Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Doloney Character Analysis

In the story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, a pregnant woman, by the name of Mary Maloney , murders her husband with a frozen lamb leg and hides the evidence in the oven. She plans on telling the police about his death, but she has to be ready for their questions. The police are working hard in her house, so she invites them for dinner. Yet, the police officers didn’t know that they were eating the murder weapon, all they knew is they were eating lamb leg. What does it mean when a helpful, caring women, changes into a mad murder? Quite frankly, it means she’s a dynamic character. Which means she changes through body language, emotions, and dialogue; so naturally, that’s what this is about. Mary Maloney’s body language help …show more content…
Talk about getting dumped, killing the man she loved, then trying to get away with it. Crazy, but that’s not the way she’s always been. In the beginning, her emotions are calm and steady; she’s a satisfied women. Even the author states: ”She merely wanted to satisfy herself that each minute that went by made it nearer the time when he would come home”. Yet when her husband breaks her heart she, “Sat still through it all, watching him with a puzzled horror”. This is obviously hard for her, she is so startled that she doesn’t know what to do. Moving on, she kills him and his crash to the floor “ helped bring her out of the shock”. In a way she didn't really know what was going on. She went with the saying “move with the flow”. Mary’s emotions were numb and in-shock. Therefore, she realizes “how clear her mind had become all of a sudden. She began thinking very fast…. In fact, it was a relief”. Now she’s feeling relief? After murdering her husband she feels weight coming off her shoulders? Well, that’s only temporary. Mary has to act sad and heartbroken in order for her plan to work with the police officers. What better way to act if she actually feels that way? Roald writes it well: “All the old love for him came back to her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry hard”. To conclude this, Roald makes a scene where Mary begins to “giggle” at the fact that the police officers are eating the murder weapon. It’s mad. Mary Maloney was a calm women. Her husband was the string that held her together. So obviously if her husband cuts that string, Then Mary wouldn’t be stable, and it’s not like he’ll come back and she’ll be fine again. He’s dead. Which means so is Mary’s marbles. Mary Maloney is obviously a dynamic