Human personality naturally changes over time. Sometimes it is sudden but more often it is a gradual change. Character development is practically a must have of good fictional narrative writing. It usually happens gradually as it does in nature to make the writing realistic but Roald Dahl uses striking changes in character personality to create an incredibly intriguing character. Mary Maloney in the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl experiences major, instantaneous characteristic changes throughout the text. Mrs. Maloney begins as a very passive woman. She stays home all day waiting for her husband to return while she cleans, sews, and performs other household maintenance activities. She was the classic housewife.
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She repeatedly said things like, “I’ll get some bread and cheese...I can easily fix you something. I’d like to do it….Anything you want...you have to eat! I’ll do it anyway” (Dahl 1). Her character early on also had an air of innocence with her “large, puzzled eyes” and the way in which “she began to get frightened” simply due to the fact that her husband was not speaking (Dahl 1). When Patrick Maloney does begin to speak is when Mary Maloney’s first major change occurs. Mr. Maloney had been nearly unresponsive since he arrived home and had been drinking more than usual. After a short while of this he announces that he has something to say to Mary that would be a “big shock” (Dahl 1). This information that he reveals to Mary is what seems to have caused her first major change. It is implied that Mr. Maloney is leaving Mary which left her in “puzzled horror” (Dahl 2). Mrs. Maloney here becomes almost robotic. Everything she does in the following moments are done without thinking or feeling. She hits her husband in the …show more content…
Maloney that Mary’s third and final change occurs in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. The first thing she says after committing this heinous act is, “so I’ve killed him” (Dahl 2). Here she begins to become very calculated and cunning; not at all like the soft, seemingly innocent woman she was earlier that day. She devises a plan to get away with this crime for her unborn child's sake. She goes up stairs to her room,” fixed her makeup, and tried to smile” but not before putting the leg of lamb in the oven to destroy evidence. After some preparation she returns to the lower floor, walks past her dead husband, and leaves the house to go to the grocer to provide an alibi with witnesses. These are not the actions of a normal person after murdering a supposed loved one in cold blood. AS she is walking home she talks herself through what she must do when she arrives which includes that “she would have to react with grief and horror” (Dahl 3). Upon arriving home she finds her dead husband,
She repeatedly said things like, “I’ll get some bread and cheese...I can easily fix you something. I’d like to do it….Anything you want...you have to eat! I’ll do it anyway” (Dahl 1). Her character early on also had an air of innocence with her “large, puzzled eyes” and the way in which “she began to get frightened” simply due to the fact that her husband was not speaking (Dahl 1). When Patrick Maloney does begin to speak is when Mary Maloney’s first major change occurs. Mr. Maloney had been nearly unresponsive since he arrived home and had been drinking more than usual. After a short while of this he announces that he has something to say to Mary that would be a “big shock” (Dahl 1). This information that he reveals to Mary is what seems to have caused her first major change. It is implied that Mr. Maloney is leaving Mary which left her in “puzzled horror” (Dahl 2). Mrs. Maloney here becomes almost robotic. Everything she does in the following moments are done without thinking or feeling. She hits her husband in the …show more content…
Maloney that Mary’s third and final change occurs in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. The first thing she says after committing this heinous act is, “so I’ve killed him” (Dahl 2). Here she begins to become very calculated and cunning; not at all like the soft, seemingly innocent woman she was earlier that day. She devises a plan to get away with this crime for her unborn child's sake. She goes up stairs to her room,” fixed her makeup, and tried to smile” but not before putting the leg of lamb in the oven to destroy evidence. After some preparation she returns to the lower floor, walks past her dead husband, and leaves the house to go to the grocer to provide an alibi with witnesses. These are not the actions of a normal person after murdering a supposed loved one in cold blood. AS she is walking home she talks herself through what she must do when she arrives which includes that “she would have to react with grief and horror” (Dahl 3). Upon arriving home she finds her dead husband,