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“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl

“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl. Origin of the title. Excerpt from a 1950s Home Economics Textbook Compiled by Ms. Leslie Blankship Columbus, Ohio

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“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl

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  1. “Lamb to the Slaughter”by Roald Dahl

  2. Origin of the title

  3. Excerpt from a 1950s Home Economics Textbook Compiled by Ms. Leslie Blankship Columbus, Ohio • Have dinner ready: Plan ahead even the night before to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

  4. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-wary people. Be a little joyful and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

  5. Minimize all noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quite. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him. • Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

  6. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first. • Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

  7. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. Source: http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/TEXTBOOK.HTM

  8. Dark Humor Dark humor is the use of the grotesque, morbid for darkly comic purposes.

  9. Dark Humor Dark humor became widespread in popular culture, beginning in the 1950s

  10. Dark Humor The image of the cheerful housewife suddenly smashing her husband’s skull with the frozen joint of meat intended for his dinner is darkly humorous for its unexpectedness and the grotesque nature of the murder weapon.

  11. Dark Humor There is a morbid but funny double meaning, too, in Mary’s response to her grocer’s question about meat: “I’ve got meat, thanks. I got a nice leg of lamb from the freezer.”

  12. Dark Humor She did indeed get a leg of lamb from the freezer, and after she used it as a club, she found herself with a rather large portion of dead meat on her living-room floor.

  13. Dark Humor Also darkly funny is the grocer’s question about what she plans to give her husband “afterwards,” that is, for dessert. From Mary’s point of view, Patrick has already gotten his “just desserts,” and there will be no more “afterwards” for him!

  14. Dark Humor The ultimate example of dark humor in “Lamb to the Slaughter” is, the spectacle of the policemen and detectives sitting around the Maloney kitchen table, speculating about the murder weapon while they unwittingly devour it.

  15. Symbols The frozen leg of lamb is symbolic. The piece of meat is already a token of violence: an animal traditionally viewed as meek and gentle slaughtered for carnivorous consumption.

  16. Themes BETRAYAL Patrick Maloney’s unexplained decision to leave his pregnant wife. This violation of the marriage-vow is obviously not the only betrayal in the story, however. Mary’s killing of her husband is perhaps the ultimate betrayal. Her elaborately planned alibi and convincing lies to the detectives also constitute betrayal.

  17. Themes PASSIVITY The first pages of the story portray Mary’s existence as almost mindlessly passive: she sits and watches the clock, thinking that each minute brings her husband closer to her.

  18. Themes JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE The question of justice and injustice is directly related to the question of revenge. “Lamb to the Slaughter” narrates a train of injustices, beginning with Patrick’s betrayal of Mary and their marriage, peaking with Mary’s killing of Patrick, and finding its denouement in Mary’s deception of the investigating officers.

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