I’m defending Mary in the short story, “The Lamb to Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl. I am pleading for my client, Mary who is not guilty in the murder of Mr. Maloney. Mary would have never murder her husband, because she is six months pregnant. She couldn’t lift the heavy weapon used to kill him while carrying a baby. Mrs. Maloney was at the neighborhood grocery store at the same time the murder happened. She went to see Sam at the store and even bought her husband a cake. It is impossible for Mary to be at two places at once so therefore she cannot be guilty for this crime. She is six months pregnant, and she would have needed her husband for support. Mary is an unemployed pregnant women who would have needed the money from her husband’s
Of course not. I’m not agreeing that murder is okay, because it most definitely isn’t. In Mary’s defense, her husband whom she loved, was happily married to, and pregnant with their baby, came home and announced that he was leaving. I can’t blame her because she was overwhelmed. Mr. Maloney should have prepared her for his.
There are a lot of similarities between “Lamb to Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and “A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and an abundance of differences. The largest one thing in common being, the wives in each story kill their husbands. Another comparison are the women 's roles. They are both victims to their husband 's’ cruelty. In “Lamb to Slaughter”, Mary Maloney waits patiently for her husband to get home from work so she can make him dinner and get him a drink, do anything to make him happy basically.
First, let’s start with the prosecution witnesses. They called a neighbor, police officer, and professional psychiatrist. The neighbor was called to attest to Mary’s character and party life style. It helped show that she made bad decisions and had poor judgment at times, but it does not equate to murder. Not everyone who drinks kills their baby.
Mary Maloney is a very loving and devoted house wife and mother-to-be. Though her dream of having the perfect American family was destroyed by the bewildering news of Patrick choosing another women over Mary and their child. Innocent is all Mary Maloney is, due to her indistinct state of mind caused by her heinous husband’s decision to desert her and her child while she is unable to control her emotions due to her being pregnant. Mary is not guilty of murder instead innocent due to diminished capacity.
The people who believe that Mary is guilty believes that she meets that three requirements to be declared as a second-degree murder because Mary was lying of her mental illness, was an alcoholic and that she was conscious of her actions. People believe that Mary was lying about having a mental illness is because some of the information that Mary was telling didn't make sense, what made people think that she was lying. Also, they believed that she was an alcoholic because Caroline Hospers said that she saw that Mary had a lot of wild parties and that all her trash can was filled with empty alcohol bottles. The most important testimony for them was from Dr. Parker because he is a psychiatrist, he said “In my opinion, she knew what she was doing and what the consequence of her actions would be. She was aware that she was leaving her child unattended and that the child would be in great danger”.
Mary was guilty for her crimes and knew she was, but didn't deserve to die. This argument states facts to prove Mary Surratt was guilty. I would recommend that Mary was guilty but did not deserve the death penalty, i would have said “ There is not enough evidence in the case to prove that she was guilty”. Also Samuel
Gothic Literature, both traditional and contemporary are sources of unpredictable, mysterious entertainment. For example, ‘The Signalman’ written in 1866 by Charles Dickens utilises the setting, imagery and symbolism, as well as the theme of supernatural to generate the tension in the story. On the other hand, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ written by Roald Dahl exploits intense emotions such insanity and the theme of reality to conceive suspense. Both writers successfully integrate mystery into the stories to provoke suspense. To begin with, the setting in ‘The Signalman’ is used to generate thriller, especially the creepy, isolated tunnel and the Signalman’s post.
"(155). This is showing that she didn’t something that she regretted because of what he told her. conclusion In “Lamb to the Slaughter” Dahl uses conflict, imagery, and direct characterization to develop feelings for Mary’s husband. This is important because the feelings Mary has for her husband are a main purpose in the story.
Lamb to the Slaughter is an action packed short story about a wife who is let down by her husband and proceeds to kill him as an act of revenge. Obviously much more happens in this story consisting of humour, action, mystery and irony. Roald Dahl is a master of writing short stories in ways that attract readers, draw them into what is happening through using literary elements and universal themes to make the story relatable to the readers. In this story the main literary elements were foreshadowing, situation and dramatic irony, imagery and symbolism which really drew me in and kept me attached to the story. Literary elements are what make a story powerful and attracts readers to continue reading in the story and in this story they highlight the universal theme of Revenge and Betrayal.
Mary Maloney was sitting in her living room when her husband, Patrick Maloney, came home. This was the premises of the short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” composed by Roald Dahl. Patrick was a police officer; his wife stayed at home, which was typical for the 1950s, which was the time period of the story. The couple had been, so it seemed, happy throughout their marriage. In fact, Mary was pregnant with a baby boy.
Mary Maloney should be charged for her crimes because she shows no remorse for her actions. The first quotation that proves Mrs. Maloney’s merciless action is, “all right, she told herself, so I've killed him.” This quotation shows that Mrs. Maloney is not surprised with what she has done, and might even do it again if she could. The next piece of evidence is, “In the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.” This quotation proves that Mrs. Maloney does not regret her decision to kill her husband and she now knows the police don’t suspect her as the murderer.
Planning with Cowardice In the book “Lamb To The Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl, was a really cliffhanger story. During the story Mary’s husband decides he wants to leave Mary after she’s already six months pregnant with her husband. Something tweaks in her head and ends his life with a leg of lamb, that she was going to cook for dinner.
“Patrick! She called. How are you darling. She put the parcel down and went into the living room and when she saw him lying on the ground.” Mary also creates an act that makes the detectives believe that she did not do anything to do with the murder.
Betrayal and False Stereotypes in “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl “When people rely on surface appearances and false stereotypes, rather than in-depth knowledge of others at the level of heart, mind, and spirit, their ability to assess and understand people accurately is compromised.” – James. A. Forbes. As Forbes states, when “people rely on surface appearances” and do not look beyond, they often times fail to realize how deceiving looks can be. In “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, Mrs. Maloney uses her image as leverage to get away with the murder of her husband. Throughout the story, Mrs. Maloney betrays multiple people after being betrayed by her own husband.
Subsequently the action of the story begins to rise as Mary patently waits for her husband to return and continues to increase as it becomes clear that he is preparing to start the matter of divorce. Hence the falling action become interesting because she already killed her husband and wants to cover everything so she acts as an innocent woman as she sees her husband’s friends which are officers, and tries to hide the weapon by making them eat the leg’s lamb. Moreover, the story is expressed from the third person limited omniscient point of view so that the readers can see warmth, cleanliness, and scene of the story through Mary’s eyes. Indeed Mary has shown as a harmless domestic character at