The Landlady

In the short story ‘The Landlady’ by Roald Dahl, Billy Weaver is the 17 year old protagonist. He arrives in the town of Bath on a business trip, looking for a pub called the Bell and Dragon, but instead stumbles upon a quaint Bed and Breakfast managed by a “dotty” landlady. From this text, it is obvious that Billy is very oblivious, incredibly trusting, and polite and humble. Billy is very oblivious to what the landlady has in store for him. For example, when he first enters the house he realises that the unnamed landlady is a bit unstable, but doesn’t care. “The fact that the landlady was slightly off her rocker didn’t worry Billy in the least” (110) Later in the text, the landlady talks about previous visitors to the estate and mentions how their ages were relatively young, one being seventeen like Billy, and the young age and lack of experience could have been a factor to the oblivion. She mentions that Gregory Temple had “skin just like a baby’s” (116) and instead of immediately leaving, (as any wise person would do) Billy continues to sit and drink his tea that was prepared for him by the landlady, and upon asking about when Christopher and Gregory left, the landlady responds with an incredibly unsettling comment, “my dear boy, they never left” (114) which again, a wise person would have

This is shown in the short story when Billy says “I should like very much to stay here” (109) as he is complimenting the state of the house and the quality of the Bed and Breakfast. When the landlady offers him tea, he drinks it willingly, although he notices that it “tastes like bitter almonds” (117) which is implying that it has been poisoned with potassium cyanide. Billy’s humble behavior is showcased when the landlady compliments him on his “beautiful teeth” to which he says “they’re not as good as they look” (both 114) Billy was very polite, and humble, during his short-lived stay at the Bed and