Use Of Situational Irony In Lamb To The Slaughter

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.
Dahl captivates the reader by using situational irony to present the protagonist. In the passage, the narrator addresses Mary Maloney taking the lamb leg and hitting Patrick on the back of his head with it. As the text states, “At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any

In the passage, one of the detectives talks about how a big club must have been used to hit Patrick and compares his skull to being smashed from a sledge hammer. “That’s the hell of a big club the guy must’ve used to hit poor Patrick [...] The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a sledge hammer.” (Dahl 6). Here, Dahl emphasizes the power with which Mary Maloney had hit the back of Patrick’s head. In addition, the text expresses how the detectives automatically came to the conclusion that it was a “guy” who hit Patrick with a “hell of a big club.” And, it feeds into the idea of how the females during that time period were looked down upon and had a certain image of being weaker than males. Moreover, in the last paragraph when the detectives are discussing how the murder weapon is probably right under their very noses, “Mary Maloney began to giggle [in the other room].” (Dahl 6). Again, this example agrees the idea of women being weak since Mary Maloney gets away with the murder of her own husband. As a result, her giggling can signify her success with deceiving the