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How Does Dahl Use Irony In Lamb To The Slaughter

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The use of irony is present in many short stories as well as in other mediums such as television. The author Roald Dahl effectively uses irony in several of his literary works to enhance and provide depth. In the short story “ Lamb to the Slaughter” Dahl expresses different types of irony to add depth to his story. Irony is a key component in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. The use of Irony helps increase the readers focus on the difference between how things could be, and the way they actually are. Irony also contributes to suspense within the piece. To begin with, Dahl’s use of irony to provide depth is a key component of the short story. The plot itself is structured around the use of irony. Without irony the story would not be as it is. Certainly, …show more content…

Without this contrast the story's plot would be bland and uninteresting. A circumstance where irony provides this contrast appears in the introduction of the short story when Patrick speaks to Mary: "I've got something to tell you… I know it's a tough time to be telling you this, but there simply wasn't any other way. Of course, I'll give you money and see that you're taken care of.” (Dahl 2). This moment of irony provides the disparity that helps pull the readers in and focus on the differences. Whereas the readers at first believe that Patrick Maloney has something pleasant to say to Mary but in actuality he is informing her he is leaving her. Another instance where this differentiation is prevalent takes place at the end while the officers are eating the leg of lamb and on of the officers says referring to the murder weapon,” It's probably right under our noses.” (Dahl 4). This moment of irony is similar to Patricks statement to Mary at the beginning of the story, yet different in the sense it is the characters who believe something but the reality is different instead of the readers believing something and reality being different. This event provides contrast for the readers as it displays the characters unawareness of the

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Dahl utilizes irony to demonstrate to the reader the remarks made when talking about this murder. For example, Mary uses the lamb leg as her murder weapon so she encourages the police officers to eat up the evidence by saying innocently, “It’d be a favor to me if

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In Ronald Dahl's short story “Lamb to the Slaughter,” situational irony and dramatic irony create suspense in the story. Mary, a stay at home wife happily awaits for her husband to return every single day, but this day was different. Her husband returns home and claims he is unhappy in their marriage and is leaving her. In the short story the author writes, “She carried it upstairs, holding the thin bone-end of it with both her hands, and as she went through the living room, she saw him standing… At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb” (Dahl 136-138.).

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Situational irony is present because the reader would never expect this from Mary. Later in the story, Mary is able to start thinking about possible penalties and goes as far as to create a plan, “She sat down before the mirror, tidied up her hair, touched up her lips and face. She tried to smile. It came out rather peculiar. She tried again” (Dahl).

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In this story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, ambiguity was used because throughout the story we question ourselfs about situations. There are three types of irony but only two were utilized in this story. The two types of irony that were utilized were Situational and Dramatic irony. The most utilized one in the story is Dramatic Irony. For example, Ambiguity was used when the husband came in the door, he sat down and drank whiskey, and told his Mary his wife what was wrong with him due to him acting strange.

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In the text, Irony is used to really create a lot of the conflicts in the

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