In the suspenseful short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Roald Dahl uses dramatic irony to show that appearances can be deceiving because someone that appears weak and innocent could actually be guilty. For example, when Mary Maloney is at the store and she says, “Patrick's decided he's tired and he doesn't want to eat out tonight,”. This shows theme because Mary is just playing the part of the caring housewife who is willing to cook supper for her husband just because he’s tired. This also demonstrates dark humor because the reader knows she killed him, not what the grocer now believes. Furthermore, when the detectives are eating the lamb and a detective said “ Personally, I think the weapon is somewhere near the house.” “ It's probably right