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Imagery In 'Lamb To The Slaughter'

576 Words3 Pages

There are advantages and disadvantages to using mediums, such as short films or short stories. Both authors and directors use different style devices and techniques to display plot. One advantage and disadvantage would be imagery. Imagery is an advantage to authors because authors can display imagery through their word choice, which will help the reader better understand the story. For example, in the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” it says “She loved the warmth that came out of him when they were alone together. She loved the shape of his mouth, and she especially liked the way he didn’t complain about being tired.” After reading that quote, the reader can infer from the short story that the character Mary Maloney was really in love with …show more content…

So I’ve killed him” to intrigue your reader’s attention. Then use flashback to make the reader understand what all happened. Lastly, an advantage and disadvantage would be details. Details are an advantage to authors because details make many vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all reader’s sense of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste when appropriate. For example, in the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” it says “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked behind him and without any pause, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.” After reading the details, the reader can paint a picture in their heads and can infer that Mary Maloney had murdered her husband, Patrick Maloney. Not to mention, that details are a disadvantage to directors because when a movie about a book is released the plot can be changed and many scenes get removed. Some people believe this makes the movie less rich than the original book. Also, this is the reason why people choose books over movies because people are interested in the small details the books have to offer. Instead of directors being focused to make people see movies in a certain way, they should allow people to use their imagination

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The woman, Mary Maloney, loved her husband so much in the story and then he gets home one day and something wrong happens, so in this story, Mary Maloney is having problems. The character, Mary Maloney, in the story “Lamb To The Slaughter,” is a very smart person. She knew what she was doing after she killed her husband to make her story seem real to the detectives. Mary Maloney’s husband, Patrick, was a man who probably taught her what a detective thinks like and how different situations could affect a case.

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Mary Maloney provides the detectives with lamb that she kills her husband, Patrick, with. When the detective declares that the murder weapon is probably right under their noses, it is ironic because the reader knows that they are eating the weapon that the detectives are seeking. Furthermore, situational irony is displayed when Dahl narrates, “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high

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Examples Of Dramatic Irony In Lamb To The Slaughter

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In Roald Dahl’s riveting short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” dramatic irony is used to build tension. Dramatic irony is defined as a literary device where the reader knows more about a situation than the characters in the story. The main character Ms. Maloney, a devoted and tender wife, suddenly turns into a reckless murderer as her husband tells her he wants to leave. Throughout the narrative a prominent example of dramatic irony is when the policemen eat the leg of lamb. " ‘That's why the weapon should be easy to find.’

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