lamb to the slaughter defense attorney essay

“Lamb to the Slaughter” and “A Jury of Her Peers” Essay

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Introduction

Mary maloney and minnie foster, the fate of women, the problem of justice, works cited.

Two short stories, Lamb to the Slaughter (1953) by Roald Dahl (1953), and A Jury of Her Peers (1917) by Susan Glaspell, both have a woman who killed her husband as a key part of their plot. However, both stories touch upon the complicated issues that stand behind the fact of murder.

In our essay, we will compare the situations of the two women who committed these crimes, and will see how they were pushed to such an act by the circumstances which made them dependent. We will also discuss the role of gender in these situations and the notion of justice in connection with their deeds.

Mary Maloney, the main character of Lamb to the Slaughter , is a woman whose only role in life is a loving housewife. Caring about her husband seems to be her only aim in life. Yet her world turns into a smoking ruin as her husband notifies her of their forthcoming divorce.

This policeman was not satisfied with a life with an obedient slave; it had apparently turned into an irritating burden for him. “For God’s sake,” he says upon hearing her offer to make a meal after he announced his plans for divorce, “don’t make supper for me. I’m going out” (Dahl par. 41).

The destruction of her world made Mary’s brain “wake up”, leaving her consciously unaware at the same time. Having killed her husband and apparently disbelieving his death, she obliviously makes everything up in a way which would save the child she is pregnant with from being killed along with her when she undergoes the death penalty.

The twistedly ironic way she gets rid of the weapon of murder by feeding it to the detectives doesn’t interfere with her obliviousness until the very last line of the story, when, hearing the policemen talk about the weapon being under their nose, she giggles.

In contrast, Minnie Foster from A Jury of Her Peers does not appear to be satisfied with her life. Even though we never see Mrs. Wright in the story, it is evident that she also plays the role of a housewife, and nothing else. However, her world is much unlike the (apparent) sweet dream of Mary’s.

Her husband is “like a raw wind that gets to the bone” (Glaspell par. 201), a cruel man who would abuse his wife and wrung her bird’s neck to inflict pain on her. Even Mrs. Wright’s house is situated in a hollow from where it is impossible to see the road, hinting at her loneliness. While Mary Maloney, seeing the smoldering ruin her life was turned into, acted suddenly and impulsively, the despair which led Minnie Foster to kill her husband is “honed” over the span of 20 years of their mutual life.

The theme of women’s fate appears to be obvious in both stories. Women, being turned into housewives and having no other way to follow, are trapped in a situation regardless of whether they feel happy or not. A Jury of Her Peers tells a story of an abused woman; the murder makes it stand out, but behind it there hide millions of stories of abused housewiving slaves who never got the chance to let their scream out. The disregard that the men show for the women who came to Minnie Foster’s house shows that such a scream would not be heard in any case.

Lamb to the Slaughter , in contrast, provides an insight into the bonds that even the “happy” only-housewives are subjected to, being entirely dependent on the will (or on a whim) of a single person. Notably, the story also hints at the adversities that the situation has for men, at the boredom and irritation one might face when their every single motion causes a surge of tenderness from a person who never shows any signs of emotions or thoughts other than their persistent love and care.

The issue of justice is also touched upon in both stories. Lamb to the Slaughter shows us a number of injustices that happen after one another; the betrayal, then the murder. Still, however shocking the fact that Mary killed her husband is, the reader is pushed to side with her in this situation.

The murder does not even appear to be revenge; it seems to be some kind of an involuntary act driven by a sudden burst of chemicals into the woman’s brain; her pregnancy came to our mind when we were trying to comprehend her actions. Despite the cruelty and pointlessness of the murder, the punishment that awaits Mary (and the fate of her child) if the woman is to be judged would appear to create even more injustice even if this punishment was not the death penalty.

