Have you ever been completely blindsided by a situation? You know, where you go in thinking one thing is about to happen but turns out you are in for a completely different turn of events?
Well, if your answer is yes, then I can assure you that you’ll be able to relate to Patrick Maloney in Roald Dahl’s, Lamb to the Slaughter. Even the title of the story gives insight to the reader about the plotline of the text. The phrase, “lamb to the slaughter” is often used when a person goes into a situation completely unaware of the dangers that lie ahead and therefore acts calmly in the situation they find themselves in.
The Author
Roald Dahl is best known as a fiction author and most popularly known for writing, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl takes a slightly dark turn and instead of his normally upbeat fiction works, he wrote the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter. He often uses crude humor throughout his works and there is often controversy surrounding his works from parents. But it is up to you to decide how to interpret his various works of fiction.
The Story
By the title of the story, I’m sure you can tell this is not going to be the happy-go-lucky children’s stories you may be used to from him.
Lamb to the Slaughter details the life of a pregnant woman, Mary Maloney and her husband, Patrick Maloney. Mary is the typical housewife, cleaning and cooking for Patrick to show that she cares about him (which are normal roles for women in the 1950’s). However, one night Patrick gives her some unfortunate news; news that is just too much for Mrs. Maloney to handle. Her frazzled actions lead to a whirlwind of bad decisions including killing her husband with a frozen leg of lamb. The events that unfold next show how Mrs. Maloney decides to deal with her actions.
Dahl’s inspiration for writing the short story is rather funny. It all started over a simple dinner with his friend, Ian Fleming (writer of James Bond). Their dinner had been ruined by a poorly cooked leg of lamb which had frustrated Fleming so much he said that the cook should be shot. Thus Dahl’s inspiration for Lamb to the Slaughter.
Big Picture
Lamb to the Slaughter is a MUST read and I would give it 5/5 stars. While it engages the reader throughout the story building suspense and plot twists around every corner, it also shows important life lessons to them.
One of the themes in the short story is about the imbalance of gender roles in society and how women are often overlooked in a man’s eyes. I think it is important to think about the time period in which the story was written to truly grasp what Dahl is trying to show to his readers.
In the 1950’s it was very common for women to be the caretaker of the family. Mary Maloney is the perfect example of a housewife. Mary’s initial description goes as follows; pregnant, caretaker, cooks for her husband and occupies her days waiting for her husband to return home from work. Dahl sets the scene by showing the reader that the main purpose Mary has in her marriage to Patrick is to take care of him (sadly this still happens today).
Mary clearly lives in a patriarchal society where her husband is free to have his job, and roam the streets while Mary is left to take care of the house and eventually, her child. Her entire life is centered around that of her husband. Before he returns to the house, she tidies up the house, and from the moment he walks in the door she hangs up his coat, offers to get him a drink, as well as cook him dinner.
Dahl is also able to highlight the imbalance of love and affection in their relationship when Patrick never reciprocates the feelings that Mary puts forth. All of the minor details that happen in their relationship, begin to add up over time. Mary has a load of pent up frustration (and rightfully so) over Patrick and eventually lets out her anger on her husband.
Throughout the story, we see that Patrick often views his wife as less than him in that she always prepares dinner and does the chores around the house. These preconceived notions that Patrick holds against his wife ultimately blindside him, and he underestimates the powers of his wife.
While Mary goes to the extreme with killing her husband, Dahl is able to highlight these gender roles that are still present in today’s society. Even towards the end of the story, the detectives only enhance Mary’s role as the caregiver when they refer to the murderer only using words such as “he” or “him”.
Although we may like to believe that these gender roles are no longer present in our society, we can not overlook the fact that they are very much still there. It is important that we bring these issues to light and fight for the rights of women because it is the 21st century and it is way past the time where women and men should be treated equally in all respects of life.
While Lamb to the Slaughter is a suspense-filled story that many will enjoy reading, we have to take a deeper look into what Roald Dahl is saying about women and ultimately how we can change these preconceived notions about women.
Check out the video rendition!
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70l4os