1. Lamb to the Slaughter
By: Roald Dahl

2. Characters Mary Maloney Detective Patrick Maloney Sam- grocer
Jack Noonan- police officer

3. Setting
Evening
Maloney Household
1950’s
United States

4. Exposition
Mary Maloney, 6 mo. pregnant, learns that her husband, Patrick, a detective, is leaving her.

5. Rising Action 1. Mary hits him in the head with the frozen lamb.
2. She establishes an alibi by going to the grocery store.
3. She returns home and calls the police, claiming that she found her husband dead.

6. Climax
The police officers eat the lamb!

7. Falling Action
Mary giggles to herself.

8. Resolution
Mary gets away with murder because the police officers ate the murder weapon!

9. Point of View Third Person Limited Omniscient
(Don’t write this part) The narrator is not a character in the story. The narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings that Mary is having.

10. Theme Things are not always as they seem. Be careful who you trust.
Can you think of any other themes that are present in the story?

11. Tone
Irony
(Don’t write this part.) It is ironic that a lady who appears to be wonderful wife has murdered her husband. It is also ironic that he is a detective and his police officer friends eat the murder weapon so there is no evidence against his wife!

12. Video Link
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)