Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl- Summary and Analysis

-


Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl- Summary 


               Satavahana/TU/PU/KU/OU 
Telangana university- English Literature & Twentieth century-II. Sem 2. Course 10

                MA Semester 2.PAPER III- FICTION
                         UNIT V. Short stories.

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com
SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar

Roald Dahl is not only famous for children fiction but also for adult suspense thrilling short stories. Lamb to the slaughter is a twisty short story of a devoted housewife of a detective, who kills her husband instantly, hitting with a big frozen leg of lamb.
 Lamb is a symbol of innocence, submissiveness, meekness and it represents Jesus Christ in Christianity. Lamb, unknown of impending danger, innocently follows his master when he takes it to the slaughter.  Mary Maloney is portrayed as caring and submissive wife in the story. Both wife and husband  symbolises lamb as they don't know consequences. Patrick Maloney is killed by wife for his decision to divorce her.  Patrick never imagines this slaughter,as his wife is meek.  Mary also doesn't know the consequences and future of unborn child after murdering her husband.
 Mary is six months pregnant, does domestic chores perfectly, every day waits eagerly for her husband to return home from work. Everyday evening, they both sit together and have drinks and it is wonderful time of day to her.   Mary slightly feels sick after hearing his harsh words. While he is going out, she goes to the kitchen, takes out a big frozen leg of lamb out of the freezer and hits hard on the back of Patrick's head. He collapses instantly on the floor within seconds. Mary realizes her inhuman act and contemplates about her unborn baby’s future. To save herself from the ghastly crime, she hatches a plan meticulously. As part of the plan, she goes to visit grocery shop and comes back home. As soon as she returns, she sees the motionless body of Patrick and bursts into tears. Then she calls the police. Immediately, two policemen and a doctor rush to the crime spot and begin investigation. They feel that weapon is crucial evidence to catch the murderer. Mary begs policemen to have supper as it is nearly 9 o'clock. They initially refuse but later on they yield to her repeated requests. Mary serves a big frozen leg of lamb to the police, which is taken out of the oven and eagerly awaits outside of the door to listen to their conversation. She giggles listening to the words spoken by a policeman to Jack, another policeman,regarding the weapon, that, probably it would be right under their nose.
 Usually a submissive woman  begs her husband not to  abandon her in this juncture as she is carrying a baby.She doesn't cry or  curses him for divorcing. she stays quiet and peaceful.
In the story the author doesn't clearly mention the reason for killing Patrick but reader can understand  from their conversation that .the reason is divorce.
 Dramatic Irony is that the readers know whereabouts of the weapon but the characters don't know though it is  right under  their nose. Twist in the story is that submissive wife kills her husband in a fit of rage and  escapes  the punishment cleverly by spoiling the evidence permanently.
watch film on youtube https://youtu.be/zAPw-uFhqjA
S. RajeshKumarenglishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Comments

  1. Ramakrishna GundelliMarch 8, 2020 at 1:35 AM

    The review on the poem will be helpful to students. Thank you so much sir.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr.KumarMarch 8, 2020 at 1:57 AM

    It's too dangerous to believe that woman is innocent!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Snake in the Grass’ by R.K.Narayan – Summary and Annotations

-
Image
SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar   Satavahana University Karimnagar- I year English Semester-1 Unit 1.- 2020-21 onwards englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com R.K.Narayan is one of the greatest Indian English novelists.His subtle irony, gentle humour, indianness and lucid narrative style captivate the readers. He was honoured with  Sahithya Akademi award in the year 196o for the novel ‘The Guide’ RK.Narayan’s  short story ‘ A Snake in the Grass’ is centered around a Cobra which had entered a bungalow on  a sunny afternoon. Upon hearing the news of cobra’s  entry into the compound, the family members consisting of the mother and four sons in a great agitation,  wakes up their old lazy servant Dasa. Dasa tries to dismiss the matter but the family rebukes him to search for the snake in the bushes. Dasa cleverly counters them for not providing grass cutter for months. While all are busy in cutting bushes and creepers to find the snake, the college boy...
Read more

The Golden light Poem Sri Aurobindo summary and analysis

-
Image
 Om namo bagavathe sri vasudevaya 🙏 Thy golden Light came down into my brain And the grey rooms of mind sun-touched  became A bright reply to Wisdom's occult plane, A calm illumination and a flame. Thy golden Light came down into my throat, And all my speech is now a tune divine, A paean-song of Thee my single note; My words are drunk with the immortal's wine. Thy golden Light came down into my heart Smiting my life with Thy eternity; Now has it grown a temple where Thou art And all its passions point towards only Thee. Thy golden Light came down into my feet, My earth is now Thy playfield and Thy seat . The Golden light is a sonnet ( 14 lines)written in the style of Shakespearean sonnet containing three  quartains and one couplet. Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. The repetition of Thy at the beginning of every stanza is Anaphora, a figure of speech.  The Poet reveals his intense  spiritual experience and enlightenment.Golden light is the symbol of div...
Read more

Kitchen poem by Vimala -summary

-
Image
Kakatiya  University English Semester- 3.  The Kitchen :   Vimala I remember the kitchen’s , Flavor upon flavor,  A mouthwatering  treasury, Pungence of seasonings, And the aroma of incense From the prayer room Next door. Each morning the kitchen awoke To the swish of churning butter The scraping of scoured pots. And in the center, the stove, Fresh washed with mud, painted And bedecked, all set to burn.   We saved secret money in the  seasoning box, hid sweets too, and played at cooking with lentils and We played Mother and Father, In the magic world of kitchen That wrapped childhood in its spell. No longer playground for the grown up girl Now trained into  kitchenhood. Like all the mothers and mothers’ mothers Before her, in the kitchen She becomes woman right here. Our kitchen is a mortuary, Pans, tins, gunny bags Crowd it like cadavers That hang amid clouds of damp wood smoke. Mother float...
Read more