In this essay i will be telling you about Mrs. Mary Maloney, setting, plot and my conclusion. Has Roald Dahl created the perfect murder? Lets find out. First i will be writing about the setting. Roald Dahl describes the home as ”warm and clean”, ”curtains drawn”, ”two table lamps alight” and ”two tall glasses, soda water whisky”. He also makes Mr and Mrs Maloney’s home sound like a very neat and cosy enviroment.
He inclues very specific detail bu mentioning the ice-cubes that were used for the whisky. The house also sounds private as the curtains are closed, so no one could realy peak in. It just seems like the perfect home. You wouldnt expect anything extremely bad to happen. In the short story, we are introduced to Mary Maloney, a 6 month pregnant housewife who recently found out that her husband is going to leave her. Mary is a typical housewife, waiting on her husband hand and foot. She loves him dearly, but as the story unfolds, we see that he does not share the same feelings.
Mrs. Maloney, unable to handle the rejection, lashes out and kills her husband. We then see Mary’s character transform before our eyes and the once loving, dutiful housewife becomes a very devious, manipulative and cold hearted character. She manages to fool everyone maybe even herself. She comes across as a very quiet, innocent person, like she wouldnt harm anyone. Her skin was translucent. She devoted her whole life to her husband, but then something turns for the worse and Mary Maloney does something you wouldnt expect her to do.
The Essay on Mary Maloney Review
Character Analysis of Mary Maloney "Lamb to the Slaughter" Characterization is an important component in short story writing. In the short story "Lamb to the Slaugher" written by Roald Dahl, we are introduced to Mary Maloney, a pregnant housewife who recently found out that her husband is going to leave her. Mary develops into a very complex character as the events of the short story unfold. Mary ...
I’m goign to give you a brief summary of the short story. Both Mr and Mrs Maloney live at home together. Mary Maloney is 6 months pregnant with Patrick’s baby. She expected it to be a normal day, but it wasnt. Patrick came home from work and he started acting un-easy around her. Giving her one word replies and telling her to just sit down and not make him a drink or anything to eat. He then finally tells her he is leaving her. She reacted as if he never said it and just carrie don as usual. She wnet to the freezer and picked up the first piece of meat she laid her hands on. A leg of lamb.
She walked upstairs with it in her hands, walked up behind her husband and smacked him in the back of the head with this giant piece of meat. She then put it in the oven to cook. After the insidance, she went upstairs, got herself ready, and rehearsed herself to be fine, like everything was just normal. She came back from the shop and reacted as if someone had broke into the house and killed him. Mary Maloney phoned the police, as soon as they knew who it was, they were straight over. The police checked the house for clues, but there was none. The only evidence was the lamb.
They carried on the investigation and got a statement from the man in the shop and Mary Maloney. She then lured them to eat the evidence. They ate the leg of lamb, they wont ever know who or how Patrick Maloney got killed. My opinion on the story was actually quite positive. I liked the way Roald Dahl created the perfect scenery, good characters, but the story had a twist. It made me more intreged in it. I enjoyed the strory a lot. But i dont think he created the perfect murder. I knwo its not a real story, but you cant get a perfect murder. Some way, you will get caught.