Symbolism In The Lamb Of The Slaughter

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The short story, Lamb of the Slaughter has a theme of appearance vs reality. The three elements such as: symbolism, irony,and mood definitely supports the theme by proving that weakness and innocence are not always what they seem. In the story, the frozen lamb’s leg is symbolism. The lamb’s leg was the obvious murder weapon chosen by Mrs. Maloney, but the significance of a lamb represents innocence and purity. Another example of symbolism displayed is the wife, Mrs. Maloney, although her husband told her bad news, she continued to be submissive and obedient of Mr.Maloney by cooking dinner. Mrs.Maloney’s innocence quickly disappeared when she retaliated into anger and killed her husband.
Lamb of the Slaughter, contained irony that supports