ipl-logo

Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney Character Analysis

393 Words2 Pages
In “Lamb to the Slaughter” Roald Dahl gives us a character who is kind, loving, patient, and calm, but with the flip of a switch she turns out to be cold and destructive. In the story Mary Maloney was just being the nice and friendly wife she is to her husband. But once she was hit with the news that her husband was leaving her, she flipped, but doesn’t how to react yet. Mary Maloney denies the news as if it didn’t even occur and offers her husband a leg of lamb for supper. He denies this angrily, and at that moment Miss Maloney makes up her mind and decides that “At that point, . . . walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb . . . and brought it down as hard she could on the back of his head”(Dahl 2).
Show More
Related
335 Words | 2 Pages

In “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, the protagonist Mrs. Maloney is dynamic in the story. The author used diction, her actions and thoughts to show the reader that she’s dynamic. Dahl also showed how at first Mrs. Maloney was a kind and caring person then changed drastically into the exact opposite, which is into a murderer. Starting from the beginning, the author described Mrs. Maloney as a peaceful and calm woman. The author says “As she bent over her sewing, she was curiously peaceful” (Dahl 1).

Read More
749 Words | 3 Pages

Sometimes people’s inner demons can no longer be contained when presented with put into intense situations. Throughout the story, Lamb to the Slaughter, Dahl presents the atmosphere created by a housewife as she begins change. But, nonetheless these inner demons can overpower individuals and transform their lives. Dahl uses situational irony, symbolism, and a powerful theme in “Lamb to the Slaughter” to show inner conflict that reveals Mary Maloney’s true character.

Read More
1311 Words | 6 Pages

In the short story “The Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, a pregnant housewife named Mary Maloney is happily married to policeman Patrick Maloney. One evening before dinner Patrick gave Mary news, that we can infer, that he was going to divorce her. Upon receiving news about the divorce, Mary was in shock and discontent, she took some time to process what had

Read More
1734 Words | 7 Pages

Usually after committing a crime, people would immediately feel guilty and sorry, but Mary though it was “funny” and even “giggled” when the detectives ate the evidence. The readers would say she went insane after killing her husband and feeding his colleagues with the murder weapon, which creates tension within the readers. Briefly, Roald Dahl uses insanity to create suspense in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ as people that are insane are unpredictable, leading the audience to anticipate the ending of the

Read More
452 Words | 2 Pages

Mia Franck Mrs. Hall Honors English 10 20 January 2023 Mary's analysis William Shakespeare once stated, “Love is merely madness”. The third-person limited short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, focuses on the main character Mary Maloney, wife and murderer of Patrick Maloney. In this 1950’s household, Mary deceives the detectives into believing that the murder was committed by another person. Mary Maloney's giggle indicates that she is a crazy and deceitful character.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

“All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” The short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl follows the protagonist Mary Maloney who, in a fit of anger, murders her own husband. Of course, Mary certainly didn’t start the story as a killer.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

Roald Dahl's 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is a darkly humorous story about a loyal housewife, Mary, who cherishes her husband, Patrick Maloney. When Patrick reveals his plan to leave Mary at six months pregnant, her life is thrown upside down. Mary snaps and kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, driven by a strong sense of betrayal. The story's complex symbolism and irony highlight a major theme: how our assumptions may blind us to the actual nature of people and circumstances, causing us to overlook significant details.

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

In the short stories ‘Lamb to the Slaughter 'and ‘The Landlady’ by Roald Dahl, a thorough analysis of the fictional characters can greatly help us to develop an amazing understanding of the two murders. While both stories involve murder, the presentation and portrayal of the murderers differ significantly. One noticeable difference is how Mary Maloney did not plan her murder at all, but the landlady did. Mary Maloney’s murder seemed to be spontaneous and without any thought. The use of the compound sentence ”walked behind him and without any pause…and brought it down,” suggests that this was a very sudden move and Mary has clearly not prepared for this at all, she was not in control of her actions.

Read More
1448 Words | 6 Pages

Lamb to the Slaughter is a short story written by Roald Dahl based in the 1950s, a time period where divorce was rare and usually looked upon by others especially if it dealt with someone high in society. In an overview, Anthony J. and Bernardo, Jr. describe Dahl’s writing strategies to engage the readers, “Dahl, like many modern suspense writers, weaves his stories around trivial, everyday events that suddenly take on frightening aspects revealing the danger and uncertainty that underlies modern life, rather than reviving medieval settings and horrors in the manner of the earlier gothic writers,” (J,Jr.). The plot of the story surrounds itself around the mysterious murder of Mr. Maloney and his wife’s involvement. Mrs. Maloney is a character

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

"(155). This is showing that she didn’t something that she regretted because of what he told her. conclusion In “Lamb to the Slaughter” Dahl uses conflict, imagery, and direct characterization to develop feelings for Mary’s husband. This is important because the feelings Mary has for her husband are a main purpose in the story.

Read More
524 Words | 3 Pages

Roald Dahl's short story Lamb to the Slaughter is a very intriguing read. Dahl uses a lot of characterization throughout the story, giving subtle descriptions of what the characters are like. This happens the most with the main character, Mary Maloney. In the beginning of the story, Dahl describes Mary as as being six months pregnant, with big calm eyes. This displays a picture of innocence.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

Mary Maloney was sitting in her living room when her husband, Patrick Maloney, came home. This was the premises of the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” composed by Roald Dahl. Patrick was a police officer; his wife stayed at home, which was typical for the 1950s, which was the time period of the story. The couple had been, so it seemed, happy throughout their marriage. In fact, Mary was pregnant with a baby boy.

Read More
1237 Words | 5 Pages

Lamb to the Slaughter is an action packed short story about a wife who is let down by her husband and proceeds to kill him as an act of revenge. Obviously much more happens in this story consisting of humour, action, mystery and irony. Roald Dahl is a master of writing short stories in ways that attract readers, draw them into what is happening through using literary elements and universal themes to make the story relatable to the readers. In this story the main literary elements were foreshadowing, situation and dramatic irony, imagery and symbolism which really drew me in and kept me attached to the story. Literary elements are what make a story powerful and attracts readers to continue reading in the story and in this story they highlight the universal theme of Revenge and Betrayal.

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

The story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl takes place in and the time is around 5:00 pm. Mary Maloney is a devoted wife to her husband Patrick Maloney. But one day Patrick Maloney comes home and acts in an unusual way. He tells Mary Maloney he wants to leave her. Sp Mary Maloney hits Patrick Maloney on the head with a lamb and kills him.

Read More
834 Words | 4 Pages

Betrayal and False Stereotypes in “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl “When people rely on surface appearances and false stereotypes, rather than in-depth knowledge of others at the level of heart, mind, and spirit, their ability to assess and understand people accurately is compromised.” – James. A. Forbes. As Forbes states, when “people rely on surface appearances” and do not look beyond, they often times fail to realize how deceiving looks can be. In “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, Mrs. Maloney uses her image as leverage to get away with the murder of her husband. Throughout the story, Mrs. Maloney betrays multiple people after being betrayed by her own husband.

Read More

More about Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document