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How Did Mary Maloney Marry In The Lamb To The Slaughter

700 Words3 Pages

Cora Garcia

Mrs. Briscoe

English 1 Honors

7 September, 2017

Death From A Lamb

Mary, quite contrary, why did you kill the man you loved enough to marry? In “The Lamb To The Slaughter”, Mary Maloney was married to Patrick Maloney. However, this couple did not last. Patrick wanted to leave, and Mrs. Maloney did not like that idea. So why exactly did she resort to killing her husband with a leg of lamb? Why did she decide to turn to violence for help? I believe that she did this because of psychological problems.
Mrs. Maloney was a housewife, and her husband worked in the police force. The night he told her that he wanted to leave, she kept noticing how he was acting strange and not like how he usually behaves. Throughout the story, Mary …show more content…

At first they were hesitant to do so, but they knew it would be disrespectful as Patrick’s friends if they refused. So they drank their drinks, then they went to go into the kitchen to eat. As they ate they started discussing what could possibly be the murder weapon. Saying how it had to have been a large steel pipe and that the murderer couldn’t have gotten far at all. Little did they know, the killer didn’t even leave the building, for she was just in the next room over. Listening to their conversation and laughing at the fact that “the weapon could be right under our …show more content…

Roald Dahl, the author of this short story, wants the reader to realize how one-sided a relationship can be. While Mary was fully faithful and loving to Patrick; the feelings were not mutual. The feeling of betrayal she felt was beyond imaginable and she ended up going to violence for the answer. She was afraid, angry, shocked, sorrowful, and full of hatred. There may not have been an officially stated reason that she killed him, but in my mind I believe she killed him out of the act of fright and love. She loved him so much and she was scared to death of losing him. In her mind at the moment, it seemed fit to kill the man. This was a violence that was shown through love and fear of being alone. Although, I think compromise would’ve turned out as a great Plan A before she killed

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