Lamb To The Slaughter Character Analysis Essay

In this short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” the true character of Mrs. Maloney is revealed throughout by an event that occurred and her schemes to protect the truth being divulged to others. Mrs. Maloney can be viewed as being a devoted wife towards her husband, impulsive of her actions or emotions, and manipulative towards others throughout the short story. In the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter” Mrs. Maloney is perceived as being “the lamb” since she is pregnant giving her the persona of defenseless and innocent. Although, her true character is revealed after her husband Patrick gives her some news that will change their fates. After patrick is killed many of his friends who are detectives and policemen come to the crime scene without …show more content…
Maloney portrayed in the story at the end is that she was manipulative towards others such as Patrick and police officers. Mrs. Maloney bribes her husband and policemen to prevent them from being suspicious of her actions and make her seem like a typical wife that just wants to please her husband and his friends. The friends of Patrick perceive Mrs. Maloney as a harmless women that just experienced the death of her husband. In the story Mrs. Maloney tries to give the policemen the leg of lamb to hide evidence “...Would you do me a favor? Here you all are, all good friends of Patrick 's, and you 're helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be very hungry by now because it 's long past your supper time, and I know that Patrick would never forgive me if I let you stay in the house without offering you anything to eat.” and also asks them to have a drink even if it 's not allowed during work hours..."Jack," she said, "Would you like a drink? You must be extremely tired." "Well," he answered. "It 's not allowed by police rules, but since you 're a friend." Elisabeth Piedmont who is the coordinator of the undergraduate writing center at the University of Texas of Austin gave this commentary about the nature of Mrs. Maloney in the “Lamb to the Slaughter”, “...because the officers can only perceive her as a helpless victim, they cannot see how they are being led astray. First she tempts them with a little whiskey. Then finally, using Patrick 's sense of duty and their loyalty to him as reasons, she convinces them to abandon the trail of the murderer and sit down to eat the weapon that she used to kill her husband and their colleague.” Although, Mrs. Maloney “ultimately uses the same means of control over the investigating officers that she had used with Patrick: food, drink, and the illusion of uncomprehending innocence. It expands into the superlative when she skillfully lies to Sergeant Noonan and O 'Malley, on their arrival, feigning