Lamb To The Slaughter - Roald Dahl Flashcards
**Essay Question **
Even though Mary Maloney commits murder, we still remain sympathetic towards her. Discuss.
Even though Mary Maloney commits murder, we still remain sympathetic towards her. Discuss.
In Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Mary Maloney does something truly shocking: she kills her husband, Patrick. Even though murder is obviously a horrible crime, readers still feel sympathy for Mary. This is because of the way Roald Dahl portrays her as a loving wife, the situation she’s in, and how she reacts after the murder.
At the start of the story, Mary is shown as a devoted and kind wife. She loves Patrick deeply, as seen in how she waits for him to come home and enjoys his company, even when he doesn’t talk much. She notices little things about him, like the warmth he brings to the house or how his mouth looks when he smiles. This makes her seem very caring and sweet, the kind of person you wouldn’t expect to do anything violent. Readers connect with her because she seems so normal and relatable, and this connection makes it harder to judge her harshly later.
The turning point of the story is when Patrick tells Mary he’s leaving her. Roald Dahl doesn’t tell us exactly what he says, but we know it’s bad enough to leave her in complete shock. Mary is six months pregnant, so hearing this news from the person she loves most must have felt like her whole world was falling apart. Readers can imagine how hurt and confused she must have been. Her emotions in that moment—betrayal, fear, and anger—are so intense that it’s almost understandable that she loses control and acts out violently. She doesn’t seem like a cold-blooded killer, but rather someone pushed to the breaking point.
After the murder, Mary’s actions are both clever and desperate, which makes readers feel even more connected to her. She quickly realizes that she could be in serious trouble, especially since her husband was a detective, and she starts thinking about how to protect herself and her unborn baby. Instead of panicking, she creates a plan to hide the evidence by cooking the murder weapon—a frozen leg of lamb—and tricking the police into eating it. Her quick thinking is almost impressive, and it’s hard not to admire how she stays calm under pressure.
Another reason readers sympathize with Mary is that the police officers investigating Patrick’s murder are shown as a bit clueless. They eat the evidence without realizing it and make comments like, “The weapon is probably right under our noses,” which adds humor to the story. This lighthearted tone makes the murder feel less serious and more like a dark joke, which softens how we feel about Mary’s crime. It’s almost as if the story is inviting us to side with her instead of judging her.
Finally, Mary’s laugh at the end of the story leaves us with mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s unsettling because she’s laughing while getting away with murder. But on the other hand, it feels like a release for all the pain and pressure she’s been through. It reminds us that Mary is human—she’s not just a murderer, but also someone who was hurt and scared.
In conclusion, while Mary Maloney commits a terrible crime, we remain sympathetic towards her because of how much she loved Patrick, the pain she feels when he betrays her, and the clever way she handles the aftermath. Roald Dahl makes us see her not as an evil person, but as someone who made a terrible mistake in a moment of extreme emotion. By the end of the story, we might even find ourselves rooting for her, which is what makes this story so fascinating.
