Literary Analysis Of The Lamb To The Slaughter

The twisted short story, “The Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, recalls a husband who is breaking the shattering news to his wife, who truly loves him, that he wants a divorce. She tries to neglect it and go fix dinner but ends up killing him with a direct hit to the head with a leg of lamb. She stays harmonious, puts the lamb in the oven, and goes to the store to get an alibi. She then calls the police and detectives show up to figure out what happened. They are oblivious and she ends up making them physically eat all the evidence. The story easily achieves the title of “best story” for many reasons! It has an intriguing plot, it is pretty straightforward, it is memorable, there is excellent detail and twists, it’s engaging, and there

Not many short stories have all these twists and turns, but they are important in making a good short story. Just the fact that she killed him surprises the reader. Dahl even writes, “She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel--almost as a sunbather feels the sun--that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together” (2). Not only was that a twist, but the resolution when all the evidence was consumed finishes off the story with a really nice twist, because it allows the reader to know that she never got caught. The twists and turns in the story are yet another reason that “The Lamb to the Slaughter” was the best short

When the cops and detectives are eating the leg of lamb, they just assume they’re doing her a favor. Dahl even states, “She wants us to finish it. She said so. Be doing her a favor” (14). The most ironic point in the story happens a few sentences later. Dahl writes, “‘The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a sledgehammer.’ ‘That’s why it ought to be easy to find.’ ‘Exactly what I say.’ ‘Whoever done it, they’re not going to be carrying a thing like that around with them longer than they need.’ One of them belched. ‘Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises.’ ‘Probably right under our very noses. What do you think Jack?’ And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle” (14). These lines have an insane amount of irony which makes this such a good