One chapter in the book, “How to Tell a True War Story,” forces the reader to start paying thorough attention. In this chapter, Tim opens up with a story of Rat Kiley and the letter he wrote to Curt Lemon’s sister after Lemon died. After that, O’Brien proceeds to tell the story of exactly how Curt died. O’Brien writes, “When he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms (70).” Throughout the chapter Tim repeats the story while adding and removing details of what happened. Also, in between each story Tim tries to explain the difference between a true story and a fake one. This part of the book is where “metaficion” takes part. Tim forces the reader to decide which parts of the stories are true, and which parts are just fictions. Tim wants the reader to know that in most true war stories, the story is not completely true. Instead, false details are added in order to try and get the true point of the story across. This is also emphasized in the chapter “Good Form.” Tim writes, “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth (179).” In this chapter, O’Brien explains to the reader why it is necessary to have a difference between “story-truth” and “happening-truth.” These chapters in the book have the greatest impact on the reader. Not only is the story told well, but the placement of these chapters has a great effect on the reader. The reader is now left questioning not only everything that will be read in the rest of the book, but also everything that has been read up to that…
In the two two stories, Lamb to the Slaughter and Jury of Hers Peers, there are many similarities and differences like, they are different because of the setting, the way the victim was killed, and if the audience knows who the killer was; the similarities are both the killers were the wives, both stories show understanding for the wife, and why she murdered, and both stories are told in 3rd person limited.…
When you think of a story you think of the ending, maybe a happy ending, maybe a sad ending. But in all story’s, it must come to an end. In Penny in the dust by Ernest Buckler, and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl , the endings are very different. In Penny in the Dust a boy named Dan, his father gives him a penny which was very special to the boy but he loses it, then the father looks for it and finds it. The boy explains he was make believing that they got their automobile that they had dreamed for, the father kept that penny to remember that memory. In Lamb to the Slaughter a man confesses that he has had an affair to his 6 month pregnant wife. The wife then proceeds to go down stairs to get a leg of lamb and hits him in the back of the head killing him. She covers her tracks before the she calls the cops, they couldn’t find the murder weapon because it is the leg of lamb which is in the oven cooking. They then eat the lamb, which is the murder weapon. The wife gets away with the murder due to the cops eating the murder weapon. There are many differences and similarities in these two…
Movies are much more than just a picture on a screen. They are not linear, they are complex and have depth beyond our imagination. One of the most critically acclaimed master of this art is Alfred Hitchcock. The movie describes the events that occur when a small town is attacked by vicious birds. The movie “The Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock has a deeper emotional weight with its audience than the book “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier because of Hitchcock’s deliberate use of setting, imagery, and mood in the cinematic experience.…
This is about two stories that are called “Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahi. These stories aren’t just ordinary stories that we read everyday no these two stories have a big twisted into it. Instead of having a happily ever after you get a shocking and horrifying ending. What connects these two stories is that their both short stories and the author in both stories want the readers to guess what happens in the story.…
Hitchcock is taking us through different everyday lives, leaves us to imagine horrific events.. Then back to everyday lives. WE ARE THEN left with fear…
During our summer reading we had to read four different short stories. Each of them included violence and death. I wasn’t expecting any of the violence at first, but after a couple of stories I saw the trend. Now I’ve chosen to write about the violence in “The Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl.…
Within Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” several different conflicts are addressed. The first and perhaps most evident of these struggles is the Man vs. Man conflict. As the story begins Mary Maloney waits for her husband, whom she lovingly describes as having a “warm male glow” (Dahl 11) to come home. Upon his arrival, Patrick Maloney breaks Mary’s heart with the suggestion of a divorce, promptly brushing off his actions with the phrase “there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be good for my job.” (Dahl 13). This second quotation abruptly changes both Mary’s and the reader’s perceptions of Mr. Maloney; a once shining figure of all that a 20th century husband should…
In both "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "Tell Tale Heart" the author uses the technique of the reader knowing more than the character. While the reader may know that Mary Maloney murdered her husband with a lamb leg, the detectives suspect that she…
I have been given the task of comparing three stories of suspense in three different styles of writing. During this essay I will discuss the way each story is written, how and why certain effects are achieved and what elements contribute to the mood and suspense of the story. Finally, I will conclude as to which story I have found the most successful. An important thing to look at when studying a story, in my opinion, is the title. Titles of some stories give away the plots or endings, where others are completely abstract and thought provoking, providing no clue as to what the story will be about. Either “Frankenstein” or “The Raven” is the best title out of the three stories that I have read. They give away that the story is about someone named Frankenstein or a raven, but nothing else that would spoil the plot or ending. This is beneficial to the reader, who would be able to get more involved in the story as more of the plot unfolds, especially in a novel. The title “Man Overboard” tells us that the story is about a man falling overboard. At first I considered it could be a metaphor but after reading the story, I found that it wasn´t. A story with a title that gives away the plot has advantages and disadvantages. Giving away some of the plot could make someone interested and make him or her want to know how that certain thing happened, for example, how the man fell overboard. A lot of the time, that is not always what happens. In some cases, the plot is given away too much by the title, which makes the story less exciting and spontaneous for the reader. The three stories I read were in the form of a novel, a short story and a poem. This had a dramatic effect on the way I thought about the stories and how I could analyse them. The novel contained many characters and small plots scattered around a central story line. This made it very complex and hard to understand at times, which kept me interested because I was determined to understand the story. Eventually, all…
'Frankenstein' was written in 1818 by Mary Shelley. It is a Gothic novel a man trying to play God. It is deeply disturbing and was written after the death of Shelley's first child.…
Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter is the story of a loyal’s wife reaction to her husband’s betrayal, using the rhetorical devices of dramatic irony, dark humor and foreshadowing. Throughout, the story you follow an abnormal day in Mary Maloney very wonted life. She makes the day abnormal by murdering her husband and shrewdly covers it up, without leaving a trace of evidence.…
In many of Alfred Hitchcock’s films, we are able to see how specific periods influence his work. In the case of postwar era, Hitchcock is able to evoke the aftermath of World War II issues and themes through the sub-text of films like I Confess (Warner Brothers, 1953) and The Trouble with Harry (Paramount, 1955). Though each film is completely different from the other, stylistically, genre-wise, tone-wise, scenery-wise; they both revolve around death, albeit approached from an entirely different angle. Hitchcock develops both plots, one with a gruesome ending while the other with the hope for a promising future. While I Confess exemplifies the issues faced in postwar America, The Trouble with Harry focuses on the cinematic themes of the era.…
Alfred Hitchcock’s name will be remembered forever throughout history, but a man does not become a legend overnight. Before becoming a master of any given skill, one must experiment with the boundaries and capabilities of his specific field of choice. From the beginning Hitchcock had to find what boundaries he could push and which others he couldn’t. From 1922 to 1939 Alfred Hitchcock made 24 films, and through the development of those films he experimented with technique, theme and style. Hitchcock kept the techniques, themes and styles that he believed worked best and utilized them to full extent in his American masterpieces. Alfred Hitchcock proves that there is no true right or wrong way to make a film, but throughout time and experimentation one gains wisdom and knowledge far greater than most can imagine.…
I have studied five short stories by Roald Dahl which are The Landlady, Neck, Dip in the Pool, Man from the South and Lamb to the Slaughter. I am going to focus on The Landlady, Man from the South and Lamb to the Slaughter.…