Script:
The short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is a story between a husband and wife in 1950s America. The story uses similes and descriptive language to analyze the changing relationship between Mary Maloney and her husband Patrick. Patrick, a police officer, decides he wants to have a divorce from his wife who was six months pregnant. This triggers Mary to make an unimaginable decision to murder him. This decision unlocked a different side to Mary than seen before. She becomes an independent thinker and a complex character. Dahl’s use of items such as food and Christian imagery provides deeper meaning to the killing of Patrick. The hidden meaning found in names provides readers with important details key to understanding the story. “The Lamb to the Slaughter” uses the extreme example of matricide to critique gender roles in 1950s America, suggesting that the power between husband and wife is shifting and women can think freely for themselves. Dahl is warning men that they should treat their wives fairly, or there will be well-deserved consequences for them.
Mary Maloney’s whole world revolves around her husband Patrick. Dahl goes into great depth to explain the significant amount of love she felt towards Patrick: “now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come” (Dahl 1). The phrase “please herself with the thought” is significant because it describes the inseparable connection she feels. Her whole purpose and happiness are to cater to him and his needs. Mary’s resilience towards her husband is reminiscent of the term “lamb” which is a young sheep. Young sheep rely on other sheep for their fulfillment. Mary is a lamb at the beginning of the story because of her innocence and obedience to Patrick. The killing of the lamb kills her innocence and allows her to grow into a new person. Dahl explained that, “she loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel — almost as sunbather feels the sun — that warm male glow that came out of him when they were alone together” (Dahl 2). This comparison is significant because of the use of the sun. The sun is the main part of the solar system, and it is what life is centered around. The sun is how we track time, and it connects to the idea of Mary watching the clock, waiting for him to return. Patrick is equal to the sun for Mary. Without Patrick, Mary would seem to have no purpose in life. The description of a sunbather feeling the sun shows the immense feeling of love and reliance. Mary does not think critically for herself, and she seems content with this lifestyle.
After her husband decides to divorce her, she feels a way many women at that time would feel. She felt shameful and embarrassed about the decision of Patrick. Women in the 1950s relied on men for their financial situation along with emotional support. She felt lost and angry which made her lose control of herself. This resulted in killing her husband with a frozen leg of a lamb that they were going to eat for dinner: “at that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she 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. She might just as well have hit him with a steel club” (Dahl 3). The murder came easy to her. She even smiled after the event. The climax signaled a complete change in the story. The symbol lamb once represented peace, love, and sacrifice, but now was used as a murder weapon. This decision was made due to the enormous amount of embarrassment and rage she was filled with. In the aftermath, Dahl describes how Mary now is starting to feel emotions and think for herself: “now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden” (Dahl 3). Mary gains her self-identity, and her purpose is no longer to serve Patrick. Killing Patrick seemed to give her freedom and the ability to feel real emotions. The extreme reaction also highlights the complexity of women. During the era of the 1950s, the stereotypical woman was a housewife. The murder shows women as more than capable of thinking for themselves if they are given the opportunity. It also gives evidence of the power women can hold in a relationship. Dahl wanted to warn readers that if mistreated, females can be equally dangerous.
The strategic aspect and power shift became present after the murder. She put the lamb in the oven and went to the grocery store to talk with Sam the deli clerk. This gave her an alibi that would be important to her later. She suddenly is calculating, manipulative, thinking for herself, and deceiving a large group of men. Mary outsmarted a large group of men to get away with the murder. One of them belched. “Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises.” “Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack?” And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle (Dahl 9). This segment displays the complete reverse of power between women and men in the novel. Mary went from a housewife who was incapable of making decisions that benefited her, to creating an elaborate scheme in getting away with murder. Her giggling symbolizes the freedom in her mind. Mary once smiled at the idea of Patrick coming home from work, and now she is giggling at the idea of getting away with murder and tricking other men. She was able to feel real emotions and create her self-identity. She was no longer the lamb she once was at the beginning of the story. Mary, whose name stems from innocence like the Virgin Mary and Marry had a little lamb, had killed that lamb, and transformed into a new person. She killed her husband Patrick, whose name may come from St. Patrick a Christian saint who died for his beliefs. Dahl uses Christian symbols to help give the readers a clear idea of the characters and put significance on the character change from Mary at the beginning. Patrick was killed similarly to St. Patrick, a martyr, for his beliefs about divorce.
The shift from “loving to luxuriate in the presence of this man” (Dahl 2) to the murder is symbolized by the story’s name. Mary was a lamb whose weakness was needing her husband. Using the lamb as the murder weapon, then putting it in the oven killed her biggest flaw. Killing her biggest weakness allowed her to open up and become a new person. The lamb being eaten by the detectives destroyed and got rid of her weakness. She was finally a newly independent person. Mary went from a person who lived in the shadow of her husband, to someone dangerous and free-thinking. She felt powerful emotions to kill her husband, who was once the sun to her, the person who gave her life. The death of her husband, the sun, moves Mary into a period of darkness. She easily lied to the detectives and became a manipulative person. Mary proved women were capable of murder if they were not happy with the actions of their husbands.
The murder of a husband in the 1950s was shocking for the time. Considering the era, wives would never be thought of to do something that bold. The character growth of Mary Maloney is what became important in the story. She had to reinvent herself after the death of her husband and discover an identity. The growth from no identity to a complex character shows the author’s main purpose. Dahl wanted to show readers the power women have, and how they were as smart and clever as men at the time. Women are independent and offer just as much to society as men. Marriage relationships should be more balanced between the two genders. Dahl wanted readers to realize that everyone is equal and can be complex and dangerous. He attempted to show the change in gender roles in America. Although society in the 1950s was dominated by males, Roald Dahl used an extreme example to show that women were more than housewives and that if they are mistreated, they will be dangerous. In conclusion, men should treat their wives as a companion, and not just other people. Dahl is stating marriages should act as a team and not a group of individuals. It is up to the current and future generations to create an appropriate balance of power between men and women in America.
Bibliography
Dahl, Roald. “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Common Lit.
https://kmhs.typepad.com/files/commonlit_lamb-to-the-slaughter_student-1.pdf.
Originally published in Harper’s Magazine, 1953.
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How to get Away with Murder. 2018. ABC, https://www.newsweek.com/how-get-away-murder- canceled-why-was-htgawm-canceled-series-finale-season-6-1504005
NASA Parker Solar Probe – Journey To The Sun. Youtube, uploaded by Wonder World, 14 Aug.
2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGElWHGX4WA.
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Sally. Roald Dahl. 2011. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6142946853.
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