Monthly Archives: October 2019

Lamb to the Slaughter…A Story of Murder or Empowerment?

As a kid, did you ever get blamed for something you didn’t do? Maybe your sibling stole a cookie from the jar, but you got in trouble. As we grow up, we are told that we belong with certain groups, specific types of people, and it is then assumed that each individual in these groups is the exact same. That’s why, even though your sister stole the cookie, you still got in trouble, because you’re the one who is “expected” to be naughty.

As humans, we tend to make immediate judgments of people, often affecting how we see them even after getting to know them. We form stereotypes to lump people into categories, making it easier for us to comprehend individual personalities. As we do this, it becomes easy to overlook those individual characteristics people hold.

In Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, the protagonist, Mary Maloney, is stereotyped as a perfect housewife, allowing her to get away with the murder of her husband.

Now you might be thinking “spoiler alert, Erin!!” but in reality, this malicious murder occurs at the beginning of the scene, setting up a short story filled with dark humor. We see Mary murder her husband and proceed to continue on with her normal life, erasing her as a suspect, as the police see her as a helpless housewife. 

Since I’ve gotten your attention now, I also want to bring up the author. Roald Dahl? We know him for his loving and fun children’s books, but now he’s writing about a murder? I think that Dahl is able to add a sense of playfulness throughout the story due to his experience with writing children’s novels.

The entire short story seems a bit off from the beginning, UK Essays mentioning that Mary has everything preplanned, very ritualistically. Her entire aura is very eerily perfect as if she is about to snap.

Although Roald Dahl goes about it in an extreme way, the idea that women have no power to do anything drastic is completely disregarded by Mary’s impulsive actions. We see Mary throughout the beginning of the novel tending to her husband’s every need, obsessing over his arrival home, showing her lack of power throughout. Soon after, her husband claims he is leaving her and she proceeds to knock him dead with a lamb leg. Her power is even further emphasized as she hides her involvement in the murder, fooling the police and other citizens of her innocence.

On the short story review blog, The Sitting Bee, the writer talks about the gender roles we see, as the police clearly state that a “man” killed Mary’s husband. I feel that this is a giant factor in the way Mary hides the murder. Rather than running away from it, she welcomes the investigation, creating a mirage of innocence. By doing this, we also begin to see the dark side of Mary, a cynical and cold-hearted side.

The complete disregard for Mary when her husband says he is leaving allows for her to truly see the real side of him, someone who doesn’t care for her, solely using her for her love. Mary sees this and takes action.

The actual title, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” in itself has many layers. Right off the bat, we see the obvious correlation between the murder weapon and the title, but I also wanted to discuss the meaning of the title as a whole.

We all know the common term about a lamb to the slaughter, but throughout the short story, I was left wondering, who is the “lamb?”

The obvious choice is the poor victim of Mary’s brute, her husband. But after thinking, could it possibly be the police, clueless of their suspect? Or could it even be Mary?

Every character seems to put themselves into an impossible situation, but that’s what makes it all the more interesting. Every character is so unaware of those around them, and Mary just watches it all unfold with joy.

My favorite part of this short story is the dark humor throughout. One special highlight is after the police begin to eat the now cooked leg lamb that Mary serves to them, mentioning how they feel the murder weapon is “right under their noses.” Mary proceeds to giggle at the sound of this, emphasizing her realization of her own power.

I think that although Mary is by no means a good person, she embodies the empowerment of females. After being controlled for her entire life, she is able to take that control back and rise to power in her life. She giggles giddily after tricking the police, as she just took control not only of her husband’s life but of all those lives around her. 

I think as a female, I could learn a little from the spontaneity of Mary Maloney and her rise to power…maybe I can just ignore the murder part.

The Reality of Academic Bullying and Pressure

We’ve all witnessed it; You get your test back in math and everyone around you starts chatting, “what did you get? Did you get an A?” This culture of transparency with our peers about our academics has created a negative and inaccurate academic norm in our school. We constantly are trying to show superiority in our academics. From the constant praise and awards to the competitive courses and college applications, NNHS has always put an emphasis on academic achievement, but how far is too far?

As Psychology Today puts it, schools place students into an “intellectual hierarchy.” This gives students at the top a chance to bully other kids for their lower performance. We are constantly told “you need to improve” or “you can always do better,” but at some point, we can’t give anymore, we’ve reached our breaking point. For many, this is where we begin to isolate those with different “bests.”

I’ve noticed this culture more and more during my senior year. Not only is it prevalent in class, but it’s also common with college applications. Constantly asking people where they are applying and asking how far they are with their applications in order to measure one’s own accomplishments.

Why does it matter where I am applying? We’re all going to places where I doubt I’ll see most of my peers again. The only reason for asking others these questions is to compare and validate one’s own accomplishments. This creates a sense of competition, when in reality we should be helping one another, as we all share a common goal.

I believe this competition stems from the idea that Naperville North has so many high-ranking students. We believe that we have to constantly be above others in our academics to prove something. But what are we proving? I know that there was a time where I felt like the only thing I had going for me was my academic achievements. This led to me seeking constant validation from others with my grades, but in reality, so many others were at the same level as me. This validation came from a place of insecurity, as I needed to feel like I had something going for me.

Our school focuses so heavily on academics that any accomplishments I made were belittled. Although it is important to do our best, this does not mean getting a perfect score on every test. When people laugh about failing their tests, they are doing so in defense, in order to hide the disappointment they feel. This comes from the idea that we all need to be perfect, or we aren’t good enough, or that we aren’t benefitting anyone.

 The pressure from the school also causes a lack of purpose in many. When I asked her, one friend of mine mentioned that “academics is the biggest emphasis at NNHS.” This over-emphasis on our grades allows students with lower scores to lose their goals, as the only thing being told to them is that we need to improve our grades. With the loss of our sense of purpose, we also begin to lose empathy. Without empathy, we are basically robots, living life without any goals. In reality, it is just as important to develop these soft skills along with your intelligence. Despite this, many of the population is under the belief that our intelligence is more important, as shown in this photo.

Through all of this pain we endure, we still continue to inflict it on others, but why? We constantly want to know where we are ranked compared to others, but if we focus on this, how can we focus on our improvement. Our academics are individual, we are all different, and by this, we should keep academics individual, rather than leaving transparency between our peers. This allows a safe environment to grow as students, instead of being put on the spot by our grades. Through this, we can create a new culture in Naperville North. One of acceptance, not isolation.