Lamb To The Slaughter Doloney Character Analysis
In the story “Lamb to The Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, the protagonist, Mrs. Maloney, undergoes a substantial change: in the beginning of the story she appears to be caring, kind and genuine and at the end of the story, she is a deceitful person capable of murder. In this way, she is characterized as a dynamic character.
In the beginning of the book she is caring and kind towards her husband and willing to do anything for him. For example, the text states: ”...she made the drinks, a strong one for him and a weak one for herself; and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he was in the other chair, holding the tall glass, rolling it gently so that the ice knocked musically against the side of the glass. For her, this was always …show more content…
In other words, she now becomes a deceitful person, not just a murderer. Before she goes to the grocery store, she practices her lines: “Then she washed her hands, ran upstairs, sat down in front of the mirror, fixed her makeup, and tried to smile. The smile was rather peculiar. She tried again. "Hello, Sam" she said brightly, aloud. The voice sounded peculiar, too" (3). She puts on a convincing show for the store owner and later, for the police, when she tells the story of returning from the store only to find her husband dead. In doing so, we see how deceitful and selfish she has become, very different from the perfect wife that she seemed to be in the beginning of the story. These examples show that Mrs. Maloney, the protagonist of the story, is a dynamic character because she changes substantially from beginning to the end of the story. In the beginning she appeared to be kind, caring and willing to do anything for her husband, but soon after she killed her husband and then tried to cover it up and get away with murder. With this story Roald Dahl is trying to tell the reader to not judge a book by its cover. In other words, people can appear to be kind and content with their lives, but deep down inside they could be capable of devious
In the beginning of the book she is caring and kind towards her husband and willing to do anything for him. For example, the text states: ”...she made the drinks, a strong one for him and a weak one for herself; and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he was in the other chair, holding the tall glass, rolling it gently so that the ice knocked musically against the side of the glass. For her, this was always …show more content…
In other words, she now becomes a deceitful person, not just a murderer. Before she goes to the grocery store, she practices her lines: “Then she washed her hands, ran upstairs, sat down in front of the mirror, fixed her makeup, and tried to smile. The smile was rather peculiar. She tried again. "Hello, Sam" she said brightly, aloud. The voice sounded peculiar, too" (3). She puts on a convincing show for the store owner and later, for the police, when she tells the story of returning from the store only to find her husband dead. In doing so, we see how deceitful and selfish she has become, very different from the perfect wife that she seemed to be in the beginning of the story. These examples show that Mrs. Maloney, the protagonist of the story, is a dynamic character because she changes substantially from beginning to the end of the story. In the beginning she appeared to be kind, caring and willing to do anything for her husband, but soon after she killed her husband and then tried to cover it up and get away with murder. With this story Roald Dahl is trying to tell the reader to not judge a book by its cover. In other words, people can appear to be kind and content with their lives, but deep down inside they could be capable of devious