Similarly, the punishment that awaits Minnie Foster appears unjust whatever it would be. Yes, she is the murderer; but she is also a person who suffered from abuse over the span of 20 years and could do nothing about it. The women in the kitchen could understand a fact that men upstairs apparently wouldn’t even take into consideration – that the murder, even though planned, was an act of self-defense rather than homicide.

As we have seen, both murders are, in fact, very complicated situations that have many underlying aspects. Both the women were utterly dependent on their husbands. Although they had different motives, their deeds were caused by the terrible inequity resulting from the social perception of the role of a woman. Although their actions (especially Mary’s) appear to be unjust, the punishment that awaits them according to the law definitely appears only to result in even more injustice.

Dahl, Roald. Lamb to the Slaughter . n.d. Web.

Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers . n.d. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, April 15). "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "A Jury of Her Peers". https://ivypanda.com/essays/lamb-to-the-slaughter-and-a-jury-of-her-peers/

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1. IvyPanda . "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "A Jury of Her Peers." April 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/lamb-to-the-slaughter-and-a-jury-of-her-peers/.

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A Summary and Analysis of Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is a 1953 short story by Roald Dahl (1916-90), which was initially rejected for publication but was later adapted for television on several occasions. Included in Dahl’s collections Someone Like You (1953) and Tales of the Unexpected (1979), the story is about a wife who murders her unfaithful husband with a frozen leg of lamb before hatching a plan to ensure she isn’t caught for her crime.

Before we offer an analysis of ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, it might be worth recapping the plot of Dahl’s story.

Plot summary

Mary Maloney is waiting at home for her husband, Patrick, to get home from work. He is a detective. She is six months pregnant with their child. When he gets home, she pours them both a drink and notices that Patrick has drained his glass more swiftly than he usually does. He pours himself another whisky before revealing to his wife that he plans to leave her.

Mary is stunned by this revelation, and initially wants to act as though it hasn’t happened. She decides to go and get some food from the freezer that she can cook for their dinner. She finds a leg of lamb in the freezer, and when her husband announces he’s going out, she strikes him on the back of the head with the lamb leg, killing him.

Immediately she starts to think about how to cover her tracks so she won’t be caught. She puts the meat in the oven to cook. After rehearsing what she will say to the nearby grocer, she goes out to his shop and buys some potatoes and peas to go with the roast lamb. When talking to the grocer, Sam, she acts as though everything is all right and her husband is waiting for her back home.

When she returns home, she talks herself into believing her husband is still alive, so she is genuinely shocked when she sees his body lying on the floor. She phones the police to report that he has been murdered, and a group of detectives – who knew Patrick from work – show up to investigate his death.

The detectives make a thorough search of the house, believing that Patrick was murdered by a heavy metal implement. So they search for something that could have been used as the murder weapon. They remain in the house for so long that Mary offers them all a drink. They reluctantly accept and, when she is reminded of the lamb cooking in the oven, she suggests that they eat it since they must be hungry.

Again, they agree, and as they sit around the table eating the leg of lamb which killed their former colleague, they remain oblivious to the fact that they are, in fact, destroying the evidence themselves. In the next room, Mary giggles.

Dahl’s story was suggested by his friend Ian Fleming, who created James Bond. Dahl adapted Fleming’s Bond novel You Only Live Twice for the big screen; he also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , which was also based on a Fleming novel. And it was Fleming who suggested the idea for ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, telling his friend that he should write a story about a woman who murders her wife with a leg of mutton (not lamb) which she then serves to the investigating officers.

‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ can be categorised as a horror story (although given the lack of any supernatural element, ‘thriller’ is perhaps a more apposite label), although we should also pay attention to the darkly humorous elements of the tale: features in keeping with Dahl’s writing as a whole.

The story reflects – but then subverts – a common trope of the early 1950s: namely, the wife as the faithful homemaker while the husband goes out to work. At the beginning of ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, Mary Maloney cannot do enough for her husband, waiting patiently and eagerly for him to arrive home, fetching his drink, asking him about his day.

