Examples Of Stereotypes In The Landlady

Would you stay at a cozy, warm place with a nice old woman? It's nice and comforting, with only one kink; it's the house of a murderer. In the story “The Landlady,” by Roald Dahl, the main character, Billy, stayed at a place called the Bed and Breakfast. The reader was manipulated into thinking the Bed and Breakfast was a cozy place with a nice old woman, but in reality it was the home of a murderer who was about to take her next victim. Authors manipulate their reader’s expectations of reality through the use of assumptions and stereotyping. Authors use details that lead the reader into making assumptions thus manipulating his or her expectation. Here is one example: on page 175 of the “The Landlady,” it stated “The room was wonderfully
In the story “The Landlady” this technique is used many times by the author Roald Dahl. On page 174 of the “The Landlady” it stated, “Now, the fact that his land lady seemed slightly off her rocker didn’t worry Billy… she was not only harmless… but she was also quite obviously a kind generous soul.” These details stereotype an old woman as a bit kooky and off her rocker. The fact that an old woman is a bit kooky doesn't raise any suspicions, so the reader thinks that it is just like any of the other stories he or she has read. This technique was also used in “The Lottery.” On page 81 it is stated, “Soon the men gathered…speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes…the women, wearing faded house dresses…greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossips…” This stereotyping of the men and women in the town gave the reader a false reality that this town was normal. And in the reader’s defense the stereotyping made it seem like it was a normal town where women gossip while men talked about work. Stereotyping gives the reader a false reality by making it seem like nothing suspicious is