Murder By Roald Dahl
Author Roald Dahl wrote this dark humored story about a married couple in the 1950s, Mary and Patrick Maloney. This story begins with Mary waiting for her police officer husband, Patrick, to getting home then ends with Mary killing Patrick and getting away with it because she fed the police the murder weapon. This ending is very unexpected considering at the beginning the six month pregnant Mary loved her husband more than anything.
This story opens with Mary calmly waiting for her husband to get home at the same time he does everyday. Dahl goes into detail about how much Mary loves her husband, for an example in the story it says “She loved the warmth that came out of him when they were alone together. She loved the shape of …show more content…
Of course, I’ll give you money and see that you’re taken care of. But there really shouldn’t be any problem. I hope not, in any case. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” (page 2) Which the reader assumes that he is leaving her for an unknown reason that Dahl doesn’t specify. That also shows that Patrick cares more about how his job will be affected, than how the woman who is carrying his child feels about the fact that he’s leaving her. Then the reader comes to the conclusion that Mary is in denial when it states, “Her first instinct was not to believe any of it. She thought that perhaps she’d imagined the whole thing. Perhaps, if she acted as though she had not heard him, she would find out that none of it had happened.” (page 2.) It is then that Mary goes to the freezer to find something to cook and grabs a leg of lamb, when she enters the room again and Patrick says “I’ve already told you. Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.” (page 2.) that she walks up to him and hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb. Which shows how angry she is about the entire situation with him based off the fact that she hit him over the head without a second thought. “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped to bring her out of her shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes, looking at the body, still holding the piece of meat tightly with both hands. All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” (page 2.) This shows that the Mary was in shock and was slowly coming to the surreal reality that she just killed her husband. It’s then that Dahl writes “She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew what the punishment would be. It made no difference to her. In face, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the baby?” (page 2.) That kind of
This story opens with Mary calmly waiting for her husband to get home at the same time he does everyday. Dahl goes into detail about how much Mary loves her husband, for an example in the story it says “She loved the warmth that came out of him when they were alone together. She loved the shape of …show more content…
Of course, I’ll give you money and see that you’re taken care of. But there really shouldn’t be any problem. I hope not, in any case. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” (page 2) Which the reader assumes that he is leaving her for an unknown reason that Dahl doesn’t specify. That also shows that Patrick cares more about how his job will be affected, than how the woman who is carrying his child feels about the fact that he’s leaving her. Then the reader comes to the conclusion that Mary is in denial when it states, “Her first instinct was not to believe any of it. She thought that perhaps she’d imagined the whole thing. Perhaps, if she acted as though she had not heard him, she would find out that none of it had happened.” (page 2.) It is then that Mary goes to the freezer to find something to cook and grabs a leg of lamb, when she enters the room again and Patrick says “I’ve already told you. Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.” (page 2.) that she walks up to him and hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb. Which shows how angry she is about the entire situation with him based off the fact that she hit him over the head without a second thought. “The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped to bring her out of her shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes, looking at the body, still holding the piece of meat tightly with both hands. All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” (page 2.) This shows that the Mary was in shock and was slowly coming to the surreal reality that she just killed her husband. It’s then that Dahl writes “She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew what the punishment would be. It made no difference to her. In face, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the baby?” (page 2.) That kind of