similar but very different. We do not know what is said but only assume that Marys husband is leaving her. “Listen, he said ive got something to tell you.” not being able to handle the being apart she snaps and kills him “... she swung the big frozen leg...
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...Lamb To the Slaughter: Is Mary Evil? By Tony Cui In the short story Lamb to the Slaughter written by Roald Dahl, who was a famous British author. One of the main characters Mary Maloney killed her husband, who was a police officer during a conflict due to a conversation. Afraid of getting caught, she plans a perfect alibi and made the police destroy the evidence for her by invite them to ate the lamb leg she used as a weapon to kill her husband. Although some suggest that Mary is evil and both her murder and covering it up is due to her evilness; I think the truth is just the opposite, Mary isn’t evil and both her murder and cover up are due to accident and necessity. There are three reasons that support my viewpoint: “Firstly, before the accident has occurred her husband was the person who acted cold and refused everything Mary said to try to make him happy, so it suggest that Mary is not a wicked person; secondly, her husband betrayed her first and she was mad due to this; lastly, the reason for Mary to cover up the murder is because that she is pregnant with a child, and she wasn’t sure that if the court would let her born the child before her death penalty. In the story, Mary’s husband acted cold after he went back to home, he rejected all suggestion Mary made to try to make him happy. He refused to have some cheese, going out to eat, and to have some cheese and crackers. When Mary wants to refill his drink, he ordered Mary to “sit down” and he went to do it himself. The...
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...Lamb to the slaughter, a short story by Roald Dahl is very interesting and mysterious. The story is about a loving and caring woman, named Mary, who is asked for a divorce by her husband. Ironically, she kills her husband with a leg of lamb, and makes up a story to protect her baby, who she is pregnant with. Police Officials and detectives come, but they are unable to find the murderer, or the weapon. Irony impacts this story because it creates the suspense and adds a twist/turn to the story. Roald Dahl uses Irony in this short story for that reason. First, Mary’s husband, Patrick, comes home from work, asks for a divorce, and will not cooperate with Mary. Since she is caring and loving, Mary goes downstairs and grabs a leg of lamb to cook for dinner. Mary Maloney walks up behind her husband and “ without any pause,” she swings the big, frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brings it down as hard as she can on the back of his head. This is Ironic because before she murdered her husband, she loved him, cared for him, and did everything for him. “She took his coat and hung it in the closet. Then she walked over and made the drinks, a strongish one for him, a weak one for herself,” (Dahl, 1). This establishes situational irony because it...
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...Everyone encounters emotional struggles throughout their day. They may not be as elaborate as the ones Tessie, Mary, and the Republican Sniper appropriate with but they still affect our life. Tessie, Mary, and the Republican Sniper face an inner struggle as a result of them being pitted against society which results in their defeat. These character's inner struggles will be shown and explained in this essay. In Lamb To The Slaughter by Roald Dahl Mary Maloney is faced with an internal conflict. She is at war with herself when she finds out her happy home is not happy and about to disappear all together. She solves this conflict by killing her husband. "Her first instinct was not to believe any of it. She thought that perhaps she'd imagined...
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...particularly effective and why? You should refer to two stories in your answer. Roald Dahl and Penelope Lively have both written short stories that have meaning and they have similarities in them. “The Darkness Out There” Lively Talks about the young people who went to visit an old lady. The old lady told them of a story about what happened during the war. The young people are shocked by her story and just walked away.The story actually gives account of memories and perhaps Lively could be old enough to remember about the war.I found the story fantastic because it shows the difference between the generation of Mrs Rutter and the young people and it actually changed the thinking of young ones towards old people. “Lamb to the slaughter” Dahl writes about Mary Maloney who is the house wife, who is so much in love with the husband and waiting for the husband to come home from work , and dramatically changes to be a killer. First impression, in TDOT Sandra is the first character we meet, I think Sandra was a pretty girl as Mrs Rutter says that she is pretty and someone else once remarked on her attractive feet. Sandra is a dreamer she sees her self having a place in the country,which is developed ,a little white house peeping over a hill, with a stream at the bottom of a crisp green loan,and having two children a boy and a girl.I found Sandra fascinating she is positive about life she’s got high hopes of living upper class life,fall in love. It seems to me that Sandra loves...
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