In Roald Dahl's short story, "Lamb To the Slaughter" Mary, a nice women that is about to be mother lives with his husband Patrick that she loves really much. Patrick works as a Police man, and one day that he returns home from his work really late he tells Mary a disastrous news. Mary got surprised about the news because Patrick told her that he is going to leave her for another women. Mary at first seems to take it really well and offers Patrick some supper and she walks into the kitchen and gets a frozen lamb leg. Then.... she hits Patrick on the back of his head with the lamb frozen leg and she kills him. Mary committed a murder and what she does next is that she calls the police and acts like she is innocent. Besides Mary gets rid of the evidence by making the police eat the lamb leg.
I liked this story really much and I think that Roald Dahl uses a firm characterization that helps enhance the story and makes the reader have more grasp about the characters in the story, for example:
"Well," she said. "Here you all are, and good friends of dear Patrick's too, and helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be terrible hungry by now because it's long past your suppertime, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality. Why don't you eat up that lamb that's in the oven. It'll be cooked just right by now." (8)
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| Mary is not what she prentends |
This quote reveals the reader that Mary is really intelligent, because so she won't get caught by the police she gets rid of the evidence by making them eat. She aims to be nice and sweet to the police when inside she isn't she is crazy and a bad person. The author uses great imagery to help us, the readers imagine what is going on the story, for example:
"The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight-hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whiskey. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket." (1)
Roald Dahl is using the sense of sight in this example which let the reader imagine the room in Mary's house. The author uses words like "warm" and "clean" which help the reader visualize what is going on.
This is a great short story to enjoy reading and all the characterization and imagery that Roald Dahl uses in the story make ir better. The story has a significance message that is applicable in our daily life. What we learn from "Lamb To the Slaughter" is that you always need to be aware of who you trust because even the closest people can surprise you. This message we learn from Mary because she killed her own husband that she loved. "Lamb To the Slaughter" is a great short story, that I enjoyed reading.
