The main theme in ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is concerned with how we overlook the true nature of a person or situation when we allow preconceived notions to cloud our judgment.
Mr. Maloney tells his wife, Mary, that he is divorcing her. He informs her, too, that he will make sure to take care of her financially, but he warns her that she shouldn’t make a “fuss” because it would be bad for his career.
Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance. Mary thus develops a quick and successful alibi to clear herself from suspicion in her husband’s death in an effort to protect her unborn child. Roald Dahl describes Mary Maloney in the first paragraph when she is waiting for her husband.
In Lamb to the Slaughter, Mary kills Patrick with a leg of lamb because it was the first weapon at hand when her hurt and rage over his betrayal…
I think that the most likely reason is that he is bored with her and that he wants someone who will be a bit less subservient and uninteresting. From the first part of the story, it seems that the two of them have a pretty set routine. He comes home and then she waits on him — gets him everything he wants, etc.
Mary Maloney kills her husband because he has just told her he is leaving her. He explains the divorce as a done deal and says he will provide for her but offers her no negotiating room in terms of them staying together. Mary is a heavily pregnant housewife who clearly devotes herself to her husband and her home.
Mary does, however, feel sad that her husband is dead. When she returns home from the grocery store, for instance, she “cries hard” and there is “no acting necessary.” Mary, therefore, feels sad about losing her husband but lacks any regret over her actions.
What is her reaction to Patrick’s news and what does it tell us about her character? Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all. Maybe she imagined it. She is in shock so she said I’ll make supper and went to the freezer to get a leg of lamb.
Mary Maloney is a victim of an oppressive patriarchal society that failed her. Prior to her argument with her husband, the reader can infer that she is an almost perfect, dutiful housewife. She eagerly awaits her husband’s arrival from work, taking care to make him as comfortable and happy as possible.
Early in the story, the reader discovers that Mary Maloney is pregnant. This understanding is important to the story on a number of levels. The most basic is that it helps the reader to understand just what it is that her husband is doing by leaving her.
At first she knows what she has done, killing her husband. Mary tells herself, “So I’ve killed him.” After the realization of her actions she is calm and thinks about the repercussions of her actions. She only starts to become concerned when she thinks of her unborn child.
The ending of the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” is ironic because the leg of lamb that Mary serves to the police officers is the weapon she used to kill her husband. This is an example of dramatic irony, because we know that the leg of lamb was the murder weapon, but the police officers haven’t the slightest idea.
Another reason that Patrick’s profession is important to the story is that his wife Mary has learned a lot about police procedure from being married to a cop. She establishes an alibi before she calls to report the murder.
Why does she rehearse speaking to Sam in the mirror? To practice appearing normal. Why does she go to the grocer? To establish an alibi.
The police conclude that Patrick was killed by an intruder with a large blunt object likely made of metal. Around 10:00 after the house has been searched and the crime scene processed, Mary offers the leg of lamb to the police officers.
Hover for more information. The title of Roald Dahl’s story is ironic in a couple of ways. Lambs are symbolic of innocence, and though Mary Maloney’s husband is slaughtered (with a leg of lamb, no less), he is far from innocent. That the leg of lamb becomes the murder weapon is also ironic.
Maloney’s motive for going to get the lamb from the freezer? She wants to use it to hit Patrick. She is nauseated at the idea of eating what she already made for dinner. She thinks she should go about her business as usual and then things will be all right.
Dahl creates suspense by foreshadowing the tragic events. Mary’s bizarre whispered statement, “I’ll get the supper,” also foreshadows the tragic ending. She’s not really getting a cooked meal, she’s getting the frozen leg of lamb — her murder weapon.
Much of the foreshadowing occurs when Patrick Maloney returns home from work. He is acting moody and drinking more heavily than he usually does in the evening. He goes to mix himself another drink and his wife Mary is a little dismayed to see how strong a highball he made.
The frozen lamb chop, an important item in the story, is described using a metaphor likening it to a “steel club.” This murder weapon, unknown to the police, is also compared to a “sledgehammer.” In the latter case, the police use a simile, a comparison employing the words “like” or “as,” saying it was “like” a ” …
Answer: Mary’s feelings for her husband had been that of a devoted wife. But her action of killing him may have stemmed from her shock at the divorce news. She mourned for him when she returned from the store, with the shock of the real situation only getting into her.
In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” we can find an example of foreshadowing after Mary has murdered Patrick and is sitting in front of the mirror, trying to regain her composure: “The smile was rather peculiar. She tried again… That was better.
Dahl uses dramatic irony when Mrs. Maloney asks the police to eat the murder weapon. “It’d be a favor to me if you’d eat it up. Then you can go on with your work afterwards.” The creates dramatic irony because the murderer Mary Maloney is asking the police to eat the murder weapon.