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Symbolism In Lamb To The Slaughter

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Symbolism in Lamb to the Slaughter
How could such a soft, gentle creature be used for such violence? In the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, symbolism was shown prominently. Mary Maloney and Patrick Maloney were happily married with a child on the way. Unfortunately, Mary Maloney was unaware of Patrick Maloney’s unhappiness and that he wanted to leave her. When she heard the news she tried to push it to the side like it did not happen and things started to escalate. Without thinking a great deal about what her next action was, she grabbed a frozen lamb leg out of the freezer and brutally slammed the savory lamb leg into her dear Patrick. With him dead, she had to get rid of the evidence and have an alibi to avoid getting arrested. She cooked the meat and went to the grocer. When she returned with vegetables, she called 911 and acted as if she had no idea. When the police arrived and had searched, Mrs.Maloney fed them the murder weapon. Throughout this spine chilling tale, symbolism is shown in the lamb leg, dinner, and makeup. …show more content…

At first, their love was alive and growing every day. When things were not per usual, the lam leg became a possible dinner. “‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘I'm thoroughly exhausted.’ And as he spoke, he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drank it down in one swallow although there was still half of it left. He got up and went slowly to get himself another drink.” (Dahl 1) This quote shows that Mr.Maloney was stressed and did not take telling his beloved wife that he would be leaving her lightly. Mrs.Maloney getting the lamb leg represents her getting the news that Mr.Maloney would be leaving to a new and better life for him. The frozen lamb leg represents Mrs.Maloney trying to pretend nothing was wrong with their love and how she wanted to stay frozen in time. Unfortunately, cooking the lamb leg represented the end of her husband's life and their dying

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