In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, the protagonist, Mrs. Maloney, is characterized as being a dynamic character who goes from being a caring and loving wife to a calculating and ruthless murderer who doesn’t hesitate to do what needs to be done for her unborn baby. One way Roald Dahl shows Mrs. Maloney as a dynamic character who changes into someone who is ruthless is through her statements and actions. There are a few statements and actions that illustrate her change. The first is in the beginning of the story when Mrs. Maloney states, “But you have to have supper. I can easily fix you something. I’d like to do it” (1). This quote shows that in the beginning Mrs. Maloney loved and cared for her husband, and wanted to
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Maloney as being a dynamic character who is not only ruthless, but also calculating. Dahl shows this change mainly through the protagonist’s actions and there are multiple quotes that show and support her change. The first quote which shows Mrs. Maloney before this change can be seen when Dahl writes, “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped bring her out of shock” (2).This quote makes it apparent that when Mrs. Maloney killed her husband she had not thought it through and acted rashly. This is apparent by how after she killed him she had been in shock, implying that she couldn’t grasp what had just occurred. One of the pieces of text that shows Mrs. Maloney as being a devious character is shown when Dahl writes, “She told them how she’d put the meat into the oven -- ‘it’s in there now’-- and how she had gone to the grocer’s for vegetables and how she came back to find him lying on the floor” (3). This quote shows how well Mrs. Maloney had calculated and covered up her murder. It shows that she is devious because she knew that she needed to be out of the house at the time of the murder in order to have an alibi. Since she went to the grocer’s to get food for dinner it also made it natural that there was a leg of lamb, of which she had used to kill her husband, in the oven. Two more quotes from the story that support Mrs. Maloney as becoming calculating are seen when the text illustrates, “Why don’t you eat up the lamb in the oven” and “‘She wants us to finish it. She said we ought to eat it up’” (4). These two pieces of text show that Mrs. Maloney had been so calculating that she had the detectives, who were trying to find the murder weapon, end up eating it, essentially making it so they cannot tie the murder to Mrs. Maloney, which is also seen in the story when the text states, “‘Get the weapon, and you’ve got the murderer” (4). Together, these quotes show a big change. They show that before she
Maloney as being a dynamic character who is not only ruthless, but also calculating. Dahl shows this change mainly through the protagonist’s actions and there are multiple quotes that show and support her change. The first quote which shows Mrs. Maloney before this change can be seen when Dahl writes, “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped bring her out of shock” (2).This quote makes it apparent that when Mrs. Maloney killed her husband she had not thought it through and acted rashly. This is apparent by how after she killed him she had been in shock, implying that she couldn’t grasp what had just occurred. One of the pieces of text that shows Mrs. Maloney as being a devious character is shown when Dahl writes, “She told them how she’d put the meat into the oven -- ‘it’s in there now’-- and how she had gone to the grocer’s for vegetables and how she came back to find him lying on the floor” (3). This quote shows how well Mrs. Maloney had calculated and covered up her murder. It shows that she is devious because she knew that she needed to be out of the house at the time of the murder in order to have an alibi. Since she went to the grocer’s to get food for dinner it also made it natural that there was a leg of lamb, of which she had used to kill her husband, in the oven. Two more quotes from the story that support Mrs. Maloney as becoming calculating are seen when the text illustrates, “Why don’t you eat up the lamb in the oven” and “‘She wants us to finish it. She said we ought to eat it up’” (4). These two pieces of text show that Mrs. Maloney had been so calculating that she had the detectives, who were trying to find the murder weapon, end up eating it, essentially making it so they cannot tie the murder to Mrs. Maloney, which is also seen in the story when the text states, “‘Get the weapon, and you’ve got the murderer” (4). Together, these quotes show a big change. They show that before she