1. “Lamb to the Slaughter”
Short story by Roald Dahl

2. Brief Summary
doting housewife…husband announces he’s leaving her…she whacks him over head w/ frozen leg of lamb
wife concocts plan
cooks lamb…calls police…they can’t find weapon…wife invites them to eat lamb (weapon) she had cooking in oven!

3. Voice/Narration & POV 3rd person limited POV told via Mary
orderly home…warm, inviting
shattered by husband’s news
calculating mind + transformation can be followed

4. Style
Black Comedy
def: use of grotesque, morbid, or absurdly dark for comic purposes
unexpected that wife will smash spouse’s head w/ frozen leg of lamb
Mary tells grocer
“I’ve got meat”…big hunk on floor at home!
Dessert?...husband has gotten his “just” desserts
police/detectives devour murder weapon

5. Setting Domestic middle class identity of protagonist
housewife, mother-to-be
identity interrupted by
husband’s betrayal
by Mary taking husband’s life

6. Characters Mary Maloney protagonist identity
doting, adoring housewife & expectant mother
image of innocence transformed to loss of control when domestic life is shattered
So, what theme can be deduced?

7. Characters Patrick Maloney husband policeman…not advancing in career
leaving wife
flat, static character
purpose?

8. Issues/Topics & Themes
Betrayal & Trust
husband’s betrayal
wife’s betrayal
wife’s lies
Theme from all this?

9. Trust is easily manipulated.
When that which we desire is threatened, mankind will digress from the path of goodness.
One small form of betrayal can lead to many others.
Depend on yourself first and not give all you have to another b/c if you do, then you give that person the ability to hurt you.

10. Issues/Topics & Themes
Identity
Mary: ideal middle class housewife
sudden transformation to murderess
Theme from this?

11. Themes
When you base your identity on someone or something else, you risk losing touch with reality.
When you are betrayed by someone you trust, emotions can take over rational thoughts.
The weak has more power than one may think.
Something harmless can turn into something destructive.

12. Traumatizing events can lead a person to take drastic actions.
The more strongly you hold on to something, the stronger you have to be to let it go.
Rather than putting all your trust in one person, balance your life with many trustworthy people.
Think before you act.
People resort to any means to protect themselves.

13. Literary Techniques Irony (verbal, situational, dramatic)
grocer asking about dessert
husband has gotten his “just” dessert
detectives eating weapon…”right under our very noses”
lamb is instrument—not victim—of slaughter
Mary’s closing giggle

14. Literary Techniques Connotations & Allusions
Title: “Lamb to the Slaughter”—biblical allusion
lamb: innocent, pure, naïve, follower
slaughter: gruesome, violent
to the: suggests someone innocent is led to some kind of “killing”—literally or figuratively
lambs
Mary rejected by husband
husband fatally attacked
investigators tricked into consuming weapon

15. Literary Techniques Symbolism setting
domestic home = middle class happiness
purpose: part of identity
frozen leg of lamb = token of violence
purpose: heightens black comedy