Often, when somebody is guilty of an atrocity, people ask if the person was sane. Was the crime thoroughly calculated, or was the criminal simply deranged in the heat of the moment? In the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl a question is brought to the surface. Was Mrs. Maloney’s lawlessness planned step-by-step, or did her husband’s unpredictable request push her over the edge? An outlined strategy for the homicide would prove Mrs. Maloney to be a static character, but due to her actions before and after Mr. Maloney’s divorce statement, Mary is doubtlessly a dynamic character. From the beginning to the end of the story, she drastically changed from a woman whose livelihood relied solely on her spouse, to a woman cared only to protect herself from the social exemption following a taboo divorce. Throughout the first page of this story, something was off in the Maloney household. However, the subtle differences necessarily apparent to Mary, which became clear when it was stated that “she glanced at the clock without anxiety”, which means that she was worry free; she thought the evening would be part of a routine they had …show more content…
This is also an example of her being a dynamic character because she changed from being unsure of her abilities, to being cunning and prepared to protect herself and her unborn baby. At the very end, when “Mary Maloney began to laugh” to some readers could become apparent that rather than killing out of anger and sadness, she was happy to complete a long planned mission (Dahl). However, she was likely laughing out of hysteria. She realized that she wasn’t going to be persecuted for her crime, and we can infer that she was happy that she could live the rest of her life without being outcasted as a single mother. Clearly, Mary’s actions after the homicide further back up that she had made significant changes from the beginning to the end of the short