Reaction paper : Lamb the the Slaughter

Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter is not only a witty tale, but is a tale of suspense and it is sure to engage any reader regardless of age group. Throughout the story the reader swims through the sea of countless emotions; from sympathizing with the protagonist, to being in a state of shock, being devoured into a state of suspense all emotions that are built off of the platform of betrayal. Dahl lays out three ultimate accounts of betrayal through the expense of the Maloney’s. The Maloney’s from a third person perspective may be viewed as the starter kit to the perfect middle class family; as Dahl uses significant details to paint the picture of their luxurious home and uses characterization to introduce Mary Maloney and Peter Maloney. Mrs. Maloney is characterized as a devoted expecting housewife who is overwhelmed over her pregnancy and ready to start her family, and sees her husbands arrival home was “always a blissful time of day”, while Mr. Maloney is a working husband senior in the police division. The may seem to be the perfect candidates’ of what the perfect family consist of, but Dahl takes a turn on false perception and unravels the prominent theme of betrayal through a count of techniques leaving the reader at the edge of their seat throughout the remainder of the story.

Dahl first introduces the theme of betrayal with Peter Maloney’s unexplained reason to leave pregnant Mary to take care of a child by herself. Peter Maloney’s choice betrays their wedding vows and abandons Mary. Through direct dialogue, Dahl introduces a heartless Peter Maloney’s, through the text used in Peters speech such as “this is going to be a shock to you” and his mention that he “thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won’t blame me too much.” Peter then ends his “four or five minutes at most” speech about the ending to their marriage and states that she not fuss because it “would not be very good for my job.” Peter is now characterized as a selfish character, and the reader is shocked with his lack of sympathy and automatically begins to pity Mary. Dahl uses the active voice, subtext and also depicts the exact physical sensations that Mary is experiencing, Mary went from being in a state of “curiously tranquility” to feeling “a slight nausea and a desire to vomit.”, she also “couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor” as she began enter a state of an “automatic now-down“. The reader now begins to understand the degree of Mary’s betrayal through the art of subtext.

With this account of betrayal that is now introduced to the reader Dahl then uses the method of action to change the characterization of the pleasant and innocent housewife that the reader was first introduced to. Mary’s decision to kill her husband by striking him with a leg of lamb, changed the entire mood of piece, Mary was “feeling cold and surprised” as even she herself along with the reader is stunned and left mouth opened at Mary’s decision. The decision to kill her husband may be seen as the ultimate betrayal, but because of Dahl’s excellent characterization of Peter and how cold hearted he was, almost was an justification for the action committed by Mary.

The reader is now captured into suspense, as Dahl introduces yet another account of betrayal as Mary now begins to plot a way to deceive the cops that she is very familiar with. Dahl then becomes an omniscient author and allows the reader to go in to the mind of Mary’s. Mary’s mind “became clear all of a sudden” and “she began thinking very fast.” The reader is then amazed at her wittiness as she then begins to cook the object that she used to kill her husband. When the detectives arrive at the house they first question her, the reader is on the edge of their seat to see if Mary’s alibi and plan are foolproof which it is. Through out the search through the Maloney household Dahl masters the concept of irony, primarily when Mary offers the leg of lamb to the detectives who happily eat it , while eating the men exchange phrases about the “big club that the guy used to hit poor Patrick” and mentioned that the weapon “ought to be easy to find.” and probably “right under our very noses”. The weapon was indeed under their noses, more or less right in their mouths. Mary’s witty and smart plan on such quick thinking left the reader in a shock of amazement, sharing a smirk similar to Mary’s.
Through Lamb to the Slaughter Roald Dahl successfully delivered the theme of betrayal by playing with the emotions of the reader, allowing one to experience betrayal on many different levels.