Lamb to the Slaughter Short story by Roald

“Lamb to the Slaughter” Short story by Roald Dahl

Brief Summary • doting housewife…husband announces he’s leaving her…she whacks him over head w/ frozen leg of lamb • wife concocts plan – cooks lamb…calls police…they can’t find weapon…wife invites them to eat lamb (weapon) she had cooking in oven!

Voice/Narration & POV • 3 rd person limited POV – told via Mary • orderly home…warm, inviting – shattered by husband’s news • calculating mind + transformation can be followed

Style • Black Comedy – def: use of grotesque, morbid, or absurdly dark for comic purposes 1. unexpected that wife will smash spouse’s head w/ frozen leg of lamb 2. Mary tells grocer – “I’ve got meat”…big hunk on floor at home! – Dessert? . . . husband has gotten his “just” desserts 3. police/detectives devour murder weapon

Setting • Domestic middle class – identity of protagonist • housewife, mother-to-be – identity interrupted by » husband’s betrayal » by Mary taking husband’s life

Characters • Mary Maloney – protagonist – identity • doting, adoring housewife & expectant mother – image of innocence transformed to loss of control when domestic life is shattered • So, what theme can be deduced?

Characters • Patrick Maloney – husband – policeman…not advancing in career – leaving wife – flat, static character • purpose?

Issues/Topics & Themes • Betrayal & Trust – husband’s betrayal – wife’s lies – Theme from all this?

• Trust is easily manipulated. • When that which we desire is threatened, mankind will digress from the path of goodness. • One small form of betrayal can lead to many others. • Depend on yourself first and not give all you have to another b/c if you do, then you give that person the ability to hurt you.

Issues/Topics & Themes • Identity – Mary: ideal middle class housewife – sudden transformation to murderess – Theme from this?

Themes • When you base your identity on someone or something else, you risk losing touch with reality. • When you are betrayed by someone you trust, emotions can take over rational thoughts. • The weak has more power than one may think. • Something harmless can turn into something destructive.

• Traumatizing events can lead a person to take drastic actions. • The more strongly you hold on to something, the stronger you have to be to let it go. • Rather than putting all your trust in one person, balance your life with many trustworthy people. • Think before you act. • People resort to any means to protect themselves.

Literary Techniques • Irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) 1. grocer asking about dessert – husband has gotten his “just” dessert 2. detectives eating weapon…”right under our very noses” 3. lamb is instrument—not victim—of slaughter 4. Mary’s closing giggle

Literary Techniques • Connotations & Allusions – Title: “Lamb to the Slaughter”—biblical allusion • • • lamb: innocent, pure, naïve, follower slaughter: gruesome, violent to the: suggests someone innocent is led to some kind of “killing”—literally or figuratively • lambs 1. Mary rejected by husband 2. husband fatally attacked 3. investigators tricked into consuming weapon

Literary Techniques • Symbolism – setting • domestic home = middle class happiness – purpose: part of identity – frozen leg of lamb = token of violence • purpose: heightens black comedy