Lamb To The Slaughter Mary Maloney Analysis

Mary Maloney is very devious. In the stories, “The Landlady” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the antagonists are both devious, but one is more devious than the other. Mary Maloney is more devious because she made the police eat the lamb and she pretended to not know that Patrick was dead.
One way Mary Maloney is more devious is, she tricked the police into eating the evidence of Patrick’s murder. The text states,"Personally, I couldn't eat a thing, but it'd be a favor to me if you ate it up”(Dahl 4). She tells them to eat the leg of lamb, the weapon used to kill Patrick, to obliterate all evidence of his murder. This is very devious as she tries to avoid getting caught by eating the lamb.
Another way Mary Maloney is more devious is, she pretends to be shocked by Patrick's death. The text states,” if she found anything unusual or terrible when she got home, then it would be a shock and she would have to react with grief and horror”(Dahl 3). This quote shows Mrs.Maloney being devious because she pretends to be surprised so she wouldn`t get caught.Even though she killed him,
The text states,”Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it, and reaching for the bell”(Dahl 2). This evidence could show The Landlady being more devious because she made Billy to go inside. However, when Billy went inside the house, the Landlady was very benevolent. Therefore Mary Maloney was more devious than The Landlady.
Mary Maloney is more devious that The Landlady because she tricked the police and pretended to be shocked at her husband. Both stories show an antagonist who seems to be a different person than who they really