Lamb to the Slaughter – Analysis

Point of View

Lamb to the Slaughter is told in the third person by an unknown narrator. The point of view is limited to that of the protagonist, Mary Maloney. We know there has been a murder (Mary’s husband, Patrick), we know who did it (Mary), and we know that she is highly likely to get away with it. The only question readers are left with at the end of the story is “Why did she do it?”

Plot

Consider these words from the story:

And he told her. It didn’t take long, four or five minutes at most, and she sat very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word.

What did he tell her? It is wonderful when an author leaves an important point like this, upon which a whole story could turn, to the reader’s imagination.

Most of the comments about Lamb to the Slaughter on the Internet and elsewhere paint Patrick as a cheating husband who tells his pregnant wife that he is leaving her for another woman. This ‘jilted wife’ motive for Patrick’s murder became almost universally accepted following it being featured in the story line of the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV version of the story for which, incidentally, Dahl wrote the teleplay. But this does not mean that a cheating husband was part of Dahl’s thinking when he wrote the story in 1953. Stories are often modified for broadcast purposes, and in this case providing the additional details creates sympathy for Mary and adds suspense as the story develops and the TV audience wonders if she will get caught.

There are some points in the original story that support Patrick’s involvement with another woman, and others that may not.

Leaving for another woman: Given what we know of Patrick’s life, the only way that there could be another woman is if they were to meet during working hours. This in turn raises the possibility that the other woman could be a work colleague, which would clear up a confusing point in the story. At the end of the conversation with Mary, Patrick comments: But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job. Patrick is a senior detective. A normal divorce would be unlikely to affect his career prospects. This would of course be very different if the ‘other woman’ happened to work with or for him.

Leaving for another reason: As indicated in the following example, Mary comes across as being greatly in need of Patrick’s attention. We are told that: She knew he didn’t want to speak much until the first drink was finished. and also: She especially (loved) the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away. However, rather than letting Patrick sit quietly on the night of the story, she asks whether he is tired when he is only half way through his first drink. Could it be that he wants to leave Mary because he finds her too clingy or perhaps even emotionally unstable?

Something else: After giving Mary his news, Patrick says: Of course I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after. There is not only no mention of another woman or wanting a divorce, but also no mention of the baby or what is meant by the expression looked after. Is there a suggestion here that Mary is in need of special care because of some kind of medical or mental condition. This would better explain Mary’s subsequent actions. Her initial reaction on hearing Patrick’s news (deciding to pretend that it did not happen and go about her duties as normal) is hardly what you would expect from a pregnant wife whose husband has said that he is leaving her.

Themes

The two central themes of the story are betrayl and identity/gender sterotyping. Other themes include injustice and revenge.

• Betrayal: In addition to being a major theme of the story, this is also a major point of irony. Patrick betrays Mary and their unborn child, though we are not quite sure how or why. Patrick in turn is betrayed (murdered) by Mary. In killing Patrick, Mary betrays their unborn child who will grow up without a mother if she is caught. Finally, the police betray Patrick and their duty as policemen through sloppy police work (failing to secure the scene, drinking on the job and eating the evidence).
• Identity/Gender Stereotyping: I am surprised how many modern reviewers characterize Mary as a ‘model’ or ‘ideal’ housewife. This might be the case if they are basing their assessment on a 1950s’ view of marriage where the woman’s role was seen as keeping house, producing and raising children, and having their husband’s dinner ready on time. Perhaps Dahl is making a point by initially portraying Mary in this way, then showing she has not only the capacity to commit murder, but also the intellect to quickly and carefully cover it up.

Characters

Pre-murder Mary: We see three Mary’s in the story. The pre-murder Mary can be described as a lonely, subservient, devoted wife. She has built her whole life around her husband. The highlight of her day is when he comes home from work: she was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. Mary doesn’t have much of a social life outside the marriage, with the high point of their week being eating out together every Thursday evening. We are told that she loves Patrick, but in each instance this is on a superficial level for things he does (the warm male glow, the way he sat or moved about the room, etc.) rather than the person he is. There was once passion in the marriage: on seeing Patrick’s body after coming home from the store, all the old love and longing for him welled up inside her. However, there appears to be little of this left.

Murderous Mary: The moment of rage where Mary kills Patrick appears out of character for either of her other two personalities. However, the fury that led to it may have been building up over many years of her living an unfulfilling life in an increasingly loveless marriage. Mary wasn’t planning on killing Patrick when she took the lamb out of the freezer; she could have just as easily picked out a packet of sausages! What set off the rage was Patrick’s comment Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out. This was Thursday, their evening to go out. He had plans to go out that did not include her, and may involve another woman.

Post-murder Mary: Mary’s character changes immediately after the murder. We see a confident, intelligent, quick-thinking woman who is able to take charge of a difficult situation. Many reviewers suggest that this new-found strength is born out of a desperate need for Mary to save herself and the baby. I agree, but think there is more to it. These powers were there all along, repressed by a dominating husband and gender stereotypes of the day. If this is the case the very last line of the story, where Mary giggles as she sits alone in another room listening to the detectives talking in the kitchen, may take on a new meaning. As well as being happy that she will get away with the crime, Mary may be experiencing the same feeling of being Free! Body and soul free! that Louise Mallard does in Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour.

Patrick: Patrick is painted as a dominating, boring creature of habit. He arrives home punctually at five every evening, sits and has a quiet drink before talking to Mary about his day, and takes Mary out to dinner every Thursday. As a senior policeman one would expect him to be assertive and have a strong personality. The fact that he needed a few drinks to build up the courage to tell Mary his news is at odds with this.