But when the stability of her world crumbles in a few minutes, when Patrick tells her that he is leaving her (although it isn’t mentioned, we assume he has met someone else), she changes very quickly – and easily – from dutiful wife to cold-blooded murderer.

In other words, once the role she has settled into over the years, that of being ‘Mrs Patrick Maloney’, is taken away from her, she finds herself able to switch in and out of that role with ease. After a brief rehearsal at home, she is able to convince the grocer that she is still the dutiful wife once again: an act she performs again for the policemen.

Dahl makes it clear that she doesn’t murder her husband out of fear of being penniless without the money from him, the breadwinner of the family: he makes it clear he will continue to provide for her financially. Instead, her motive is more complex. Does she kill him out of jealousy or spite, or resentment at having conceived the child of a man who doesn’t even intend to hang around long enough to see it born?

Dahl leaves these questions open for us to discuss. Note how, in the moments preceding that decisive moment when she strikes her husband with the leg of lamb, her movements become automatic, as if she is being guided by some other force. Her unconscious? The concentrated righteous anger of ‘a woman scorned’? Dahl tells us that she ‘simply’ walked up to her husband and struck him with the lamb.

It is as if she is performing some perfunctory task, almost as though the mundane and automatic business of housework has been extrapolated to incorporate the business of murder. She doesn’t appear to lash out in a moment of fury, cold or otherwise. It is almost as if she feels she has no other choice.

There is obviously a grim irony in the method she uses to dispatch her husband. The roast joint cooking in the oven is the symbol par excellence of the good 1950s housewife, feeding her husband after a long day at work. There is also symbolism in the fact that this food, meant to be an offering from wife to husband, is used instead to kill the husband, with the deadly weapon being given instead to a host of other men (who, as policemen, are also stand-ins for the dead husband in some respects).

In the last analysis, then, ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is a short story about how easily the meek and loving housewife can transform into a cold and calculating killer. It is Mary’s sudden change that makes the story so unsettling, and the lack of remorse she shows for her crime; but her choice of murder weapon and method of disposing of the evidence make this story as much black comedy as out-and-out horror tale.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Lamb to The Slaughter — Lamb To The Slaughter Theme

Lamb to The Slaughter Theme

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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• Your Role: Defense Attorney for Mary Maloney
• Your Audience: Judge and Jury
• Your Job: Persuade the audience that Mary Maloney is NOT guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

Requirements:

• Must include a minimum of three (3) quotes from the story that help support your argument
• Must include at least two (2) counterarguments
• Must include at least one (1) concession
• Must include at least one (1) example of polysyndeton and one (1) of asyndeton
• Must include at least two (2) examples EACH of ethos, logos, and pathos
• Must be organized in a manner that is coherent and supports your argument
• Have a clear beginning, middle, and end to the speech
• Transitions between paragraphs are effective and more advanced that “next” and “then”

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"Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

Convince that Jury In this RAFT writing task, students will identify important quotes from "Lamb to the Slaughter," then use the quotes to write a persuasive essay in the form of a closing argument from a defense attorney. Students will also use the trait of word choice to strengthen their persuasive arguments.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Text of the story.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Origin of the phrase.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Students note details as they read. Includes text-dependent questions, vocabulary words, a writing prompt and model essay, and additional learning activities. Word processor required for access.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Practice with chronological order, ingredients of a perfect murder, vocabulary.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Pre-reading and guided reading questions.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" This slide presentation includes pre-reading vocabulary and excerpts a 1950s home economics textbook, analysis of dark humor, setting and symbols, theme, academic vocabulary, and context clues. Slide application like Powerpoint required.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" 4 post-reading projects.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Character Analysis Graphic organizers and discussion questions for character analysis. 4 pages, word processor required.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Lesson Plan This presentation includes a bellringer, guided reading questions, and culminating writing prompt.

