Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney

In 2016 alone there was a total of 17,250 reports of homicide and non-neglegicent manslaughter in the US. 1 in 7 men have been victims of violence from their significant other in their lifetime. In “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, the character Patrick was murdered by his wife, Mary Maloney. Mary should be held guilty of her crimes due to her actions taken after murdering him, her giggle, and her mentality throughout the story.

To start, she should be charged guilty because of her actions after that night. For example, cooking and eating the murder weapon shows guilt as she realizes what has happened and is trying to get away from being caught. Furthurmore, Mary Maloney goes into a different room and begins to apply makeup while reapeating what her alibi is. Both of these show a clear conscience that she used after the kill.

Secondly, at the end of the story we hear about Mary’s giggling at the policemen’s comments. Giggles, by definition usually occur in situations of humor or nervousness. Mary, however, giggles when …show more content…
According to psychologytoday.com the actual definition of being mentally insane is illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. Mary does not show any of these symptoms before or after the killing took place. Rather, she shows that she is aware of what had occurred (“... so I’ve killed him…”) and begins to cover it up. If she was crazy, she would not be able to exibit such clear and detailed thoughts in covering her tracks. According to criminal.findlaw.com, insanity charges may be used only in cases that involve someone being unable to process what had happened or were unable to stop themselves from hurting another. Mary, on the other hand, was aware and was able to stop herself of hurting him if she had