Lamb to the Slaughter
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Lamb to the Slaughter
The short story I am going to be writing about is "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl. The story is about a woman, Mary, who is a kind loving wife but by the end of the story is an evil dangerous woman who has killed her husband. This review is on the devices of which Roald Dahl succeeds in making us sympathise with Mary Maloney at the start of the story but dislike and mistrust her by the end.
Before you begin to read the story the title creates expectations. "Lamb to the Slaughter" gives us the impression that someone weak and innocent will be murdered and as you start to read you believe this to be Mary. Roald Dahl uses some good descriptions of Mary to make you believe that she is the lamb of the story. He uses expressions such as "the mouth was soft" and "there was a slow smiling air about her." Roald Dahl also uses a warm greeting from Mary to her husband, Patrick, and we are shown that she runs around for him to show she is very kind, gentle and perhaps a little frightened of her husband. We know that Mary loves Patrick, "She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man."
At this stage of the story you feel rather sorry for Mary as she is running around for Patrick and he doesn't seem to take notice of her...