Study Questions for "Lamb to the Slaughter" 7 study questions, including point of view and dramatic irony.

Three Types of Irony "Lamb to the Slaughter" Graphic organizer for examples of irony in the story. Word processor required.

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Lamb To The Slaughter

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Analysis: “Lamb to the Slaughter”

“Lamb to the Slaughter” employs satire and irony to challenge the traditional gender roles ubiquitous in the 1950s. By portraying an archetypal homemaker betrayed by her husband, the story highlights the insidious power imbalance created by a “conventional” marriage. Entirely dependent on her husband, Mary Maloney is stripped of her identity, purpose, and social role by her husband’s intended abandonment of her. Within this context , her extreme reaction of murdering her husband seems not only plausible but inevitable. Patrick Maloney’s murder, and the domestic events preceding the murder, develop the themes of Loyalty and Betrayal and The Imbalance of Traditional Gender Roles . The murder weapon—a leg of lamb—is an important symbol that supports the text’s central themes. The theme of Food, Drink, and Domesticity punctuates the text.

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Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl Persuasive Essay - Prosecution/Defense

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Description

This Lamb to the Slaughter writing activity will get your students in high gear! After reading the short story by Roald Dahl, students write closing arguments for either Mrs. Maloney’s prosecution or defense. Since we all know she’s guilty, it’s all about citing evidence to support claims.

✅ Optional Speaking

Students LOVE this essay because they get to take on the persona of a lawyer. They talk about “my client” or “the defendant” and really ham things up for the judge. Even with the dramatic flair, they are still practicing citing textual evidence.

❤️ I love it when students want to give their essay as a speech. This option (and I always make it optional) is a great way to add some drama in ELA and give students space to practice public speaking.

Your Lamb to the Slaughter essay includes:

• Project Description & Brainstorming Worksheet – students collect textual evidence and decide how to “spin” it for the jury (.pdf and .doc)
• Rubric – Choose between analytic and holistic versions (.pdf & .doc)
• Printer-friendly versions - prints as a half-sheet with the rubric on the front and brainstorming on the back)
• Digital version (Google Slides)

⭐️ Want more activities for Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl? This resource is included in my Lamb to the Slaughter Activities Bundle !

What other teachers are saying:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students love this short story and debate constantly about the fate of the main character. I used this resource, and also turned it into a class debate topic.” -Andrea M.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I used this in summer school for students repeating 9th grade ELA. They loved the story and it really helped them to grasp irony. Then, the essay was the perfect way for me to assess their literary analysis.” -Courtney K.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This was a fun wrap-up to Lamb to the Slaughter. It was a great way to use persuasive writing without writing a dry essay.” -Paige B.

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Lamb to the Slaughter

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Lamb to the Slaughter: Introduction

Lamb to the slaughter: plot summary, lamb to the slaughter: detailed summary & analysis, lamb to the slaughter: themes, lamb to the slaughter: quotes, lamb to the slaughter: characters, lamb to the slaughter: symbols, lamb to the slaughter: theme wheel, brief biography of roald dahl.

Historical Context of Lamb to the Slaughter

Other books related to lamb to the slaughter.

• Full Title: Lamb to the Slaughter
• When Published: 1953
• Literary Period: Modernism
• Genre: Short story; black comedy
• Setting: Late 1940s or 1950s, in the Maloney house and a nearby grocery store
• Climax: Mary kills her husband
• Antagonist: Patrick Maloney
• Point of View: Third-person limited

Extra Credit for Lamb to the Slaughter

Inspiration. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was supposedly written by Dahl after his friend Ian Fleming (spy novelist and former intelligence officer) suggested he write a story about a woman who murders her husband with frozen mutton that she serves to the detectives investigating her husband’s case.

Small screen version. The story was adapted into a television script written by Dahl and presented by Alfred Hitchcock. It aired in 1958, five years after the story was originally published.

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