Examples Of Mary Maloony In Lamb To The Slaughter

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Loving people truly care about others and want to make other’s lives easier by taking time to do simple, or even major things for the people that they love. In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl, Mary Maloney, a caring and attentive wife, is eagerly waiting for her husband Patrick to come home after a long day of work. The moment he arrives, Mary gets up, kisses him, and helps him to settle in by hanging his coat up for him and making him a drink. However it is clear that something is bothering him. Patrick is acting rude to Mary but eventually makes it clear that he wants a divorce. Mary, who is six months pregnant at the time, can not believe what she is hearing, however she goes off to make him dinner like nothing happened. Patrick …show more content…

When Patrick arrives home, Mary Malony notices something odd about him. Not only is he replying to her with one word answers, but he downs his drink much faster than normal. Mary can see that he is tired and she wants to accommodate him so he can relax after a long day of work. Mary’s concern soon develops into worry. Mary says, “If you’re too tired to eat out… It's still not too late. There’s plenty of meat and stuff in the freezer, and you can have it right there and not even move out of the chair… I’d like to do it. We can have lamb chops. Or pork. Anything you want.” (Dahl 25-26). Mary’s offer to Patrick shows how much she cares about him and wants him to be happy. Mary, a very loving housewife who is six months pregnant, first makes sure that Patrick is okay with not going out today. Usually today is her break but he seems awfully tired tonight. Mary picks up on this and she goes out of her way to make him a home cooked meal so he doesn't even have to move out of his seat. She follows up by expressing that she wants to do it for him. She really cares for his well being and enjoys fulfilling his wishes. She wants to make sure her husband is happy, relaxed, and well after a long and hard day of work. Mary, still motivated to accommodate Peter, finishes by offering to make anything that Peter wants tonight. She wants to make him feel special by cooking anything he so