The Lamb to the slaughter – Roald Dahl

The Lamb to the slaughter story is about a couple who seemingly had a happy marriage. Until one day her husband comes home and discovers that the marriage is over. Incensed, she hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb! She is particularly concerned about the consequences if she is found out and she is worried about her unborn child so she proceeds to go shopping as normal. She comes home to find the dead husband. She calls the police and she pretends to be devastated. She then persuades the offices to stay and eat dinner the evidence!

The landlady story is about Billy he comes from London to find lodgings Billy can’t decide between the pub “The Bell and Dragon” and the “Bed and Breakfast”. Billy seems to be ‘drawn’ to the “Bed and Breakfast” holding him, forcing him and compelling him to stay. The Bed and Breakfast was extremely cheap. There is the mystery of the only two previous guests. Billy think he recognize the names. She refers to them as a famous duo, company them to ‘Dempsey and Tunney’, ‘Churchill and Roosevelt’… famous boxers and politicians respectively. Billy notices the stuffed animals and he starts to think the worst for the pervious guests.

There wasn’t a blemish on his body” were they murdered? She even says there are “on the 3rd floor”. Initially the theme of lamb to the slaughter is rejection because the husband tells her marriage is over. We never know exactly why. It then became revenge when she kills her husband she then becomes scared and her character changes. She is concerned with survival for her unborn child. She change from a loving house wife to someone quite clever and scheming in order to survive. Dahl uses the whisky drinking scene to set the tone as building up to something “oily swirls”.

The theme is quite light hearted in the end as she allows herself a giggle when the evidence discusses the murder weapon. A seventeen year old man, Billy Weaver arrives in Bath. He checks into a cheap Bed and Breakfast. He is greeted by a old lady between forty-five and fifty-five. He went to sign the guest book and noticed only two names, Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple. The names seemed familiar to Billy. The Landlady said that they were “still here on the 3rd floor”.

Billy notices that a Parrot and a dog were both stuffed. She served him tea that “tasted faintly of bitter almonds”. glance up at the clock’…. ‘Nearer the time when he would come.. ‘ and ‘smiling air about her’ ‘stood up, and went forward to kiss him as he came in’ She used the word ‘darling’ when she spoke to him ‘took the coat and hung it’ ‘made the drinks’ this shows us that the character is loving and caring.

‘Srongest for him and weak one for herself ‘ she knows where she stands she knows she cant drink because she is preganent ‘she loved the luxuriate in the present of this man’ character shows that she cant live without him so ‘ive killed him’ character admits for being a murderer she began to think very fast’ she was paronoide ‘what about the baby’ she knew she did wrong but wanted to make it right for the baby character felt bad but still had love for her unborn child Ive got a nice leg of lamb charater stood up strong because she mentioned the weapon she had used to commit a crime ‘billy was seventeen years old’ the charecter is young and niaeve. ‘lots of people talk to’ he is very social and easy going also indecisive.

‘Appeared to be slightly off her rocker didn’t worry billy’ billy throught about the landlady. ‘she was about fourty-five or fifty years old’ the landlady charecter is old. Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast’ the landlady price is cheap. ‘the old lady is slightly dotty, billy told himself’ she’s not quite all there. there wan’t a blemish on his body’ the ladys has good memory. ‘i put a water bottle between the sheets to air them out’… ‘you may light the gas fire at any time if you feel’ the landly is very concidente and too sliglhty odd. ‘oh no i don’t think they were famous. but there were extraordinary handsome, both of them , i can promise you that. they were tall and young and handsome, my dear just like you. ‘

The landlady is strange. her bady was half turned towards him, and he could feel her eyes resting on his face,’ she always was looking at him where she is stary and unegy feeling. Mr Malony is waiting for her husband to return from work. She feels happy and almost excited. When the husband arrived home Mary Maloney welcome him home and offered her husband with many things but he rejects all her offers. The husband goes and gets another whisky drink. After he had the secound drink he told Maloney that the marriage is over we were not told why. Mary Maloney didn’t take it serriously and says she will cook dinner.

The main plot point of the story was when Mary Maloney hit her husband with the leg of lamb and Maloney became a murderer. She stop and thinked about what she had done also had throughts about her punishment and how life will be for her un-born baby. She went shopping acting as normal. When she return home she acted as if she didn’t murder her husband and called the police. When the police arrive there were kind to Mary Maloney and she had a drink of whisky. Mary Maloney persuades them to stay for diner and the police officers eat the murder weapon.

While the officers were eating one of the officers mentioed ‘problely the murder weapon is right under our very noses’ and Mary Maloney giggled. Billy traverls from London to Bath and is looking for a cheap hotel to stay. On Billys way he noticed a Bed and Breakfast. Billy was indecisive of staying at an hotel or an Bed and Breakfast he felt as if he was being force to the Bed and Breakfast. A fourty-five to fifty year’s old women welcomed Billy. The price was very cheap. Billys feeling about the lady is that she’s ‘slightly dotty’ a little strange lady.

While Billy was signing the book he notice that he knew the two other names that were on the book ‘Christopher Mulholland and Gregory Temple’. Dueing tea they discuss about the two men. The lady told Billy that Gregory Temple and Christtopher Mulholland have not left and there are on the thried floor also mentioned that ‘there wasn’t a blemish on Gregory Temples body’. Later Billy notice that the parrot and the dog were dead. The tea tasted biker for billy were it implies to us that billy was being poisioned also Christopher Temple and Gregory Mulholland were murdered!