Use Of Situational Irony In Lamb To The Slaughter

Many people learn fairly early in life that people are not always the way they seem. Roald Dahl demonstrates this theme in his short short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter”. By incorporating dramatic and situational irony and clever use of characterization, the author teaches us that we should not underestimate people. One of the literary elements the author uses to convey the story’s theme is situational irony. Opening the story with a loving housewife awaiting her husband’s arrival from work, Dahl portrays the main character as loving, reserved, and in a way, weak. The woman, named Mary, pampers her husband, and tends to him while he gloomily drinks glass after glass of whiskey. After her husband delivers the bad news he was foreshadowing, Mary experiences a drastic character change; the author writes, “Mary Maloney walked up behind him and without pause swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head” (Dahl 382). This quote from the story demonstrates situational irony because the reader is …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, the main character is analyzed as a stereotypical housewife, concerning herself mostly with caring for her husband after his day at work. The narrator explains to the reader how Mary Maloney simply loves her husband’s quiet presence and waits longingly for him to come home each day. The author writes, “She was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house” (Dahl 380). After her husband presents himself in what seems to Mary as an unusual manner, and then confirms it by delivering disquieting news, the author surprises the reader by altering Mary’s character from a powerless and small woman to a wicked, cunning murderer. Mary Maloney seems to just snap, once again reminding the reader that we should not underestimate people we do not know much