Atmosphere In The Landlady By Roald Dahl

In “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, a boy named Billy tries to find a place to stay after first arriving in Bath. He is making his way to a pub when he’s drawn in by a local Bed and Breakfast run by a sweet and seemingly innocent old lady who later turns out to be a homicidal human taxidermist. As the story progresses, Roald Dahl uses the ominous mood of the environment, the strange quirks of the seemingly innocence of the landlady, and the frustrating naivety of Billy. First of all Dahl uses the setting and environment of the story to create intrigue. At the beginning of the story, Dahl describes the air as “deadly cold” and the wind as “a flat blade of ice on his cheeks” (P. 26). This description creates an eerie atmosphere from the start, especially paired with the fact that it was in the evening. On his way to the Bell and Dragon, he passes by the sign advertising “Bed and Breakfast” and upon closer inspection sees the notice in the window. The repetition of “Bed and Breakfast”, seems to draw Billy in, each word “like a large, black eye …show more content…
Throughout the story, much of the plot is implied. It’s never written that the landlady had poisoned Billy, nor that she had stuffed and preserved the other boys but the reader infers it. The story never really ends for sure, the reader assumes that Billy has been poisoned and will suffer the same fate as the other boys. However there is always the possibility of another ending, perhaps Billy got away and called the police, perhaps the landlady really was just an innocent, confused old lady. Nothing was explicitly explained at the end so there is still a level of ambiguity left there. Ironically, Billy would have lived if he’d taken the chance and gone to the Bell and Dragon instead. This shows that you really can’t judge a book by it’s