I couldn’t stop laughing.
The scary thing is, my house had a similar architecture. We had meat stored in a kimchi storage fridge and you know what, it was just like how it was presented in the story.
Thank god we didn’t have lamb. Because if we did, who knows?
Lamb to the Slaughter was actually quite a hilarious story. Sure death isn’t something to be laughed about, but Dahl’s interpretation and writing don’t use death as a literal standpoint, rather a tool for irony.
Mary loves her husband, but her husband wants to divorce. She, being pregnant, has trouble understanding Patrick’s decision and hit him on the head with a leg of lamb. After realizing what she had done, Mary calls the cops and convinces them to eat the lamb, essentially getting rid of all of the evidence.
That’s really the whole reflectiveness of Dahl’s writing. It isn’t necessarily about analysis. It isn’t all about behind meanings. The power of Dahl’s writing is that it’s just entertaining and intrinsic value.
And that isn’t to say that Dahl’s essay is poorly written or lacks any literary merit. In fact, Dahl wrote a plethora of works that are renowned throughout the literary world. The BFG, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl has implanted himself throughout.
But Dahl seemed to have written for a more familiar audience. More that is specifically tailored towards children, a younger audience. Without the focus in jargon and pretentiousness, Dahl is able to write with an emphasis on creativity. It’s the power of taking a simple saying like “Lamb to the Slaughter” and putting his own little twist on it to interpret the meaning literally.
The thing is though, Dahl actually incorporated an aspect of analysis as well that can actually have meaning beyond the entertainment level.
Lamb to the slaughter is a phrase that is used to describe the victims of the innocent that are unfamiliar to the perceived and presented dangers. Perhaps if we were to go into the analysis, we can see who in the story was representative of the title.
Mary? It seemed that Mary was definitely innocent. In unconditional love with her husband, she was in the state of irrational decisions. Her husband coming home was a factor that seemed to spark her initial emotions of love that were contrasted acutely throughout the story. There could be an argument saying how it was Mary that was the lamb to the slaughter. She was led into the world of romance and love that was unparalleled and unreciprocated by her at the time husband.
But what about her husband. Perhaps he was a lamb to the slaughter as he was the one who thought he was safe in regards to the fact that he believed in the innocence of his own wife. The inclusion of her pregnancy is a misleading factor that represents her protectiveness and comfort, but in reality, it is just a coverup of her manipulative behaviors.
And maybe even the police? They fell straight for Mary’s trap. But I won’t spoil that part.
So then what really is the meaning? Was it really merely just an irony filled piece that serves the purpose for enjoyment and entertainment? Or was it actually a social commentary on perhaps even human manipulation?
Some say that it was all-encompassing, such as a critical analysis published on Academia.edu by Khairunnisa Mohamad Yusoff ,stating that the combination of Mary’s pregnancy, the fact that Patrick is a crime detective, and the overall idea of her acting out of pure anger all contribute towards meaning or a commentary on human behavior when upset, under stress, or oppressed.
All in all, Lamb to the slaughter is a phenomenal piece. It has all the components of good writing, humor, irony, meaning, and is a fairly quick read as well. If Mary was able to convince the detectives that she didn’t commit the crime, perhaps I could convince you guys to read this story. . .
